The Christmas party is over, everyone had a great time, and there was good cheer throughout your home but now comes the dreaded clean! Follow these steps to get your home back to working order (and perhaps ready for the next party!)
1. Circulate air around your home – open windows!
The house has an odd stale smell of food and alcohol, open those windows and aerate the place. It also helps if you have any trace of a hangover…
2. Mucky clothes
This isn’t going to be a pretty job, take off the heels, put on some marigolds and perhaps some old clothes – maybe even an apron
3. Don’t throw the food
Half a turkey uneaten, all those vegetables still in the pot – don’t chuck them! Make bubble & squeak and put it in a sandwich as a snack to have after the big clean! You won’t feel like cooking after cleaning!
4. Recycling
After any party there will be a lot of bottles, cans and cardboard left over. Make sure you remove this stuff first; it will make your job feel far smaller! Tip: carry a bucket around and pour any remaining liquids in glasses/bottles/cans into the bucket so that they didn’t get knocked over and cause a stain!
5. Glasses and mugs
Move all the glass’s and drinking vessels to a table, try to gather them up all together in one place before cleaning them – Check that none of have any cracks or chips! The rest of them can go in the dishwasher or wash them in the sink and leave to drain.
6. Knives & Forks
If you had a sit down meal (instead of finger food!) put all the dirty crockery and cutlery in the sink with washing liquid and let it soak for an hour or two to remove any hardened food
7. Vacuum everywhere (or at least the main areas!)
Vacuuming, although painful to do with a hungover head, will make your place look much better plus it will take some of the odours away
8. If you have a dishwasher, now is a great time to use it!
All those plates, all those pots and pans – now your dishwasher will pay for itself! Carefully slot them all in using tetris skills and set the machine to work – nearly finished all the work now!
9. Wipe down all the tops
Final task – mop the floors with hot water to remove any tricky stains, then spray some multipurpose cleaner onto the worktops and give them a wipe down
10. Put your feet up.
You’ve done a great job, put on a Christmas film, have a cup of tea and some chocolate!
