Get ready now for what’s to come after the winter holidays. We’ve all been there, and if you don’t plan now, your home will be full of wrapping paper scraps, wine stains, champagne bottles, confetti, and leftovers with no end in sight. While we know cleaning up after the holidays can be a tedious chore, the longer you put it off, the more laborious it’ll feel. Prep now for the post-holiday cleanup, and start the new year off to a good start!
Whether you plan to host more parties for the upcoming holidays or you’re looking forward to as many quiet nights in as possible, you’ll feel a lot better when your home is looking and feeling its best. Get a jump start on how to tackle the mess now so you can enjoy a clean house immediately after the holidays.
You might even get ahead on accomplishing the decluttering goal you set yourself before the new year chimes its way in.
Clean Out The Refrigerator
Between all the holiday parties you’ve likely attended and hosted (or both), you no doubt have an excess of leftovers in the fridge. If you haven’t done a thorough cleanup in a while, now’s the time to tackle it. This task is particularly unpleasant if you have a low tolerance for the smell of soon-to-be-rotten food. You may also want to light a scented candle to counteract the post-holiday stench.
Cleaning the fridge is a lot easier if you do it one shelf at a time, removing and wiping down everything and placing them on a nearby counter. Keep a bucket of hot sudsy water, a sponge, drying towels, and a trash bag on deck.
After you complete the emptying process, it’ll be time to put everything you want to keep back in the fridge. Before you do, check the expiration dates and place your things inside, organized by the food group.
Keep Your Whites White
If you have white linens and upholstery throughout your home, chances are they’ve taken a toll during the busy holiday season. Due to holiday party mishaps, or on a less catastrophic scale—overnight guests—you should freshen up your whites. But, you have to be extra careful when it comes to cleaning your white walls, furniture, and bedding, so make sure you know what you’re doing.
For upholstery, try cornstarch after spot-treating the problem areas. When it comes to walls, use a milder cleaner; you don’t want to take off any paint. (Sometimes water can even do the trick if it isn’t a stubborn streak.) And lastly, don’t dry your white sheets on high heat since that can yellow.
When in doubt, call on Crystal Cleaning to clean your whites. You don’t want to cause any permanent damage.
Getting Out Tough Carpet Stains
Have you spilled a glass of red wine? Dropped the holiday dessert? If you didn’t personally commit any party fouls, one of your guests might have (and didn’t tell you). Your floors probably aren’t as clean as they were before the holidays hit.
For meat and cooking spills, a meat tenderizer mixed with a little water to make a paste will remove protein-based spots after sitting for five minutes. Use salt to cover white or red wine accidents if the spill is fresh and let it absorb the liquid. And use white vinegar for pretty much everything else.
These three tricks should help you resolve any mishaps that occurred in your household. And don’t forget to show your hardwood floors and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, some love, too.
Beautify Your Bathroom
People coming in and out during the holidays may leave your bathroom with some additional wear and tear. Start cleaning by removing spots and smudges from your mirrors with a clean, lint-free cloth and rub in circles. Baby oil will do wonders for your chrome faucets and fixtures, and grapefruit salt is an excellent natural solution for cleaning your tub. We suggest paying extra attention to your guest bathroom, as it probably received the most traffic.
Clean Your Home Naturally
Throughout the entire cleaning process, think of ways you can clean it naturally. That chemical smell from cleaning products can trigger a cough attack? If you’re concerned about the impacts of your cleaning products on your health, there are plenty of nontoxic household cleaning solutions to make your home sparkle the all-natural way.
