The spirit of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year celebration has brought many people so much hope, love, and good memories. Families and friends were reunited after long months of pandemic restrictions. Hence, the holiday celebration was longer and more meaningful, strengthening ties now more than ever.
But now that the holiday season is over, and you’re faced with the different difficulty levels of household chores. Aside from getting the help of reliable cleaning services to do the job, you should also know how to clean your home after the holidays. So, don’t stress yourself out because the cleaning tips and tricks below will help save the day.
- Eliminate All Clutter
Gift wrappers, souvenirs, toys, clothes, and other things can easily pile up during the holiday season because you’re too busy preparing delicious food for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. So, you end up having a mountain of clutter after the holidays.
That’s why the first cleaning activity should be eliminating all the mess by picking them up, putting them away, or storing them in cabinets or in other storage areas at home. You can concentrate on clearing the floor area first and then work your way around the house.
You can eliminate clutter fast and easy with the following tips:
- Start In The Living Room: This living space is the most commonly used area where piles of things are found after the holidays. Hence, removing all clutter in your living room can provide you with a sense of relief once done.
- Use A Large Box: Put all unnecessary items in a large box and sort them out later once your home is clean and organized. Managing each piece while seeing your home dirty and disorganized can cause stress and burnout right away. The sorting task becomes easy when everything you see is already stored in one place.
- Remove Your Christmas Decors
You’ve dedicated so much time conceptualizing the best Christmas theme for your home. Now, it’s time to bring back your home’s traditional look by removing your Christmas decors with the following tips and tricks in mind:
- Include Your Family Members: While putting up Christmas decorations is exciting; you also need to know how to take them down. So, why not involve your spouse and kids to help you with this chore? While doing it, you might just be surprised to hear about the fun stories they have on their holiday experience and how much they appreciated your efforts.
- Prepare Storage Boxes: If you’re ready to remove your Christmas decors, make sure to have your storage boxes ready. Instead of opting for cardboard boxes or cartons, go for plastic storage boxes as they prevent damage to your decors which is caused by moisture or liquid spills when leaks or flooding occurs unexpectedly.
- Take Time: Don’t rush removing all your Christmas decors to avoid damaging them. You can use these decors for the coming years, saving you much money from purchasing new ones every holiday season.
- Wipe All Surfaces
Before you proceed with cleaning the floor, make sure to tackle the wall, ceiling, and furniture surfaces first. Dirt, grime, smoke, food debris, and liquid spills are the common things found on surfaces that you need to clean as soon as possible. Depending on the stain or surface problem, you can use commercial or homemade cleaning agents.
Take a look at these common surface issues and the recommended homemade cleaning solutions:
- Wine Stains: When wine stains your sofa, you can wipe it up with an absorbent cloth damped with a homemade cleaning solution. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid with two cups of water.
- Sauce Stains: Spaghetti or pasta sauces can easily stain surfaces during the holidays, especially when children are around. Use white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide to clean sauce stains. Apply this cleaning agent generously to the stained area using a sponge and rinse it properly. If you have stained white fabrics, you can use lemon juice and a mild bleaching agent as necessary.
- Prioritize The Kitchen
The kitchen can be the dirtiest area during the holidays because this is where you cook pasta, bake cakes, and prepare delicious drinks. Grime from vegetable fats, chocolate, and sauce spills can be found anywhere in the kitchen. Therefore, the kitchen deserves a high priority in your cleaning list after the holiday season.
Prioritize cleaning the kitchen with these helpful tips and tricks:
- Stubborn Kitchen Stains: Clean the kitchen stains with bicarbonate or baking soda. Make a paste out of two to three cups of baking soda. You can also sprinkle the baking soda powder directly onto the kitchen tiles. Make sure to scrub the tiles thoroughly using a sponge or old toothbrush to remove tough stains.
- Clean Burnt Sauce From The Stove Top: Spray your stovetop with white vinegar mixed with baking soda. When the burnt sauce fizzles, it means that the tough stains are softening, allowing you to remove the scorch marks easily.
- Clean The Microwave Oven: Fill a bowl with warm water, add dishwashing soap and use baking soda to deodorize. Place the microwave-safe bowl in the oven for one minute to loosen dried debris. Remove the bowl and wipe the inside using a dampened sponge.
- Vacuum Clean The Floor And Carpet
If you haven’t had the chance to clean the floor during the holidays, then there is surely plenty of dirt and debris around, especially under your furniture. Whether you use a conventional or a robot vacuum cleaner, make sure to reach and clean all floor areas to avoid pest infestation.
Food debris can easily wick and break down into the carpet or under the furniture. You can manually sweep them away or use a reliable vacuum cleaner with various attachments to tackle each floor task fast and easily.
Conclusion
So, how do you want to start cleaning your home after the long holiday celebrations? Indeed, cleaning up your home after the holidays can be challenging. But you’ve got to start somewhere and finish just in time so you can resume your normal daily activities. By having the right cleaning tools and techniques, you’ll face the new year with a big smile, a good heart, and a clean and healthy home.
