Time-Saving Holiday Cleaning Tips

The holidays are a time for family and friends coming together to celebrate the season and enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately, this also means the holidays can be an often-hectic parade of parties, family dinners, and events that leave you with absolutely no spare time. How do you check all the items off your holiday to-do list and still keep your home presentable for all the guests (both expected and unexpected!) that may be popping by to share a cup of cheer? Follow these quick and easy housecleaning tips to keep your home in tip-top shape no matter what the holiday season throws your way.

Clean in Advance- This may seem like a no-brainier, but it’s worth mentioning that a little advance planning can save you a world of stress on the actual day of a party or dinner in your home. About a week prior to your holiday event, tackle the chores that can be done ahead of time, such as spot-cleaning any stains on your upholstery or walls, steam-cleaning the rugs or dusting the blinds. This leaves you free to do only a few last-minute housekeeping duties on the day of your party, and keeps the house looking tidy in the event of unexpected guests in the meantime.

Follow the 5-Minute Rule- If time has gotten away from you, see how much you can do in 5 minutes. Look at your house through the eyes of your visitors- chances are they aren’t taking in the minor details or running over every surface of your home with a white glove. (If they are, it’s time to find new friends!) Use your 5-minute window to go over surfaces with glass cleaner or furniture polish and a soft cloth, run the vacuum in the major traffic areas such as the living room rug, and wipe down your kitchen countertops. Also take a moment to make sure your bathrooms are clean and presentable with Clorox Wipes and a quick swish of the toilet brush. Boom! Instant clean house!

Grab a Laundry Basket- If it’s getting down to crunch time and you haven’t had any time to pre-clean and organize, don’t worry- just grab a laundry basket and make a general sweep of the areas of the house where guests are likely to congregate. Throw everything that is cluttering up your surfaces into the laundry basket, then stash it in a closet to deal with later. Sure, it’s cheating, but it will maximize your time, cut down on stress, and give you more time to spend with family and friends. Sounds like a win!

At the end of the day, remember that your loved ones are there to see you, not your sparkling clean house. Wishing you a stress-free holiday season!

Bust the Dust!

Does it seem like you are always dusting? No matter how often I dust, it seems like a fine layer has settled back on every surface of the room before I’ve even finished! Although there is no way to ever completely get rid of dust, here are some tips and tricks for keeping it under control so your home can have a clean, dust-free appearance.

Throw out the feather duster. Sure, you may feel like a cute French maid while using it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are essentially just moving the dust from one surface to another, not getting rid of it. When we dust off the top of a table or the entertainment center with a feather duster, we are just sending that dust airborne so that it can be redistributed on another surface of the room. Dusters like the Swiffer 360 are designed to trap and hold dust, which is better than the feather duster (and still looks very cute, actually!) but if you really want to banish dust long-term, consider using your vacuum with the crevice tool attachment to dust things like blinds, lampshades and hard-to-reach places like the ceiling fan.

Change those air filters. We live in an area with a high pollen count in the spring and summer months, and we have two dogs who shed like it’s their job to do so. Needless to say, it can become pretty obvious that it’s time to change the filters in our furnace and A/C unit when we let it go for too long. Try to change your filters once every three months, and you will see the difference in the amount of dust and dander you have to keep up with in your cleaning routine.

Close your windows. Yes, it’s tempting to keep the windows open during the spring and summer to reduce air-conditioning costs, but it’s also a great way to let in every speck of dust from the great outdoors. Dust particles move around naturally in the wind, so a delightful spring breeze is bringing a lot more than you think into your home. Keeping your windows closed, especially during high-pollen times of the year, will cut back on dust particles in your house and hopefully keep hay fever symptoms at bay.