Hamburg  - A necessary evil, a burdensome duty or simply a source of stress - cleaning house is not everyone's favourite topic.

And hardly anyone would think mops and rags could be combined with a wellness programme. But there is another way of thinking about cleaning, experts say. It just depends on the right attitude.

"It starts in the head: Are you a person who reluctantly accepts the inevitable or do you look forward to tidying rooms and caring for the surface of furniture, floors and fixtures, freeing them from dirt and dust?" asks Katharina Zaugg, a Swiss ethnologist and expert in housekeeping.

She is passionate about cleaning and has made it her profession. In addition to her cleaning company, she runs a cleaning school in Basel where the goal is to get people excited about mopping and dusting.

She achieves this by teaching exercises that people can do while cleaning. She has observed that some people automatically tense their jaw when wringing out a wet rag. This exertion, unfortunately, does not help complete the cleaning job.

Zaugg shows her students an alternative which involves taking a stance similar to that of a Sumo wrestler with both feet firmly planted on the ground. With the back straight, start to wring the rag and smile while doing it instead of allowing tension to take over the jaw.

"There's a flow to cleaning," said Zaugg, who says she likes to yodel while vacuuming.

But people who view cleaning buckets and feather dusters far more soberly can make it easier on themselves. The thing to overcome is the blockade in their heads.

"Most people overestimate the time it takes to clean and therefore don't even start a cleaning project," said Yvonne Willicks, chairwoman of the Hamburg branch of the German housekeepers association.

It's actually possible to clean a bathroom in 10 to 15 minutes, she said. Willicks also advises people not to take on more than can possibly be done in the available time.

There should be standards set out on how to clean the home and how long it takes to reach that level of cleanliness.

"It's important to dedicate oneself to a cleaning job and to carry it out completely," Willicks said. People who start cleaning the lamps while they are in the midst of mopping never get finished with the job.

The industrial association for manufacturers of personal hygiene products and detergents said that in 2008 in Germany, 693 million euros (900 million dollars) were spent on household cleaners and 131 million euros on other maintenance products.

Several special products from grease cutters for the kitchen to cleaners for stone floors lure consumers into buying new products. Zaugg, however, advises people to buy just a few cleaning products. Otherwise, the array of cleaners could quickly become confusing and just cause chaos.

When it comes to choosing rags, sponges and buckets, one's sense of touch is important.

"Things that sit well in the hand and feel pleasant to touch are things that will be happily put to use," said Zaugg. Luckily there is a large selection of good tools for cleaning, said Willicks.

Most people are reluctant to spend money on such products, however, those who try out an ergonomic mop instead of a cheap plastic one quickly realize that cleaning can also can go smoothly and take little effort. (dpa)