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People know there are blades in 
there and nothing's going down 

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the garbage disposal. 
I'm Ronnie and you're listening 

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to Clean With Me, the podcast 
where I walk you through 

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cleaning your house step by 
step. 

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Thanks for joining me. 
In today's episode, we are going

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to speed clean your messy 
kitchen. 

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Let's get right into the 
episode. 

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The first thing I want you to do
is to gather up any dirty dishes

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from around the house. 
Maybe somebody forgot to clear 

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their plate and fork from the 
table. 

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Or maybe you and your husband 
both have some glasses and mugs 

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on the night stand. 
Or maybe you need to check a 

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teenager's room for dishes. 
Just quickly walk through your 

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house and gather up any dirty 
dishes. 

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And if you're ahead of the game 
and you don't have a lot of 

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dishes to wash and you're kind 
of looking for things to wash or

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to put into the dishwasher, 
maybe grab some things from your

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bathroom, like your toothbrush 
holder that could run through 

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the dishwasher. 
But some of you were just 

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overwhelmed with the kitchen 
right now. 

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So that was just kind of a bonus
task you could throw in. 

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In case you're new to the show 
and these episodes, I have you 

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go a little deeper with your 
cleaning during times when 

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you're more caught up. 
These episodes are designed for 

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people who are either 
overwhelmed and doing the bare 

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minimum or people who are having
a better day and are kind of 

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ahead on things that are looking
for things to do. 

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So I will throw out little bonus
tasks like that, like putting 

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your toothbrush holder into the 
dishwasher or something like 

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that. 
But for a lot of you, you just 

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need to gather up any dirty 
dishes from around the house. 

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I know you have a rule that 
people are supposed to at least 

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take their dish to the sink and 
rinse it out. 

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But I also know that not 
everybody follows the rule and 

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maybe even you forgot sometimes.
I also know that that only took 

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you a minute, so let's move on 
to the next step. 

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This is a speed clean, so we're 
going to be moving right along 

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in this episode. 
The next thing I want you to do 

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is get any difficult items 
soaking. 

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OK, maybe there's a forgotten 
pot and pan or maybe you're 

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listening to this episode after 
dinner and it's just time to 

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wash the pots and pans that you 
cooked with. 

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But those items that have kind 
of some baked on food or dried 

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on food in them probably need a 
little bit of soaking. 

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So what I want you to do is 
quickly pre rinse those items 

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and then fill them up with hot 
water and a little bit of liquid

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dish soap. 
And if you've been listening to 

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the show for a while, you know 
that the secret weapon is to 

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drop a dishwasher pod into 
something that is particularly 

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hard to clean, like something's 
baked on, dried on for too long.

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You can do that kind of as a 
secret weapon. 

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And sometimes it's not just the 
pots and pans and cooking 

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spatula that are heavily soiled 
and need to soak. 

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And of course, when I'm talking 
about a cooking spatula, I'm 

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talking about sticking that into
that pot that you have soaking. 

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Sometimes there are glasses or 
mugs with some residue in the 

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bottom, and you don't want to 
have to scrub those. 

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So you're going to want to fill 
those up with hot soapy water 

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too and get those soaking. 
And I'm not talking about having

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them necessarily soak overnight 
or anything like that. 

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Most likely you're going to go 
ahead and wash them during this 

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session. 
If you're ahead of the game and 

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you're already done getting 
those difficult items soaking or

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you didn't have any difficult 
items, it's time to put away 

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your clean dishes. 
I'm talking about emptying your 

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dishwasher and or drying rack or
maybe you put things out on a 

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towel or a drying pad. 
Obviously, when I say drying 

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rack, I'm just talking about 
those dishes that were washed 

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and then left out to air dry. 
It's time to put away the clean 

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dishes. 
I'm getting ready to make a new 

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chore list for my kids, and that
always appears somewhere on the 

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list, putting away the clean 
dishes. 

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For me, it's just so much easier
to walk into a kitchen that has 

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an empty dishwasher and an empty
drying rack rather than have to 

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do that step first. 
But you might need to do that 

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step first. 
OK, my drying rack's full right 

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now. 
I don't think my dishwasher's 

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full. 
But my drying rack's full right 

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now, and I'm planning to empty 
it early in the day. 

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I'm recording this early in the 
morning. 

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That way I will have kind of a 
clean slate and I won't have to 

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put a lot of thought into where 
I'm going to place dishes as I 

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wash them. 
Because when my dishes are 

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caught up, I don't necessarily 
put things into the dishwasher. 

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I'm more likely to just wash one
or two items by hand. 

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Like if I just make myself 
something to eat, like when the 

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kids are at school and I'm at 
home. 

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Since I'm at home on Mondays, I 
do have that one day where my 

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kids are at school and I'm at 
home. 

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It's a hybrid school where they 
do some of the work at home. 

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It's called a university model. 
A lot of you already know that, 

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so I won't go on and on about 
it. 

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But my point is, when I'm home 
and the kids are at school, I'm 

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just heating up a little bit of 
food for myself. 

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Or even sometimes when they're 
home, we kind of fend for 

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ourselves because they're 
teenagers. 

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My husband and I kind of take 
turns making dinner, but 

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typically people make their own 
lunches. 

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So if I'm just cleaning up my 
own lunch mess I will just wash 

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those by hand. 
But if I'm maybe the kids have 

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left some things in the sink 
that they rinsed off then I 

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might load the dishwasher Just 
depending if there's enough for 

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a load. 
But I'm not super picky. 

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Like it doesn't have to be a 
full load. 

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I am totally fine with running 
my dishwasher at about 75% 

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capacity. 
OK, this is a speed clean, so 

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we're going to just keep moving 
to the next step. 

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But no judgment here. 
If you need more time, you can 

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always pause the episode or just
be doing something different 

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than what I'm talking about. 
But ideally, by now you've 

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gathered up dirty dishes from 
around the house, you've gotten 

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those difficult items soaking, 
and then you've emptied out your

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drying rack and dishwasher. 
It's time to pre rinse some 

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items and either place them into
the dishwasher or place them 

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into your sink for that kind of 
preliminary soak. 

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When I hand wash, I rinse things
off under running water using 

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either a scrub brush or an 
abrasive sponge. 

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It's the same thing I do before 
placing items into the 

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dishwasher and I do a 
combination of dishwashing and 

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hand washing. 
In our house, we call it putting

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the small stuff into the 
dishwasher, meaning the plates, 

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silverware, bowls, maybe some 
strategically placed cooking 

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spoons, and then those larger 
items like the pots and pans we 

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wash in the sink because we 
don't want those to take up 

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valuable real estate in the 
dishwasher or impede the flow of

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water. 
I am not against washing pots 

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and pans in the dishwasher, but 
when I have a lot of small 

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stuff, the priority is getting 
that stuff into the dishwasher. 

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But I realize you might be 100% 
hand washing. 

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My point is it's time to either 
load the dishwasher and hand 

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wash the remaining items or just
start hand washing that for a 

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sink load. 
OK. 

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And when I'm hand washing, I 
again pre rinse and then they go

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into a soak. 
You know, I fill up one side of 

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the sink and I realize your sink
might not be two sided, but I 

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fill up one side of the sink 
with hot soapy water and 

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submerge those items. 
And then usually that water is a

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little bit uncomfortably hot. 
That's a good thing. 

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It's working to clean the 
dishes. 

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Once I get that first sink load 
pre rinsed and submerged. 

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I will often start putting away 
items in the kitchen to kind of 

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get a head start on pre cleaning
my countertops to get them ready

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to wipe down. 
OK, so be knocking out all of 

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your easy dishes. 
Remember we have a few difficult

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items soaking. 
I want you to do that at the end

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of the session, so while you're 
plugging away on dishes, whether

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it's hand washing, loading the 
dishwasher, or a combination of 

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both. 
I just wanted to talk about 

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cleaning the parts of your 
gadgets and just safety. 

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As far as washing your knives 
and whatnot, I learned a long 

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time ago that you should not 
submerge your dirty knives under

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the water because there's 
bubbles in there. 

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You're not going to see them, 
and you or someone else might 

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forget that the knives are in 
there. 

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You might reach under the water 
and grab a knife and cut your 

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hand. 
Yes, I've done it before. 

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Okay. 
In fact, if you've been 

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listening to the show for a 
while, you may have heard the 

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story. 
But one time there was a broken 

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mug under the water, and this 
was kind of a freak accident. 

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I was in a hurry, plunged my 
hand under there, and when I 

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pulled my hand out, that jagged 
broken mug was just stuck into 

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my hand. 
And I was, I was bleeding like a

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stuck pig. 
I ended up going to the hospital

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for stitches. 
This is years ago. 

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I wasn't considered a cleaning 
guru in those days. 

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OK, I'm pretty sure I was in my 
late 20s. 

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But some of the precautions that
I take and just be working on 

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dishes while I talk, some of the
precautions I take is I don't 

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submerge knives and I don't even
put the glasses and cups in 

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there and until right before I'm
going to wash them. 

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I usually if they have like a 
dried on ring at the bottom or 

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something, I usually just fill 
them up and place them next to 

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the sink to soak. 
Then I do submerge them briefly 

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right before washing them, but 
I'm not just leaving them in a 

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sink indefinitely like I would 
maybe with silverware bowls and 

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plates that, you know, maybe 
been soaking under the bubbles 

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for a while, if that makes 
sense. 

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They go in, the cups go in right
when I'm washing them. 

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By the way, you need certain 
tools. 

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You, especially if you have 
narrow glasses or cups, I 

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recommend getting a bottle 
brush. 

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I'm talking about something that
you would find in the baby 

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department for cleaning baby 
bottles that works for champagne

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flutes or other skinny 
containers. 

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OK, you need some kind of a 
tool, and there are also tools 

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like this in the regular 
dishwashing section. 

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But the brush that I use for 
cleaning inside a glass I think 

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is designed for baby bottles, 
whereas I have a different type 

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of scrub brush that I'm using to
pre rinse the plates and pots 

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and pans. 
So I have two of these tools on 

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a handle. 
If you don't have the right 

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tools, that's OK. 
Just work with what you have for

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now. 
I'm just giving you ideas for a 

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future shopping trip since this 
is a speed clean and I want you 

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to actually get your kitchen 
clean, not just your dishes 

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done. 
I'm only going to give you a 

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couple more minutes to wash 
those dishes, so please work 

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quickly. 
Don't forget about those items 

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you left to soak. 
We just saved those for last so 

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that they would have time to 
soak while you're working. 

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I'll talk about some of your 
gadgets with parts. 

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OK, I talked about not 
submerging knives. 

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You might also have other 
gadgets that have sharp parts, 

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whether it's a food processor or
that little thing you use to 

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chop salsa or a little blade for
your magic bullet blender or 

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other blender. 
And what I recommend is that you

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purchase a dish pan, just a 
small rectangular container that

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you can soak certain items in on
the countertop. 

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Now if you don't have that, a 
stand in could be just maybe 

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that large stainless steel salad
bowl you have in your kitchen. 

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You can use something else as 
your container for now if you 

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don't have an actual dish pan. 
And if there's somebody else in 

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the house who helps you with 
dishes, you can let them know. 

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This dish pan is for soaking the
parts of the meat slicer or the 

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food processor or the blender so
that they aren't just blindly 

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sticking their hand into that 
dish pan. 

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The key is knowing that it's, 
you know, kind of a danger zone.

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That way, you can still soak 
those parts of things that have 

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blades without running the risk 
of someone reaching in and 

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cutting themselves 
inadvertently. 

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When you have these gadgets, 
sometimes you need to soak the 

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parts or maybe you just want to 
keep the parts of a certain tool

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together and that causes you to 
procrastinate on washing that 

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gadget. 
The dishpan is the solution 

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because you're not putting 
everything in the sink and, and 

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maybe you have a 1, you know, A1
basin, a single basin sink and 

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you're like, I'm worried that 
somebody is going to run one of 

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the parts of my favorite gadgets
through the garbage disposal or 

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something. 
I'm worried it's going to fall 

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down the drain. 
OK, I'm kind of like that with 

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the little paddle or I was kind 
of like that. 

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I don't the machine ended up 
giving up the ghost, but I used 

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to be really worried about the 
little paddle for my bread 

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machine. 
Like I didn't want that to fall 

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down the drain and somebody 
grind it up so nobody was 

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allowed to wash my bread pan but
me. 

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My point is, you can solve that 
problem by having a dish pan and

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putting the parts of your 
favorite gadget into that dish 

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pan to soak. 
And that can help you avoid 

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procrastination on cleaning that
item. 

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You keep all the parts together 
and people know there are blades

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in there and nothing's going 
down the garbage disposal. 

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OK, by now hopefully you're done
with your dishes. 

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No judgment here if you just 
need to do dishes for the rest 

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00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,120
of the episode, but a lot of you
came here to speed clean your 

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kitchen. 
Congratulations. 

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If you got your dishes done, 
doesn't it feel good to be down 

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to dish 0? 
If not, pause the episode if you

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00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,760
need more time. 
But some of you are locked in 

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right now and you're getting 
your kitchen clean. 

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So the next step is to preclean 
your countertops and clear off 

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your kitchen table and clear off
your kitchen table. 

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Maybe there are some seasonings 
left out from when you cooked. 

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Maybe the kids left out some 
cereal boxes or a peanut butter 

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container. 
I know you did the dishes, but 

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there are other items. 
Maybe you need to throw away 

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00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,040
some trash. 
Or have you taken out your 

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00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,560
kitchen trash and relined it? 
If your kitchen trash is too 

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00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,240
full to put things in it, you're
going to have to take that trash

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00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,960
out and reline it so that you'll
have a place to put things when 

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you're clearing off the counter 
tops. 

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OK, we're not going to do a 
major decluttering in most 

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00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,760
episodes. 
I talk about going more minimal 

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with your countertops, you know,
putting away the stand mixer 

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that you haven't been using 
lately or whatever. 

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The Instant Pot. 
I'm not going to talk about all 

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00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,040
that because this is a speed 
clean. 

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Just wipe those items down, pick
them up, wipe under them. 

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The the point of this episode is
to get your kitchen sanitary. 

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You can do a kind of a 
streamline countertop where you 

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put everything away later, but 
for right now, you're going to 

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put away things that obviously 
need to be dealt with, like your

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00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:55,200
seasonings, your cereal boxes, 
the ketchup that you can just 

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put in the fridge or whatever. 
I don't know what you have out 

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00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,720
on your countertops, but there 
might be some items that don't 

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even belong in the kitchen. 
Quickly run those to the other 

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00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,319
room, but don't get sidetracked.
Come right back. 

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By the way, this step should not
take long at all because once 

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00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,440
your dishes are done, you 
probably only have a few items 

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00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,119
on the counter. 
It can seem daunting when your 

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00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,520
kitchen looks visually 
cluttered, but it's not going to

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00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,400
take as long as you think to 
just put those items away. 

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00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,839
Just quickly put them away and 
reveal those countertops so that

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00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:31,080
you can go spray happy. 
And I realize you might have 

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00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,160
some clean dishes in a drying 
rack and you don't want to spray

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00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,360
cleaner right there. 
That's OK. 

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00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,600
When we wipe down the counters, 
you're going to use just a damp 

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00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,000
rag with dish soap on it in 
those areas where you can't 

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00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,800
spray, like maybe where you have
a bowl of fruit or where you 

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00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,880
have clean dishes drying. 
But I typically move my fruit 

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00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,920
basket over to the table when I 
spray down my countertops. 

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00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,240
Then after I scrub the 
countertops, I bring it back to 

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00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,240
my kitchen island and then I 
clean the table. 

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00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,640
Just clear your countertops and 
then start spraying and wiping 

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00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,120
down surfaces. 
And it's not just your 

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00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,600
countertops and stove tops that 
you're going to spray and wipe 

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00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,920
down. 
It's also the fronts of your 

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00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:19,360
large appliances, the outside of
your refrigerator, the outside 

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00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,880
of your microwave, your 
dishwasher, your oven. 

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00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,760
OK, you're going to spray those 
surfaces with the appropriate 

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00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,920
products and scrub them. 
If they're heavily soiled, you 

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00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:36,400
might need to use an abrasive 
sponge with hot soapy water. 

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00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,640
Sometimes that's a step that 
needs to be done before you just

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00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,200
spray and wipe down the surfaces
with a cloth. 

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00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,680
You know what to do, but you're 
cleaning all of those upper 

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00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,840
surfaces of your kitchen. 
If you have time, at least wipe 

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00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,520
the cabinets where they're 
frequently touched. 

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00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:03,000
OK, but the main thing I want 
you to do is wipe your large 

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00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,280
appliances and small ones that 
you have sitting out your 

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00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,240
countertop, your stove top. 
Of course, your countertop 

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00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,440
includes your kitchen island, if
you have one. 

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00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,520
Speaking of the island, there's 
probably a certain section of 

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00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,640
countertop, whether it's an 
island or just part of your 

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00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:26,440
counter where you prepare food. 
That's where you want to use a 

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00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,160
disinfectant of some sort. 
OK. 

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00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,040
For us, our prep area is the 
island. 

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00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,400
So after I've cleaned the 
island, I like to go over it 

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00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,200
with disinfecting wipes. 
You know, I do use a cutting 

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00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:45,200
board, but inevitably you could 
get, you know, meat juices and 

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00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,160
things on that surface and there
could be germs lurking that you 

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00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,200
can't see. 
And the disinfecting wipes are 

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00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,160
kind of insurance. 
Of course, you don't have to use

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00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,000
wipes. 
You can just use a disinfectant 

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00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,520
spray. 
But I'm a fan of the wipes. 

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00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,720
By the way, we're going to be 
going into cold and flu season, 

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00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:06,120
so one of the other uses for 
disinfecting wipes. 

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00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:12,360
Is keeping some in the bathroom.
My mom is a major germaphobe and

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00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,440
years ago she came to visit us 
and then all of a sudden my kids

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00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,480
were throwing up or whatever and
she didn't want to catch it. 

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00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,960
You know, her flight wasn't 
leaving for a couple more days. 

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00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:23,480
She didn't want to catch it. 
What she did, she bought some 

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00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,760
disinfecting wipes and then 
every time she used the 

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00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:31,160
bathroom, she would go in there 
and wipe things like the 

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00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,840
doorknob, the switch plate, the 
sink, the faucets. 

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00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:37,880
And I'm not telling you to clean
your bathrooms right now. 

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00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,440
I'm just talking about another 
reason to have disinfecting 

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00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,240
wipes in stock. 
And just basically, you know, 

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00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,400
the flusher handle, the toilet 
seat, everything in the bathroom

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00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,360
she was going to touch, she 
cleaned it with the disinfecting

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00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:56,520
wipes first so that when she was
touching the sink and flushing 

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00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:01,080
the toilet, she would not pick 
up germs from whoever used the 

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00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,400
bathroom before her. 
OK. 

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00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,920
And I'll be the first to admit 
I'm not real good about this 

345
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,840
kind of stuff. 
Like, I don't worry as much 

346
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,640
about it. 
But obviously, you know, it is 

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00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,360
important to practice, at least 
practice hand washing a lot when

348
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:20,000
you have people who are sick in 
the house. 

349
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,280
And maybe consider using my 
mom's idea. 

350
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,480
If people are super sick and you
don't want to catch it, or you 

351
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,800
don't want someone else who's 
vulnerable to catch it, you 

352
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,720
might have people in your house 
who are immunocompromised and 

353
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:37,000
someone has the flu, or someone 
has COVID or even a cold. 

354
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,760
For some people, even a cold 
could cause them to get 

355
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,360
pneumonia. 
Not trying to scare you here, 

356
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,760
but I'm just saying you might 
want to use my mom's method of 

357
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,880
using the disinfecting wipes. 
You know, Don't have the sickest

358
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:51,720
person in the house preparing 
food? 

359
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,240
Have some disinfecting wipes in 
the bathroom. 

360
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:59,640
OK, by now hopefully you've 
wiped down the countertops in 

361
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,280
your kitchen. 
The last and final step of 

362
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,040
cleaning your kitchen is 
sweeping and mopping. 

363
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,320
Or if you have a vacuum that's 
good on hardwood floors, 

364
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,080
vacuuming and mopping. 
OK, so after this episode, maybe

365
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:18,640
put some music on and clean your
kitchen floors. 

366
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:24,440
Speaking of music, I wanted to 
remind you that there's a new 

367
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,960
way to unlock bonus episodes, 
and that's directly through 

368
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,640
Spotify. 
I know many of you are already 

369
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,800
supporting the show on Apple 
Podcasts, but some of you who 

370
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:39,680
were listening on Spotify did 
not have a very convenient way 

371
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,160
to unlock the bonus episodes. 
You can now do that directly 

372
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:50,200
through Spotify or you can go to
my Patreon page and I always put

373
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,480
a link to my website in the 
episode description clean with 

374
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,600
mepodcast.com. 
You can find information on all 

375
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:01,440
the ways to subscribe there, but
I just wanted to kind of throw 

376
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,200
that out there about the Spotify
subscriptions because 

377
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,280
subscribing directly through 
Spotify was not possible before 

378
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,680
and now it is. 
Whether you're subscribing to 

379
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:17,360
bonus episodes on Apple Podcast,
Spotify or Patreon, it's all the

380
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:23,840
same to me and I appreciate the 
financial support more than you 

381
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,480
know. 
I'm hoping you put on some music

382
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:32,080
or another podcast while you 
sweep and mop your kitchen. 

383
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:33,920
It's important. 
It's an important finishing 

384
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,560
touch. 
And maybe you can also finish 

385
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,880
wiping down your cabinets 
because I know I didn't allow a 

386
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,440
lot of time for that. 
It's my kids first day of school

387
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,560
so I've got to go. 
By the way, I'm going to be 

388
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:50,600
providing more of a life update 
about me in the next bonus 

389
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,640
episode, so be sure you 
subscribe to bonus content so 

390
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,520
that you don't miss that. 
I hope you got a lot done during

391
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,680
this episode. 
Happy cleaning and I'll talk to 

392
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:01,160
you soon.
