Now, although it is possible to leave everything until Boxing day, we suggest keeping your home under some sort of control if you can help it. Don't let the cleaning and running around keep you from enjoying the Christmas cheer. Here are a few suggestions for how to stay in control of your housework and tips to help minimise your cleaning up time.
Get Organised Ahead of Time
A thorough clean before the Christmas period will help make sure everything is spotless and tidy before your guests arrive and the loveable chaos begins. This will also minimise how much time you will have to spend cleaning up when everyone else has rolled out the door. Use the following checklist to make sure you don't miss anything out:
- Clean any special dishes, glassware, and cutlery.
- Have to hand extra chairs, glassware and cutlery.
- Using paper plates (ideally, recyclable ones) at buffet meals. This will greatly reduce your need to clean any dishes and safe space in your dishwasher and/or sink.
- Iron any table linens the night before your guests arrive.
- Make sure empty bins are placed and accessible for everyone - plenty of bin bags!
- Stock up on washing detergent, dishwasher powder and toilet paper/kitchen roll.
- Stock up on stain removers and other cleaning products that might be required should someone spill a drink. (they always do - make sure you have baking soda!)
- Check and replace any missing bulbs throughout the house the night before.
- If you have children, (and get them to do this part) have them grab a box and find 5 items in every room that you don’t want on show at Christmas. Put it all in a box, label it and put it into a cupboard. Out of sight, out of mind.
- Try tackling a room a day. Don’t stress and put pressure on yourself to clean the whole house in one go; it is better to be thorough. Focus on the rooms people will actually see or go into - guest bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and living room area.
- Giving your oven a good clean a couple of days before you start your Christmas dinner is highly recommended. You can get great, cheap oven cleaner sets that do an amazing job. Your oven will suddenly become your pride and joy and you will look forward to cooking a hearty meal in a sparkling clean oven.
- Soak your pans as soon as possible after use with warm water and washing up liquid. This will ensure Boxing Day isn’t spent cleaning your roasting trays.
And that's that. We hope these simple and effective tips will help you get super organised for anything this Christmas and, here at Ace Cleaning, we send our Season's Greetings.