The Christmas Clean Up

 We all look forward to the Christmas holidays - spending quality time with our nearest and dearest,  sharing a tub of Quality Street, and deciding what to watch after you have eaten your body weight in turkey. But where there's celebration, there's guests, there's mess so therefore a good clean up before Christmas is essential to ensure there's no rush two days before. We've all done it! Running around like a headless chicken on Christmas eve with the last minute wrapping, baking more mince pies as eating them all the night before was a good idea and the Christmas Clean Up. This year I thought that I would be a little more organised and actually have a plan to tackle the Christmas Clean Up before Christmas Eve arrives.
It's a good idea to get prepared by cleaning and tidying different areas of your home. I have found that is becomes easier if you divide each part of your home and perhaps get other family members involved, even children. After all they have to be good for Santa Claus.

Let's get started...
KITCHEN
Every year I always start my Christmas clean up in the kitchen, it's where the magic happens and where most people congregate. So with this in mind it needs to be spotless and look presentable, showroom style. First task would be to clean the oven so that it's ready to cook that turkey to perfection. I normally opt for a safe, natural and effective way to clean my oven - no harsh chemicals and no high heat auto-cleaning with smoke alarm funny business. All it takes is a little time and some good ole elbow grease along with some vinegar, baking soda and rubber gloves!
Next, is the fridge! Before you start to stock up on all that oh-so-naughty food for Christmas you need to have a clean fridge and clear out any out of date food. Then pull out all the left over food, shelves, draws and the bottle shelves and set aside for cleaning with warm water, soap, baking soda, and a cloth. I prefer the natural way to clean my fridge. The warm water helps the soap bubble up and is perfect for dissolving any stickiness and picking up crumbs. The baking soda helps naturally deodorizes any stinky corners or drawers, cutting a lemon in half will also help. Boom! A nice sparkling clean fridge. Now for the oh-so-naughty food shop...

BATHROOM
This is probably one of the most important rooms to clean as it's a room that most family and friends will visit. While you have visitors it's best to check that it has clean towels, toilet roll and top up the soap dispenser if it's needed. I have a toilet and a bathroom in my home so it can be quite the challenge to keep them both clean for any guests and as much as I hate cleaning the bathroom it needs to be spick and span for any guests over the festive period.
Begin with removing any items that don't belong in the bathroom such as clothes, cups, rubbish, toddler toys - take any removable units out of the bathroom while the clean up is in progress so you can clean under them. Then pour some bleach or another disinfectant into the toilet bowl, pop your toilet brush inside the bowl, after an hour or so clean around the exterior, lids and handle.
In general, when cleaning any room, start from the top down. So clean cobwebs in the corners of the bathroom, and brush other dust and dirt directly onto the floor to sweep up later no forgetting those skirting boards. Cleaning the shower can take some time, spray cleaning product on the shower walls, and the shower head and let it rest for a couple of minutes, then scrub and rinse. Then it's time for the bath! Spray cleaners that are especially designed to help get rid of soap scum around the bath, good ole scrub and then rinse away. Cleaning the sink any counter top should be the last task in the bathroom so start by scrubbing any soap scum and toothpaste off with cleaner, rinsing and wiping as you go along. Then sweep or vacuum the floors, spray air freshener and finish up by mopping the floors with some cleaning product, phew, glad that's done.

LIVING ROOM
This is the room where you are most likely to entertain your guests so a clean, clutter free living area is a must. In our old house we had carpets and would hire out a carpet cleaner but thankfully our new home has wood flooring so it's easier to keep on top of the floors clean. Vacuum to your hearts content, move any furniture where you think any dust bunnies are lurking and the dust everywhere - units, shelves, skirting boards, TV and ornaments. It would also been an idea to try and keep on top of the vacuuming so the last days leading up to Christmas won't be so stressful when you're already running around like a mad woman, because you forgot to buy some cranberry sauce!
Once the Christmas Clean Up is complete in the living room and you finally get all the Christmas decorations down there are a few things that you could do to help create that lovely Christmas smell in your home. The first and most obvious would be air fresheners and plug ins, winter spice smells are just the best. We buy Christmas scented candles by the truck load during the winter and then for the tree? You can buy a Scentsicles that are scented ornaments that emit a fresh smell over the Christmas period, you are able to attach them to your tree, wreath or garland.

BEDROOMS
When it's time to clean the bedrooms there are a few things you have to consider - the bed and bedding, wardrobes, carpets, windows, units, and mirrors. It's best to start with the beds by stripping the duvets, bedsheets and pillow cases, then bung them into the wash, while they are in the wash it gives the mattress a chance to breathe. Then just before you put cleaned sheets back on, vacuum the mattress and add fabric freshener to keep any odours at bay. Try and remove anything that is not supposed to be in the room, if you're cleaning the children rooms make some time to clear out their wardrobes and toys boxes to make room for their new ones from Santa Claus.
Next you will need to dust, dust, dust. The bedside units, chest of drawers and wardrobes. While you are cleaning the wardrobe it may be an idea to rearrange your clothes, if you're anything like me they can get messy. If there are clothes that you no longer want or need there are ways in which you can dispose of them, my post on what to do with old clothes may inspire you. When moving the furniture make sure you keep an eye out for those dust bunnies and suck them up into the vacuum and don't forget the ceiling and skirting boards. Check the windows, curtains and blinds usually I will take my curtains and nets down and add these to the ever growing washing pile, wipe down blinds with soapy water. Once a month I normally grab an old toothbrush and scrub around the inside of my window anyway, but during the Christmas Clean Up it will only take a wipe down and they are good to go. Once everything is cleaned, dusted and back in it's place vacuum the flooring and go outside to bash any rugs if need be.
Phew, that's a lot of cleaning. If you're looking at this list and thinking that's way too much on top of everything else I have to do for Christmas, you could always seek professional help with Sparkling Clean Apartment By Handy, who are more than happy to help with your Christmas Clean Up!

Do you ever do a Christmas Clean Up before the big day? What would your tips be?

3 comments

  1. This is making me slightly anxious whilst reading, thinking about all that cleaning, but also very motivated to get my ass into gear! I SO need to do this. I can't remember the last time I did a really thorough clean other than a quick hoover and a wipe here or there, so this is just what I needed to read! Thank you! x

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  2. This is a really helpful list, I absolutely hate cleaning and really struggle to stay on top of it all, but this is a really useful way to break it down xx

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  3. Wow. That is A LOT of cleaning that needs to be done pre-christmas. We've actually just got a cleaner for the first time in the last few weeks which has made me realise just how much there is to do so I'd definitely recommend a service like this myself! Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. Emily

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