WEBVTT - Your Office is Filthy (with Jolie Kerr) 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:05.680 That's my colleagues. We'll stop commenting on everything I get 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:08.840 my assistants at people and meeting? Why does my coworker 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.240 keep taking credit for all my ideas? Have any wisdom 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.360 for me? Hi? I'm Alison Green. Welcome to the Aska 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:18.040 Manager podcast, where I answer questions from listeners about life 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:20.840 at work. Everything from what to say if you're allergic 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.119 to your coworkers perfume to what to do if you 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:26.000 drink too much at the company party. Let's get started. 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.320 You might think that work advice doesn't have much crossover 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.640 with cleaning advice, but actually I get a fair number 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.559 of questions that relate to cleaning at work. Why is 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.159 the microwave in the office kitchen so disgusting? And how 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.879 can we keep it clean? The person who shares my 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.960 workspace leaves it in a terrible mess? How do I 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.040 lead a meeting when I just spilled soup all over 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.800 my shirt? Today we're going to talk about the intersection 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.360 of work and cleaning, And I'm so excited about the guests. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.920 Who's here to do it? Jolly Care runs the cleaning 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.000 advice column Ask a Clean Person, and she's the host 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.120 of the Ask a Clean Person and podcast, as well 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.800 as the author of the best selling book My Boyfriend 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:07.480 Barfed in My Handbag and Other Things you Can't ask Martha, 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.160 and she has made cleaning advice fun and fascinating. She 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.399 answers questions from Airbnb hosts about how to clean up 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.360 the blood their guests left all around their home, what 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.880 to do if your Halloween wig leaves hair everywhere, how 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.280 to clean up the beer you spilled all over your bed, 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.280 and much more. She knows everything there is to know 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:28.760 about cleaning, and on a personal note, her advice once 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.160 helped me save my favorite pair of sweatpants from a 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:34.240 terrible olive oil stain, so I will always be forever 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.039 in her debt, she's here today to answer a whole 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.240 slew of questions that listeners sent in that involve both 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.400 work and cleanliness. Julie, Welcome to the show. Hi Allison, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.520 I'm so excited to have you here. I'm excited to 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.640 do this. This is a fun red rover for us 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.240 since you did my show. That's right. I think people 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.320 might think, like cleaning and work, where's the intersection there? 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:58.880 But actually I put out a call on Twitter and 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:00.960 on the Aska Manager web site for people to send in. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.520 There are questions about cleanliness at work, and people have 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.360 a ton of them, so we have some really great 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:11.760 ones to answer. Yeah, we do. I'm excited. Before we 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.120 do that, though, I want to ask you about your work, 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.679 because I am obsessed with what you do. How did 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.760 Ask a Clean Person get started? Ask a Clean Person 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:26.720 got started? Really on a total lark. I was working 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.400 as a marketing and business develop manager at a big 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.720 law firm here in New York. That was my career. 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.040 I had a very good career. As I like to 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:42.079 tell people, I wore suits and pantyhose um. And but 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.400 I had come out of a journalistic background and I 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.000 missed the creative pursuits, and so I had been doing 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.720 a little bit of writing on the side under a 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:56.760 pen name care is actually a pen name. Um Jolie 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.200 is my real nickname for my full name, but um 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.360 but Karra's end name. And at the time I was 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.639 writing for a site called The All R I p 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:08.799 The All and they were launching a sister's site that 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.800 was a women's vertical called The Hairpin. And the editor 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:13.400 of that site said, you know, I'd love for you 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.920 to write for us, and yeah, I'd love to, and 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:18.239 a friend of mine came up with the idea that 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:19.880 I should write about cleaning, which I thought was a 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.000 terrible idea. Terrible idea. I didn't think anyone would read it. 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.600 And the only way that I could, kind of in 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:30.120 my mind make sense of what a readable cleaning column 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:31.880 might look like was to do it as a Q 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.480 and a as an advice column. Just let people tell 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.120 me what they wanted to know, what what problems they had, 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.200 what questions I had, And so we came up with 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.680 the idea of Asked a Clean Person. I truly thought 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.360 it was gonna die on the vine. I solicited questions 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.120 from about twenty friends, expecting that I would get, you know, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.280 maybe three pity replies, but no, actually I got a 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.560 lot of replies just from my friends. And then once 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.200 the column started, I would say, within the first three 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.600 weeks of the column, I didn't need to rely on 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.440 those replies from my friends at all. I had enough 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.000 from our actual readers, and from there it was really 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.600 off to the races. I was also, at the time 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.760 just um a person who knew a lot about cleaning, 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.920 but by no means was I a cleaning expert. I 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.480 learned on the job, and ultimately I ended up getting 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.039 a book deal and writing my book. My boyfriend barbed 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.919 in my handbag and other things you can't ask Martha. UM. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.840 And when I finished writing the book in hand and 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.560 then the manuscript, I sort of had this like light 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.720 bulb moment where I thought, well, girl, now you're an expert, 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.000 because you really know the answers to this stuff. Like 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.520 I said, so much resource and I talked to so 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.080 many people, and I learned so much from my readers. 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.440 And it's a weird thing about cleaning when you meant 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.960 when you talk, when you mentioned it to people, they 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:51.680 actually want to talk about it, and they want to 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.760 tell you not only the horrible messages they've made in 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.720 the disaster they've they've had, like you know, getting cooking 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.640 oil on their favorite sweatpaine u um, but they also 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.800 want to tell you the stuff they know. And a 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:06.440 lot of times it's stuff that that is common knowledge, 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.560 but a lot of times it's also very esoteric. Um. 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.800 And what I found was that the more that I 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:13.960 talked to people and told them what I did, the 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.400 more that hobbyists kind of came out of the woodwork 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.119 with tips for me, Like um, this. This didn't actually happened, 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:22.520 but like an example of a kind of thing that 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:26.040 would happen is like I'd meet like a cellist who 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.479 would be like, oh, yes, well this is how you 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.039 clean a cello, and then I know how to clean 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.120 a cello because it's an expert on that has just 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.920 told me that. Um. So that's really how the how 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.000 the job came about. And it's been wonderful. It's been 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.640 a total trip in a wild ride. I think one 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.200 reason people I love it is because it's like this 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.159 very modern twist. It's not what people think about I 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.719 think when they think about a cleaning advice column sounds 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.720 like something your grandmother might read that you deal with 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.520 like a lot of body fluid related questions, and you're 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.159 so not non judgmental about it. I think people love that. Yeah, 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:05.880 I think that's um that's one of the benefits of 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.000 doing it in the Q and A format is that 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.839 people are coming to you with their real messes, and 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.360 so that becomes very relatable for a reader. I often 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.279 tell people that people aren't really reading it from my advice. 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:21.040 They're reading it for the questions and the messes and 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.359 the stories. There's so much voyeurism that goes along with 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.960 any kind of advice column really, um, and you know 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.440 you certainly you know that from your work, and so 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.440 really that's the human interest side to it, Like how 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:38.479 did that tin of of mackerel packed in oil come 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.559 to be spilled on your favorite house pants? Uh? Which 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.520 you know was a real question that I thought that 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.520 as I know how you ended up getting the advice 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:50.719 you needed for your own oil on your favorite house 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.520 pants uh situation that you add, um, And so that 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.200 really was I think, Um, I think there's a there's 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:59.560 a human interest to it that sort of the older 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:03.760 style cleaning advice columns that you find don't offer that. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.240 And then yeah, there's there's my voice in it too, um, 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.080 which is you know, as you said, you know, non judgmental. 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.680 And part of the reason I'm not judgmental, quite frankly, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.520 is because like I've been a disaster in my life, 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.480 Like I've made all kinds of embarrassing messes over the years, 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.560 and so it would be, first of all, I would 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.240 be totally out of character for me as as me 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.360 just as a human to judge someone who you know 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:33.440 has thrown up in like inside their pillowcase which is 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.160 the thing that happened one of my friends, because like, 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.200 but for the grace of God, go I want, I 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.440 want to start up on my own feet. You know, 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.160 do you think that there is something generational to the 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.440 response that you've gotten that we haven't been taught how 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:52.520 to clean things in the same way that our parents 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.320 are grandparents might have been, and we're sort of stuck 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.560 figuring it out for ourselves. And so there's this real 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:02.280 hunger when there's this expert source to go to. Or 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.680 is that just me who doesn't really know how to clean? No, 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.280 it's not just you don't worry. Actually, the great thing 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.520 about asking same person also is that it's just a 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.920 great equalizer that like, no one is in any kind 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:16.480 of mess alone. Ever. Um, I love telling people I've 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.800 got in three separate questions from three separate people who 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.320 melted a pound of butter into their car seats, no 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.480 messages unique. So but yeah, I do. I do absolutely 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.240 think that there is a generational component. And I think, frankly, 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.560 you know from the perspective of me, who you know, 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:35.960 I I am a feminist for sure. I went to 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.280 a women's college. I've got that whole like thing about me. 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.760 You know, UM, I actually think it's kind of a 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:43.760 good thing in a lot of ways that women in 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.560 particular haven't been like as as like trained in the 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.160 domestic arts as maybe they were to one or two 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.680 generations back. Um. But that also means that there is 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.400 of groth of knowledge and that we all as people 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.880 need to know how to clean, whether we do it 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.040 or not, it's a skill or knowledge base that we 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.000 should have. Um. And one of the opportunities that I 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.280 really had with doing this column once I sort of 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.640 identified that this was this generational learning gap really was 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.920 going on, was that it let me level the playing 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.960 field for both men and women and say, hey, yeah, 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:21.679 I'm going to teach you how to clean, but I'm 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.720 not just teaching and women how to clean. I'm teaching 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.160 the men too, Like I'm here for everyone. This is 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.880 not gender And that that was my I know that 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.920 sounds like crazy, and I hope I don't get dragged 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:37.120 for saying it, but that was like maybe one of 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.800 my biggest like feminist moments and achievements when I had 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.160 that that light bulb go on and realize that like 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.679 I could do this thing, I could actually affect real 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:51.000 change in terms of addressing the gender gap that still 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.000 does exist with cleaning, because I could exploit this not 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:57.920 whole in knowledge that an entire generation, not just of women, 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.840 but of men to have I love that. I wanted 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.040 to ask about that. Actually, because he started your column 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.280 at the Hairpin, which was aimed at women, but then 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.320 you started writing for more male audience. Have you noticed 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.640 differences in the type of questions that you get from 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:16.320 men versus from women. No, great news, everyone is filthy. 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.680 Equality rains when it comes to how messy we are 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.480 and the messes we make. I did notice an uptick 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.200 in questions about cleaning couches when I started writing for men. 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.400 That was curious for me. My takeaway from that is 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.480 that men really love their couches, and and that's great, 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.360 and I like that they love them so much they 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:36.880 were righting to a cleaning expert to know how to 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.600 clean them up. Um. But there was one big difference 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:41.720 that I noticed, and this this is a little dispiriting, 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.320 and and it is this, men and women ask questions 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.520 in very different ways. Women tend to open their questions 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:55.920 by apologizing for not knowing something, apologizing for being gross. Um. 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.720 Just generally there's a lot of self law reglation that 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.640 happens when women begin to address me before they even 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:09.280 get into asking their questions, whereas men tend to open 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:13.800 their questions to me by stating their credentials, they're smarts, 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.439 their base of knowledge, and then they get to the 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:21.600 question they have to ask. That is dispiriting. I noticed. Okay, 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.960 we have a bunch of questions that people set in 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.320 for you that I want us to tackle. Will take 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:37.400 a very quick break and we'll come back with the questions. Okay, 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.400 let's get into questions that people sent in for you 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:45.480 about the intersection of work and cleaning. So this first 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.880 one was sent in from someone on Twitter who asked, 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:52.800 if I spill hypothetically and hypothetically, isn't all caps here 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:59.280 mustard or tomato soup on myself at lunch? What will 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.720 take it out? Aside from those portable tiede pens or 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.520 shout wipes which stink? What do I need to keep 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.160 in my desk? I love this question, and I have 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.240 to say I will out who it is, but it 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:13.080 is actually someone I worked with at the hairpin Um, 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.160 and I love it was. It's such a good question. 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.959 I like also that she managed to pick like two 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.800 of the stainiest foods that you could pick. Tomato soup 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:25.120 and mustard are very very very stainy. But but that's 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:26.880 that's great that she picked them. So first of all, 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.160 I actually say I really do like shout whites. I 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.959 do not love tied pens um. If it's all you've 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:36.440 got and then pinch, they work great. Um. I find 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:41.840 that the delivery of application of scene removing solution is 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.679 just much better in a wipe form that it is 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.640 in the pen form. And one copyat I want to 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.680 give about both of those products is that if you 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:50.920 do you, I mean you know they're meant to be 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.280 used on the go, which you should use them on 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:54.960 the go, and they're great to use. But when you 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.280 get home, it is not a bad idea to flush 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.480 the area that you stain tree did with cool running 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.079 water just to push out the detergent, because what can 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.480 happen is the detergent itself can leave a little ring 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.000 that will create a state of its own. Um. So, 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.640 but with that set, I think that chot webs are 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.640 great and I really do recommend that people stash a 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:19.240 little box of them in a desk store or you know, 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:21.920 stick a few in a handbag, or if you're a man, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.240 stick one in your wallet, like right next to your 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.520 just in case condom. Um. I really think they're great. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.560 In fact, I used one just this past weekend. Friend 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:32.800 had an old coffee stain on her favorite shirt and 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:34.920 I was like, oh girl, get over here, and like 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.880 scrubbed her buzzom off and took the stain right out 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.080 and she was happy and so was I. But I 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.440 also want to help out this person who does not 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.960 like chat wipes, because that's also a fair stance. You 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.600 don't have to love the products that I love for sure. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.319 Um here is a weird one that is great, especially 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:57.000 in the workplace or just generally on the fly. Hand 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.800 sanitizer is an incredible stain remover. The reason for that 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:02.760 is is that it has a very high concentration of 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.560 alcohol in it. Alcohol is a wonderful stain remover, which 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.320 leads me to this next thing. I do not think 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:13.240 it is a bad idea at all to keep either 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:18.640 a bottle of rubbing alcohol or a packet of those 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:23.920 um alcohol impregnated whites. They're they're usually called prep pads. 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.680 You find them met the at the drug store. Those 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.040 are excellent not only for staining ruver but also for 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.080 cleaning telephone headsets and keyboards. And I know we're going 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.600 to talk about that stuff because we've got some more 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.560 questions specifically about those. But rubbing alcohol is wonderful for 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.720 all kinds of cleaning um, and so if you do 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.760 have space for it, just a little bottle of rubbing 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.640 alcohol or those prep paths would be great. I have 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.800 rubbing alcohol that comes in a spray bottle, which has 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.440 been a total game changer for stain ruble, and I 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:00.680 would say the spray bottle is particularly excellent. The last 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.960 thing to mention in most workplaces you will have it 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:08.360 is dish soap. Good old dish soap is great. Now 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.320 it's not always the most practical thing. If you dribble 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.040 on your shirt, you have to keep wearing it for 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.640 the rest of the day. But if it's on something 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.880 like a cardigan that you can take off and flush 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.080 with a little water, massage a small amount of dish 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.960 soap into the stain using your fingers, and then flush 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.280 again with cool water. Repeating is necessary if it's a 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.080 particularly bad scene or big scene, but dish so it 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.880 takes a lot out. Okay, well, you mentioned keyboards, and 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.160 we had a few people ask about keyboards. One person asked, 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:43.240 how gross are keyboards? And another person asked, please ask 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.400 about the best way to keep your keyboard clean, especially 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:48.560 if you eat at your desk and you're not willing 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.640 to change that habit. And I'm going to sign on 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.280 to this question too, because my keyboard is disgusting. Okay, 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.480 fair enough. Yeah, first of all, Yeah, the keyboards are 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.720 super gross, completely disgusting. Like, here's a thing I think 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.560 people generally know this, Like, your hands are the dirtiest 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.760 part of your body, right, So anything that your hands 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.480 are touching all the time, all the time, whether it's 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:15.480 a light switch, a door knob, a faucet on a sink, 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.960 or your keyboard. Oh also your cell phones, guys, your 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:24.400 cell phones are disgusting. I am weirdly not a German Phope, 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:26.760 it's really surprised as people to learn. But like, one 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.520 thing I absolutely will not do is I will not 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.080 touch other people's faults because I know how gross they 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.840 are and I can't do it. I can't bring myself 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.640 to do it. Um. So, yeah, your keyboard is super gross, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.440 but you do not at all have to stop eating 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.360 at your desk or any of that kind of stuff. Um, 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.400 they're basically two different things. You want to bear in 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.720 mind when you're cleaning a keyboard. For deep cleaning a keyboard, 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.320 you want to start with canned air compressed air candar 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.360 is the same same term for the same thing, or sorry, 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.120 different terms for the same thing. Um, that will help 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:05.280 you remove any debris, whether it's crumbs or dust or 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.359 hair or whatever. I don't even want to think what 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.520 else could be going on in a keyboard. Um, it 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:15.320 will help us logic from within, uh, the in between 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.800 the keys, if you want to start with that, though, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.360 because it is going to blow up all of that 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.720 stuff all over onto the top of the keyboard, the 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.720 bezel of the screen, all of that. So that's really 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:28.040 what you want to start with if you're going to 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.320 do a deep cleaning. And then really all you need 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.120 to clean a keyboard is rubbing alcohol. You do not 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:37.680 need anything fancy at all. I use rubbing alcoholic, I said. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.399 I have this the little spray bottle, it actually sits 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.239 at my desk and a microfiber cloth, and I just 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.000 spray some of the rubbing alcohol on the microfiber cloth 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.400 and just wipe the keyboard down and that's all. Um, 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.720 if they're really really bad, like kind of stubborn stains 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:57.240 or scuffs, um um. Magic a research is wonderful. Q 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.680 tips are also great tools for detailing keyboards. But you're 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:04.760 gonna totally hate me for this, and no one has 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:06.520 to do this. I'm just telling you what I did 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:11.080 because I'm me. Every Monday morning, I qute hit my keyboard. 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.760 I like go over it with the rubbing alcohol in 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.119 the and the cute tip. It's just it's like my 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:19.600 little Monday morning ritual, like as I'm kind of getting 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.439 going for the week. Um, and it works great and 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.560 it's like really also satisfying because then you can look 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:26.159 at it and like see the dart that came out, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.560 and you're like, oh yeah, like clean, that's great. So 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.200 that's really all nothing fancy. I think I've cleaned my 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:35.040 keyboard once a quarter. That's better than most outs. I mean, 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.240 that's honestly, that's fine. Like I'm just me, I'm me, 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.080 you know, I'm looking at it right now. It's so good. Honestly, 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.120 I am a clean for like I live this way. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.360 That's true. That's something no one else needs to right, 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:51.679 I'm gonna try to clean my keyboard mark like, I'm 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.800 actually embarrassed when people see my laptop because it's so gross. Yeah, 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.520 I think most people probably feel it. Like, Okay, this 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.280 next question I think is really interesting. It's how much 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.719 personal stuff should live in your workspace. The person who 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.960 sent this in says, I have the standard bits of paraphernalia, photos, calendars, etcetera. 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.280 But I also have a coworker who has so much 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.399 stuff in her cube that it's expanding into the empty 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:18.800 cube behind her. Her cube is crammed. If her apartment 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:20.639 looked like her cube, I would call her a hoarder. 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.159 But I've never been to her apartment. None of it 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.600 is worth related. But even if it were in the 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:30.280 digital age, is there really any acceptable reason behind someone's 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.960 space being crammed full of stuff? Jelly? What do you 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:38.639 think about that? Well, surprise, Alison, I've I flagged this 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.119 one because I actually wanted to hear your answer. I 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.840 think it's interesting. I think if you go to either 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:47.000 extreme on this, it'll look a little bit off. If 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.000 you have absolutely nothing personal in your office, you kind 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.520 of look like you haven't put down any roots, And 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:55.080 like maybe one day you're just not going to come 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:57.760 back from lunch. But then there are also people who 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.119 go to the other extreme where they fillip their this 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:02.760 or their cube like it's their house, Like they're bringing 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.199 in couches and rugs and lamps and many fridges. And 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.240 when you do that, I think there is a point 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.160 where it looks like your focus is on the wrong things. 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.639 I mean, I am all for making your work space 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.240 more comfortable and cozy. I'm a big fan of that, 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:18.400 but I do think you can take it too far 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.879 where your priorities look off. Yeah, and that was pretty 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:25.800 much what my initial response was, is that you do 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.200 you do want to take into account the impression you're 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:35.040 creating at work, and the the impression should be that 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:38.040 you are there to do a job and that you 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:41.159 are professional, regardless of what that job is. I think 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:45.440 it's also tricky because so many jobs are so different, 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:47.479 and you know, if you work in a creative field, 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:53.800 having a very riotous looking cubicle might be a totally 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:59.840 different thing from if you work, say in banking. Um So, 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.640 the thing I would say is, first of all, some 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:07.919 people work better with stuff around them, and some people 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:13.520 work better with nothing around them, and some people work, 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.200 you know, in in all places in between in that spectrum. Um. 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:22.360