Kateřina Brožová: Cured brothel gives advice on how not to become a household slave – News

Where did the idea to start a cleaning business as a hobby come from?

I’ve always wanted to create something, I’m a creative person. Even before cleaning, I made clothes to order and also sold them.

I would expect more interest in numbers from a graduate of the University of Economics!

Well, you see, I also enjoy creation and design. My mother and grandmother both sew a lot, so I picked up a lot from them. I designed various hats and sewed blankets. But then I realized that if I want to have time for my own children and have a business to go with it, I can’t do this.

Sewing is time-consuming, and unfortunately, today’s customers don’t really appreciate manual work. Although many people complain about products from China, they end up buying them anyway. They are cheaper. So I wanted to create something where I would have time for family and business. I have decided that I will only create online products that will be downloadable. Just nothing material.

Okay, but where is the cleaning?

I thought about what I actually do most at home and what I have the biggest problem with. I was just on maternity leave with my son and my days consisted of cleaning from morning to night. And anyway, the house was still a mess.

So, first of all, I came up with a system, thanks to which you can save time spent on cleaning.

There is no need to devote yourself to it from morning to night, and it can be done effectively so that the result is known immediately.

But I don’t consider it a mess when a child just throws toys out of the boxes. I started selling the so-called “to do list”, or a list of ten things to do every day to keep your home clean. Even with children. That’s how it started.

The first list was a free download for a long time. I haven’t had a paid product for two years. That came later.

You say you are a cured prostitute. Was it really like that?

The brothel never completely got out of me. I am a very messy and disorganized person. I don’t have order in me naturally.

It turns me on. I like order around me, but with my nature it is very difficult for me to maintain it. That’s why I invented the “To do” sheets. If I follow them exactly, I stay organized better. It used to be worse with me, for example in adolescence, when I was really mad at home.

You probably pleased your mom by changing your attitude to cleaning, didn’t you?

She was rather surprised because she didn’t expect it from me. I am from two sisters. My sister is the kind of naturally order-loving and organized person who always had her crayons arranged by color on her desk. While mine was overflowing with papers. When I needed something for school, I spent twenty minutes looking for it.

In your know-how to clean effectively, you repeat two words: system and routine. How do you understand them?

When children come into the family, with whom confusion and chaos arise, it is much more difficult to maintain order. If we access the system, it is easier. It’s in the details. When we get up in the morning, we make our bed. When we finish eating, we take the plate after us and don’t put it in the sink, but straight into the dishwasher.

As I say, they are details, but if a person focuses on them and they become a routine for him, that is, they will seem common to him, order will be much easier to maintain.

I will give more examples. You come home. You take off your shoes, leave your shoes in the hall, throw your keys, hat and jacket somewhere. You are thirsty, so you have a drink in the kitchen, leaving the mug on the table. You make a snack and leave the dishes on the line. Simple actions, but already a messy trail is being created behind you.

It can be reduced by putting the shoes in the shoe rack after taking them off, the keys on the hanger, the cap in the drawer, and the jacket on the hanger. I teach it to my children too. When they are cleaning self-sufficient and independent from an early age, it will save you time.

Many parents don’t let their children clean up, because of course they can’t do it perfectly. They’d rather do it for them. What do you think about it?

It is important at what age it happens. I lead my children to be independent from an early age. Someone wonders how to let a one-and-a-half-year-old child make his own bed. But honestly, it doesn’t matter that he takes a pillow, slaps it twice, and considers it a made bed. It’s about that habit.

The child gets up in the morning, slaps the pillow twice, but it shifts from month to month. In half a year, he picks up the pillow and shakes it, in another half year he tries to fit the duvet as well.

In this case, establishing a routine from an early age is not so much about cleaning, but about habit. Just as we teach children to brush their teeth in the evening, we also teach them to take away their plate after themselves and sweep the crumbs off the table. However, they finish it over time.

You are using cleaning products that our grandmothers used, not commercial cleaning products. Why?

Yes, I can get by with baking soda, white vinegar, citric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Those are the biggest movers.

Why white vinegar and not regular vinegar?

It is more suitable for household cleaning because it does not contain sugar.

Where did you get the inspiration for it?

My mother mainly used vinegar for cleaning at home, but not the other ingredients that I use. When I moved into my household, I cleaned with vinegar. But otherwise, I tried to fit in classic commercial cleaning products, because I found vinegar weird. I wanted to clean like everyone else.

Before my children were born, I didn’t think about ecology that much. That came with them. But I was always drawn to a healthy lifestyle, as well as a healthy way of eating. When friends came to visit me, they found it strange that I was cleaning with vinegar, and tapped their foreheads. So I tried to buy classic cleaning products at the drugstore, but it seemed to me that they didn’t work. So I mostly didn’t even use the bottle and went back to my vinegar classic.

Definitely yes. I am satisfied and it seems to me the best option. I gradually added more organic ingredients and I can’t complain.

Can cleaning really be fun?

He can. But if you use resources that don’t work, you don’t enjoy it. You may rub something, but the result is nothing. My followers send me photos of how they have been trying to get rid of limescale for several years. Unsuccessfully, it only grew.

Then all they had to do was put two tablespoons of citric acid and a little white vinegar in there and it was gone in a few hours. They are excited about it. They write to me that they enjoy it, they see changes and results. Plus, it’s quick and easy.

Two hundred thousand people follow you. Mostly women?

Yes, but I also have six percent men.

I think that’s fine too. Sometimes they even write to me and I am happy that they are interested.

They are men who live alone and are interested in how to remove stains from clothes. Or those who have a family and write that they and their wives do not know how to clean something.

What do fans ask you most often?

I would say that they ask about scale and how to remove various stains.

What stains are the most stubborn?

Washed. These are the most complicated. If it is washed a lot, it is not sure if it can still be removed.

Do you have the professional deformity that when you enter somewhere, you see what could be cleaned?

Not even on home visits, they are not so neglected, but elsewhere. For example, recently I stayed in a hotel in Tábor for work. Every time I went to the toilet, I wondered what could be fixed there if they used some of the things I recommend.

I also notice toilets in restaurants or hair salons. After all, their cleanliness is the calling card of the company.

Does it have to be cleaned every day?

Yes. If one does not want to be a slave to the household, it is necessary. Small daily steps in keeping clean are big steps throughout the month.

How did you get started in business?

We started in the garage and my whole family helped me. We all worked intensively from morning to night. I knew that having tangible products was very time consuming. I resisted them for a long time. But when there was interest in cleaning tools, I wanted to offer them to people. I tried it and it worked.

We were operating at more than 100 percent for the first few months. After a while, we realized that we could no longer fit in the garage, so we moved to a smaller warehouse, where my family still helped me. I have had my e-shop for a year now, where several employees already help me.

What should be the next phase of your business?

I am constantly developing new products, I have enough ideas. We would like to expand abroad, but that is the music of the future. We are already sending packages to Slovakia. I want to continue to stick to the ecological line and simplicity.

How much time do you spend on Instagram and TikTok each day?

The most demanding is the preparation of the video shooting. Maybe people don’t realize that. Before filming begins, at least a minimal script must be drawn up. Not that I would write them down in the film scale, but I need to know what will be at the beginning and what at the end. The shots are from several angles, so preparing the video, editing it, finishing the graphics and subtitles is a lot of work. The viewer sees a minute, but the preparation can take up to five hours.

I roll forward as much as possible. I usually set aside one day to shoot, then one day to edit. I try to film once a week so that I have space for other things. Running a business also takes time. We are preparing a “To do” sheet for spring cleaning and tips on how to do it.

Is it a mistake to want to do spring cleaning in one day?

Yes. I liken it to running a marathon. Marathon runners also train short distances first. The point is to devote five minutes to spring cleaning every day and divide it not into one day, or even into one week, but easily into a month. When we have children, a job and spring cleaning to add to it, we can easily drop out of it.

You are promoting ten-minute cleaning sessions. What can be cleaned in ten minutes?

Lots of. I even try for five minutes. It’s a paradox. When you set a stopwatch, it’s easier. Because when you run out of time, you subconsciously speed up. You are a bit under pressure. Either you can wipe something bored and for a long time, or you rush to it. If I know I have to do something in five minutes, I don’t bother with it. It’s the drive motor. It doesn’t seem like it, but five minutes is quite a lot of time.

So, is it possible to clean a corner of the bathroom in five minutes?

Yes, even the entire bathroom can be cleaned in ten minutes. That is, if you maintain it regularly and there are no limescale deposits.

Do you have a knack for spring cleaning and window washing?

Window washing is now in vogue. I recommend the widest possible spatula. You can then wipe one window at a time. I even use a floor squeegee. I recommend hot water with white vinegar for washing. Yes, again with vinegar. People write to me that it’s always a round trip, but that’s the beauty of it.

Has your sense of life changed thanks to the tidy surroundings?

Certainly. If a person has chaos around him, he often has inconsistent thoughts. In addition to the mess, it is therefore good to clean up your mind as well. In correspondence with my customers, I say goodbye with the greeting “clean house and peace of mind”.

Do your children also accept order?

I have two children, my daughter is older, she is eight and everything went smoothly with her. Once every three months I help her sort out the toys and clear the papers from the table, otherwise she is independent and cleans herself.

But it was difficult with a young son. It’s only now that he’s four that I feel it’s getting better. Up until now, he was hooked on cleaning and didn’t care at all.

What is your husband’s relationship to order?

He is a big stickler, more orderly than I am. So I have an easy time with him, or a hard one, as the case may be.

It alerts me where something needs to be tweaked to perfection. From his point of view, I clean ninety-five percent. He cleans a lot himself and invents various improvements, what and how to better store and organize.