In my profession of cleaning houses for a living, I have cleaned hard wood floors time and time again. And I'm always trying new things to save time.

Some of the things that I've tried when cleaning hardwood floors include:

string mops

sponge mops

cleaning the floors by hand

All of these ways work, but they can take a lot of time!

Plus, using a string mop or a sponge mop requires that you lug around a bucket of water, and you have to repeatedly rinse the mop. Cleaning hardwood floors by hand means that you're working on your hands and knees -- which can be time-consuming and exhausting.

I have come up with a 2-step method for cleaning hardwood floors that is the fastest for me and gives the best results without all of the excess work.

People usually want to clean their home in the shortest amount of time possible.

As a professional house cleaner, I've whittled my best speed cleaning tips down to 7.

Hopefully, these tips will help you get your cleaning chores done quickly, while still doing a good job.

What's on your to-do list these days?  Does it include one or more projects around the house that you might be able to hire a professional to do for you instead?

I've already told you about my recent carpet cleaning experience (...where I wish we would have called a professional to clean the carpets for us instead of spending 2 days doing it ourselves!).

We learned a valuable lesson there.  In addition to paying to rent the carpet cleaner machine (and the carpet cleaning solution), three of us ended up spending 2 days moving furniture, setting up fans, and maneuvering the bulky carpet cleaner throughout the rooms of our house in order to get our carpets clean. In the end, we lost a lot of valuable time.  And we were all very sore!

Now, here are some other do-it-yourself projects that are usually best when left to the professionals.  Plus, great tips for deciding whether you should pay a professional or do the job yourself.

I'm here to tell you that sometimes doing it yourself does not pay off.

My family and I spent the past weekend cleaning our carpets.  My husband rented a carpet cleaning machine from Home Depot for 2 days. 

Along with the cost of the cleaning solution ($108.27 with tax) and the carpet cleaning machine itself, my husband, my son and I spent the better part of 2 days moving furniture, setting up fans, and using this behemoth of a machine to get our carpets clean.

Soap scum is a combination of soap, bacteria, dead skin, and body oils that builds up builds up on showers and bathtubs.

This waxy film can often be difficult to remove, if you don't have the right products.

Throughout my cleaning career, I have cleaned a lot of showers and tubs -- many times without great success. But over time, I've found what I consider to be the best products and methods for soap scum removal.

If you are like me then you have probably tried several different types of silver polish.

Most of these types of products do work but they also can smell bad and be harmful to your hands.

Let's say you don't have anything to clean your silver with, or you are just looking for a simple cheap way to polish your silver. Try chalk! Here's a before and after shot...

 

The Miele is probably the best vacuum cleaner that I have ever used.

In my business of cleaning homes for a living, I've used many different types of vacuums. But the Miele stands above the rest.

Here's why I choose the Miele vacuum cleaner over the Dyson, the Rainbow, the Oreck, and other vacuum cleaners...