Hints from Hotel Housekeepers

Director of housekeeping at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa in Honolulu

• Before you start work on any other rooms in your house, spray cleanser on bathroom surfaces and in the toilet. This will help loosen the dirt while you're tackling other tasks.

• Clean in a circle around the room; dust and pick up as you go and you won't have to backtrack.

• Place fresh flowers and greenery in as many rooms as possible.

LORIS MARVIN
Assistant rooms executive at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida

• Scent is surprisingly important. When things smell fresh, you automatically think, This space is really clean. At home, I use a fabric freshener (like Febreze) on everything.

• Skip the all-purpose cleansers in favor of products designed for specific jobs. I like Zep 40 foam (available at hardware stores) for windows and mirrors; it leaves surfaces completely streak free.

By Alice Oglethorpe, Good Housekeeping