TV Review: How Clean Is Your House?
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that there are times when this reality
show's "ick" factor is enough to turn viewers' stomachs:
Cameras zoom in on kitchen appliances that are literally
dripping with grease, bacteria-ridden bathroom fixtures, and
rodent-infested closets. The series addresses the potential
health hazards (infections, parasites, air quality concerns) of
living like this and offers lots of tried-and-true cleaning
tips. The two female stars can be severe in their criticism of
the participants' housekeeping skills, but they use it to shock
them into action. Parents and older kids who tune in may be
inspired to team up against the dust and dirt in their own
home.
Families can talk about why it's important to maintain a clean,
tidy home. How do you feel when your house is messy? How about
when it's clean? Do you like to clean? If you
had to pick, what are your favorite areas of the house
to clean? Your least favorite? Why? Have you learned any
cleaning tips that make the tasks less difficult? How does
cleanliness improve your overall health? Parents and kids can
use this opportunity to develop a cleaning schedule with
assignments for each family member.
In the British reality series HOW CLEAN IS YOUR HOUSE?, two proper English ladies on a cleanliness crusade roll up their sleeves and tackle years' worth of grime, grease, and filth in homes that look like they've never seen the wet side of a sponge. Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie inspect every room -- sharing their dismay as they uncover mouse droppings in kitchens, moldy coffee cups in bedrooms, and extensive "poopy doop" toilet stains in bathrooms. After a thorough going-over, they confront the residents with their findings (they can be quite critical, taking a "tough love" approach), assure them that there's a light at the end of the dusty tunnel, and challenge them to turn over a new leaf.
Led by Aggie and Kim -- who trade their pressed business attire for white cover-ups and (in Kim's case) fur-lined gloves when it's time to go to work -- a team of professional cleaners moves into the house for the rubbish renovation. The home's residents also contribute plenty of elbow grease, and Kim and Aggie offer lots of encouragement, handy cleaning tips (who knew a potato would scour a rusty pot?), and reminders about the health hazards of a messy home. Together the group transforms the home into a place that's once again fit for humans. Then, armed with a new cleaning schedule, the residents bid the dirt-destroying divas farewell until their check-up visit two weeks later, when Kim and Aggie will discover whether all their hard work has broken established bad habits.
If you can stomach lots of greasy, sticky, mildewy scenes, How Clean Is Your House? is sure to make you feel better about the state of your own surroundings. In fact, the gross factor might just draw your kids to watch with you -- giving you the chance to remind them that with a little neglect, they, too, could be candidates for a visit from the show's clean team.
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