Last week, a nurse asked me how my pretied bandana stays on.  She said she kept trying to wear a regular bandana while doing housework, but could never get it to stay in place.  I took it off, showed her the elastic in the back, and told her where to buy one online.

‘Tis the season for spring cleaning.  A lot of women are opening windows, shaking out rugs, and trying to scrub a year’s worth of gunk off the inside of the oven.  It’s funny how trying to clean the house can result in yourself getting really dirty!  Aprons and rubber gloves as protective gear are sort of passe, but trust me when I tell you that when you’re getting busy behind the fridge, covering your hair is one of the smartest things you can do!

If you’ve read The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, you should know what I mean.  The unsuspecting heroine pulls out a bottle of bleach-based cleanser – and while I don’t want to ruin the story for you, I’m sure you can imagine what happened.  Covering your hair protects it from harsh chemicals and flying dirt!

Say you’re cleaning that gunky oven I mentioned above, with your trusty-rusty can of Easy-Off.  It definitely loosens that horrible black crust, but it’s also loaded with inhalants and other stuff that can hurt your skin.  Among other scary-but-effective ingredients, Easy-Off contains sodium hydroxide – commonly known as lye.  Sodium hydroxide is also a major ingredient in drain cleaning products that are meant to dissolve hair!  You don’t want to breathe it in, and you also don’t want to risk getting that on your hair or scalp either.  In this case, cover your head – and then tie a bandana over your mouth!

I’m done scaring you.  Now I’m going to talk about the power of dressing the part.  Simply put, you are what you wear.  Putting on a ninja outfit will make you feel stealthy.  Putting on a police uniform will make you feel responsible.  Putting on gym clothes and cros-trainers will make you feel like working out.  Putting on clothes that are designated for house-cleaning will make you feel like cleaning up.  Well, not exactly.  But it’s part of getting in the groove.  If you never wear a bandana except when washing the windows, then tying on that bandana will start to feel like the first step towards getting those panes to sparkle.  Buy a cute tichel or baseball cap and pretend it turns you into Bionic-Washer-Woman.  Throw in a cape too, if it you think it will help.