When I was a little kid, my mother would tear the house apart every spring and fall and clean the place from top to bottom. Brass was polished, rugs sent out to be cleaned, floors were scrubbed on hands and knees and waxed with a big machine, and the windows were shined inside and out. I loved how the house felt when she was finished. Everything seemed more serene when the place was in order.
I do the same thing in my grooming space. As I write this, the leaves outside my window are turning shades of gold and red, which signals me to give my workspace a stern look and a deep clean. I start by standing outside and looking at the entrance. The doormat gets a good scrub or replaced if it looks worn. Next, the door gets wiped down and often brightened up with a seasonal wreath.
Inside, all the furniture, crates, and anything moveable gets pulled out. Anything hanging on the walls, like artwork or certificates, get taken down and cleaned. I wipe down the walls and ceiling. Once a year, I grab a screwdriver and remove the plates that cover my electrical outlets and the switch plates for the lights. It never ceases to amaze me where pet hair has found its way into, and there are often clumps of fur behind those plates. I suspect that could be a fire hazard, and I am happy when that chore is completed.
Baseboards get washed, and the floor under the crates and furniture gets washed well and allowed to dry before I replace each cleaned item. While I am at it, I find myself decluttering, and the space feels lighter with each item that finds its way out the door.
I don’t have any curtains, but I would wash them if I did. I do have fabric pillows in the chairs where customers sit, and they get treated to a spin in the Maytag. I do a deep clean on my bathing tub, pulling it out from the wall a bit to clean behind it. There is always a horrifying amount of hair stuck between the tub and the wall.
Shop vacuums in a grooming environment can get icky and smell bad. So I take mine apart at least twice a year, more often if needed, and clean or replace the filter, soak the hose and wand in disinfectant cleaner and wipe out the inside of the canister with cleaner. Then I let everything dry in the sun for a while before reassembling.
Working in a clean, fresh workspace feels good to me. I especially love it when customers enter my studio and say, “It always smells so good in here.”
By Daryl Conner, MPS, MCG
Daryl Conner has been devoted to making dogs and cats more comfortable and beautiful for almost 40 years. You can find her happily working at FairWinds Grooming Studio with her daughter and infant granddaughter, or typing away at her latest grooming-related article. Daryl was awarded both a Cardinal Crystal Award and Barkleigh Honors Award for journalism. She shares her meadow-hugged antique Maine farmhouse with her practically perfect husband and too many animals.
