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Christmas is just around the corner, and you're searching the internet for cleaning tips to beat the overwhelming anxiety this holiday season. I love this time of year, and the most magical part for me is decorating the house. I live in the UK, and we only decorate our homes once per year, at Christmas. So it's a real treat for us at Christmas. However, before I can crack on with the decorations, there are a few things I need to clean first, and I'm sharing my must-do Christmas Cleaning Tips with you today. Be sure to check out my free resources at the end of this post too. I have a Christmas Cleaning Checklist and a Christmas Cleaning Schedule for you too. Now let's get into my Christmas Cleaning Tips. Declutter Before Christmas Around the beginning of November and definitely before Thanksgiving, it's crucial to have a good purge of old possessions we no longer use or haven't used at all. Why? Because Christmas will bring more of it! So to have the most organized and clean Christmas, it's out with old and in with the new. You can take my 30-day Declutter Challenge to get a head start on things. Organize Before Christmas Not just the kid's toys, either. That's an obvious one, but we'll get to that later. Other areas in the house need some organizational attention that I'm listing below. Kitchen An organized kitchen makes for an organized Christmas Lunch if you know where exactly everything is. So after you've taken the 30 Declutter Challenge, you can see my Kitchen Organizing Guide to stock up on organization essentials for the kitchen. And watch my fridge organization video over on YouTube to get your fridge clean and organized for the holiday season. https://youtu.be/ogygHFSFxIc Holiday Entranceways Cleaning Then move on to other areas in the house. The next best place to start for me is the entranceway. Most of us will have guests this year, so we need to organize that space to store guest coats and shoes. Hallways This may seem a strange one to come before the Great Festive Toy Purge. However, it's vital and often the place that becomes the Christmas dump zone. Clear out anything that doesn't belong in your hallways because when you come back from Christmas shopping, you're going to need somewhere to dump all those bags for the time being. Bedrooms It's time to Purge The Toys. Anything your kids have not played with in the last three months has got to go. Because there's more on the way, we made this mistake a few years ago. We didn't purge anything and what happened was there was nowhere for all the new toys to go on Christmas day. On Boxing Day, we tried to put everything away in their bedrooms, but most of it ended up on the floors around the edges of the rooms until New Year. Not only looking messy but making vacuuming difficult too. In adult or parent, bedrooms make sure to get rid of all the gift sets and toiletries from last year that you haven't used for whatever reason because you can be sure, come Christmas day, there'll be more, and you don't need the stress of having all that stuff around you for weeks on end. Christmas Cleaning Tips For Reception Rooms Once all the essential rooms are purged, you can move onto the less common areas for clutter to build up, such as reception rooms. Be sure to clear out any drawers and cupboards that harbour unnecessary items or things that have never come in handy this past year. I can guarantee they're going to be full of Christmas Cracker prizes very soon. Laundry Room It's probably an odd thing to list to organize for Christmas; however, there is a method in the madness, and it's just to make sure you don't become overwhelmed with the sheer volume of laundry there is at Christmas. Get stocked up on all your laundry essentials and throw out anything you don't need. Storage Areas Organize and purge anywhere you use to store stuff. I'm talking about the garage, shed, under the stairs, the pantry and the attic. If there's stuff stored in it, there'll be stuff to throw out of it too. Make sure you have lots of storage boxes to keep anything that belongs in these places after Christmas. And this is an excellent time to check on your Christmas tree if you use an artificial one. Check that you know where it is, that it's damp and mould-free and that any unwanted guests haven't eaten it. The last thing you need at Christmas is last minute Christmas Tree shopping. 16 Christmas Cleaning Tips For a Happy Holiday Start at the top of the house.Start at the top of each room.Dust light fixtures.Dust ceiling fans.Clean windows.Clean window ledges.Clean all surfaces, horizontal and vertical.Clean radiators.Clean baseboards or skirting boards.Deep clean bathrooms.Shampoo carpets.Vacuum floors.Polish silverware.Get a professional oven clean.Clean out the fridge.Book after Christmas cleaning services. Start at the top. Cleaning should always be a start at the top approach, whether you're cleaning for the holidays or having a Spring Clean. By starting at the top, we're essentially just moving dirt down to the floors so that when the very last thing you do in a room (vacuuming or mopping), the dirt is removed and cannot land anywhere else in the room. Dust Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans. Light fixtures and ceiling fans become the dustiest part of a room because we don't clean them that much. It's one of those tasks that gets put off until it's time to deep clean. There is a quick trick to it, though. Use an old sock and cover the fixture or ceiling blade. Use your hand to create a U shape and slide the dust off into the sock. It works for lights too, change the shape of your hand to fit the shape of the light fixture. Clean Windows. Cleaning the windows should be part of your monthly or bi-monthly cleaning schedule. However, if it's been a while since you cleaned the windows, then before the holiday season is an excellent time to get cleaning them over with. A recipe I use is: One cup of white distilled vinegar.And one cup of water.A quarter cup of rubbing alcohol.Add to a spray bottle.Clean windows with no streaks. Clean All Surfaces. In every room, clean every surface, horizontal and vertical, including window ledges, radiators, chairs, shelves, wardrobes, baseboards, kitchen and bathroom counters and all of your appliances. You can wipe over clean surfaces with a dryer sheet to repel dust collecting on the surfaces right after. Deep Clean Your Bathrooms. Deep cleaning your bathrooms before the holidays start will save you so much time over the Festive Period because all you'll need to do is wipe over everything once a day. When you deep clean your bathroom for Christmas, be sure to clean out your showerheads around the back of toilets and clean out the plug holes, as well as all the usual cleaning tasks. These aren't jobs you want to start after a skin full of eggnog. Vacuum All Floors I like to vacuum all my floors, whether carpet or hard flooring. You can use a Swiffer on your hard floors if you prefer to. When you're going through your pre-Christmas cleaning, it's a good idea not only to vacuum the visible parts of the floor but also move furniture and vacuum underneath everything too. You can guarantee your mother in law will check there. Shampoo Your Carpets Shampooing your carpets gives the whole house a fresh smell, removing bacteria and stubborn odours. Carpets harbour a lot of smells, and ground-in dirt doesn't lift with a vacuum alone, so get the carpet shampooer out or hire a professional to do it for you. I use a professional carpet cleaner because his equipment is a lot better than my Vax Carpet Washer and the carpets look brand new after he's been, and there's very little drying time, which is critical when you have little ones running around. You can find highly rated Carpet Cleaners on Bark.com. Polish Your Silverware. If you have silverware, this is the perfect time to get it all out and give it a good polish. A silver cleaner like Weimann Silver Polish is excellent for the job. Be sure to put plenty of newspaper down before you start so that you don't ruin your table or counters. Get A Professional Oven Clean For Christmas. Because there's no better time to treat yourself than Christmas, you can find the best Professional Oven Cleaners over on Bark.com for a fantastic price. I've never written a post or posted a video on How To Clean Your Oven because it's one of those jobs I intensely loathe and have never cleaned my oven myself. I always hire a professional oven cleaner once or twice per year. Clean Out The Fridge For Christmas. Watch my fridge cleaning organization video on YouTube to get your fridge cleaned and organized for the holiday season. Cleaning out the fridge for Christmas is one of my best tips! You never know what's lurking in the back of a refrigerator, and it's usually the cause of that nasty smell you can't get rid of too. Watch the video as I show you the cause of foul odours, how to cure them, and how to organize your fridge to keep your food fresh for longer. Book Professional Cleaning Services For After Christmas. Using Bark.com, you can book professional cleaners to come and deep clean the house again after Christmas. I'm recommending hiring a cleaning service because after all the preparation, the cleaning, the wrapping gifts, visiting family and having guests round. You're going to be exhausted! The last thing anyone wants to do after Christmas is to have to start cleaning again. There are even services who work on Christmas Day who'll come in and help you clear up and clean. Free Christmas Cleaning Checklist To help you organize your Christmas Cleaning, I have this convenient checklist full of tips, you can download for free. Click this link to the Christmas Cleaning Checklist.

Sarah Jane Goldsmith

Category: Printables