Holiday Cleaning Tips: Deck The Halls and then Clean Them!
During the holidays, no matter which one you celebrate, your condo can become a veritable disaster zone if not cared for properly. It's one of the key reasons people become so stressed out around holiday time! Let us rub your back for a minute and give you some easy to do cleaning tips that will be sure to keep you feeling fantastic during the holidays this year. Living in a smaller space means we have to make an extra effort to have our homes appear beautifully maintained no matter what we have to cook or how many gifts we have to wrap or unwrap – we don't have room to hide any of the mess!
This article will give you quick ideas on how to keep your home a calm, clean, and collected place this holiday season.
Wrap Artist
Wrapping gifts can be so much fun, but those tiny snippets of wrapping paper, ribbon clippings, extra tape, and glittery bits can be messier than a toddler eating chocolate ice cream. To keep your place neat and tidy during and after this event, use the following suggestion to keep your space spotless. Tape a couple of garbage bags flat on the ground or table where you will be doing the wrapping. We recommend doing this on carpet or a rug if possible. Be sure to use the appropriate tape for your surface, such as painter's tape on wood, laminate or tile. Taping will not only allow you some practice (seeing as your wrapping skills may be a bit rusty by now), but it will give you a self-contained area to wrap your heart out! Now you can safely spread out your rolls of paper, tape, glitter, ribbons, scissors, pipe cleaners, markers and whatever else you use to wrap gifts with. Wrap away, sing songs, have fun, and once you are done you can raise the tape up, fold the garbage bag into a tiny ball and toss it down the chute, knowing that you prevented your floors from getting covered with a flurry of clippings and sparkly bits. Now that your gifts are wrapped, you are ready to move onto bigger and more challenging things: cooking the holiday feast.
Holiday Cook-A-Thons
Cooking is one of the most obvious holiday activities and can of course, be the messiest. When embarking on your holiday cook-a-thon, be sure to have plenty of paper towels and counter spray around to keep your kitchen maintained and to eliminate cross-contamination. Method, an eco-friendly product line available at Shopper's Drug Mart, has come out with a line of holiday cleaning products including counter spray to help you get into the holiday spirit and out of the holiday mess. The spray is available in three scents: Cinnamon Bark, Holly Berry, and Peppermint Vanilla. Once you have strategically established what you are going to cook, knowing what to clean up is a piece of cake. After each small cooking task, take a few minutes to wash and store the small appliances, wipe the counter down, wipe up any spills on the floor, and load as much into the dishwasher as humanly possible. This ‘clean as you go' mentality will make the aftermath of a day of cooking much more manageable. Once all cooking is done, be sure to wipe the exhaust fan inside and out, simply because your cooking likely left it's own holiday gift of spatter and grease which is never easy to remove if left for a while. Also be sure to give your backsplash a hearty wipe down, because it's likely worked overtime during your cooking marathon . Some heavy duty degreaser would work well on the exhaust and backsplash, but we think vinegar works just as well ( it is much better for the environment and for you).
Holiday Feast Cleanup
When cleaning up after a large holiday meal, the hardest part can be washing all of the big serving pieces, roasting pans and pots used to cook your festive feasts. Dishes are a no brainer, simply place all cutlery and plates in the dishwasher immediately and refuse to let this task linger! Now you can promptly move on to the big stuff. The best way to clean up caked-on foods is to soak the pan or dish in warm water and dishwashing liquid. Once sudsy, you can sprinkle some baking soda on the areas that are caked with grease or stuck-on food. Baking soda is a wonderful eco-friendly mild abrasive, and after a few minutes of soaking will rub anything off a pot or pan. It's the one of the greatest cleaning shortcuts you will ever discover! Once the meal is over you may want to peek in your fridge and see where there has been a gravy leak or wild turkey chase on the fridge shelves and clean up any mysterious food bits with the quick wipe of a damp cloth. By proactively tending to rogue food bits in the fridge, you won't have to face the Maytag monster a month down the line. Cleaning up in the kitchen is one thing, but we also have to discuss festive messes in other areas of our home.
No More Whining about Wine
We have all experienced the time where our guests are chatting away, glass in hand , only to hear a shrill scream followed by silence, then whispers. You've confirmed it, your crazy relative, who is notorious for spilling a heaping glass of Shiraz on your plush carpet or upholstered sofa has done it again. No need to get too angry, because you had anticipated this would happen and armed yourself with the appropriate product ahead of time. Pick up a bottle of Oxy Clean (available at Canadian Tire), then simply spray the soiled area with the product, let it sit and blot off (package contains detailed instructions on how to clean different stains). Look how great you handled that one! Spills are a non-issue once you are armed with the right product and a clean cloth.
We have received a question from our last article regarding how to clean glass shower doors. There are many products that would work well. Should you prefer the eco-friendly option, use a paste of vinegar and baking soda and apply it to the areas with build up. Agitate the area with an abrasive sponge and wash clean. You can also pick up specialty products such as CLR to clear up this issue. Be sure to have plenty of clean cloths to buff everything to a shine!
Regardless of what day you celebrate, we wish you a happy, healthy, and clean holiday season!
