By Lucinda Fleeson
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 8, 2001; Page H05

I've transformed my own cleaning routine from an eight-hour, two-day marathon to 87 minutes, flat.

1) Crank up the CD player with some rip-roaring tunes, and rock out. My favorite is Frank Sinatra's "The Lady Is a Tramp," followed by spiritually uplifting classical music.

2) Organize. Put stuff away. Prepare the house for vacuuming, pulling lightweight furniture from against the walls. Take up small throw rugs and shake outside.

3) Kitchen. Move small appliances and other counter items the minimum distance; clean the space vacated, dust appliances and set back in place. Spray paper towels with cleaner – I like Marble & Granite Magic Cleaner – and wipe counters once in straight lines, not circles. Use disposable, electrostatically charged cloth (I like Scotch-Brite lemon scented) to dust. Use Clorox disposable disinfecting wipes to clean stove top, wipe down kitchen cabinets, scrub bottom edge of microwave. Before leaving the room, use a disinfecting wipe with Soft Scrub cleanser on the sink.

4) Bathroom. With a slightly damp micro-fiber cloth, wipe down the mirrors. Spray the sink, bathtub and toilet with disinfecting cleaner. In the corners of the tub and any discolored areas of tile,s pray Tile & Grout Magic. Let the cleaners work while wiping counters, faucets and lastly toilets with Clorox disinfecting wipe. Use a clean wipe on basebpards, molding and light switches. Rinse the tub. Store fresh trah bags in the bottom of the wastebasket, so as you empty the full bag, you pull up a new one.

5) Dust the entire house. I prefer electrostatically charged clotths to dueling feather dusters. Hit all windowsills, moldings, bookshelves, desk, electronic and computer gear, baseboards. As you dust, continue to move furniture aside for vacuuming.

6) Get out the vacuum, attach hose and 25-foot extension cord, plug into a central outlet. I use a small canister model with an all-purpose head that switched from bare floor to carpet mode with a tap of the foot. Vacuum entire house, moving from one end to another. Pull off the head and use the bare-headed hose on upholstered furniture.

7) Put away vacuum and cleaning supplies.

What do I do with all the time I've saved, you might ask. I buy flowers and arrange them on my utterly clean kitchen counter. Brew a pot of tea, put up my feet on the freshly vacuumed ottomna, serve myself bonbons and purr with contentment. For a momnet, decorum reigns.