This is a sponsored conversation (The Stress Free Plan: How To Clean House for a Party) written by me on behalf of Finish®. The opinions and text are all mine.
Tis’ the season …. to have house guests. It’s a busy time for most of us, work parties, trips to see Santa, shopping, hosting, celebrating … the list can go on. Holidays can often equal stress. Oh the irony, right? Joe and I have always loved hosting parties and the holidays are no exception. Yet during the holiday season there’s just SO much going on. So we try to be as efficient in our party hosting duties as possible. Yes, that’s a thing. I even wrote a post about it.
But what about cleaning? That’s one area where I don’t like to skimp. Pre-made appetizers? Yep. Forget the decorations? Didn’t even miss them. Skip house cleaning? Absolutely not. I just hate having a messy house. Maybe because I work from home so I’m home all day. Maybe because baby items are slowly taking over every room of our house. Whatever the reason, I always want a clean house before hosting.
Who has time for a deep clean during the holiday season? Not this gal. Instead I set aside an hour or two the day of the party to clean up. I find that when I clean TOO far in advance, our home ends up getting messy again before the guests come over. It does give me a little anxiety to wait until the day of, but it always ends up being the most efficient way to get the house clean.
Here’s the quick and dirty (no pun intended) way I clean house before guests arrive:
Clutter
The very first thing I like to do the day of a house party is pick up any clutter in each room of our house. I do this even for rooms that I don’t intend to use (guest room, den, nursery) just in case guests wander in. Plus, it’s a good excuse to tidy up those spaces. Now I don’t go as far as organizing and putting everything away. Nope. I grab a large bin or laundry basket to temporarily throw the clutter in. Remember, I’m just trying to clean for our guests, not deep clean and organize our home.
Dishes
Yes, hiding dirty dishes in the dishwasher seems like a quick solution. But take it a step further. DO THE DISHES. We use Finish Powerball Max in 1 to make sure all the dishes get sparkling clean. It tackles whatever you throw at it. It penetrates, breaks down, and lifts away 24-hour dried on food. (Think: dishes you left in the sink and forgot to clean.) And when you use Finish, you get unbeatable clean* and 25% more loads.**
I like to run the dishwasher while I’m cleaning the rest of the house. Then right before our guests arrive, I unload the clean dishes. The extra bonus is that clean up at the end of the night is a breeze with an empty dishwasher.
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Bathroom
I typically don’t clean our bedrooms prior to a party, but the bathrooms are another story. I always make sure each of our bathrooms are scrubbed down, even the master bath. Our main floor half bath will likely be used the most, but I’d hate for someone to use the master bath only to discover it hasn’t been cleaned for … oh a month?
Coat Closet
Now for the record, I don’t go cleaning every closet in our house, but I do like to make space in our main floor coat closet. We use that coat closet for almost everything – storing strollers (yes, plural 🙁 ), dog food, work bags, and on and on. So it can use a little TLC and cleaning out before guests arrive. I always make sure we have enough empty hangers for everyone’s coats and anything else they’re likely to put away.
Counters
Once the food is ready, I like to wipe down all the kitchen counters, table and coffee tables. I’m always amazed at how quickly our kitchen counters can get dirty. Truly can’t figure out where it comes from. Wiping it down is a 30 second task that I always save towards the end of my party prep cleaning. (Just as easy as it is to wipe down, it can quickly get dirty again!)
Floors
Washing the floors? Nope. But sweeping? YES! Ever since bringing home our little pup, Reagan, sweeping (up dog hair) has become an almost daily occurrence. Our kitchen floors can also get messy while prepping dinner, so I do a quick sweep and vacuum AFTER the food prep and after wiping down the counters. Then if anyone takes their shoes off their socks don’t get gross.
Smell
This might be my favorite cleaning task of them all. Spray something that smells good so it seems that you’ve cleaned more than you have. Skip the DIY stovetop aromas and opt for a premade spray. As the guests ring the doorbell, give it a quick squirt and pretend your home always smells that good 🙂 .
Now your home may not be in ‘I’ve been deep cleaning for a week’ condition, it is in ‘I’m ready to party!’ condition, which is exactly what we’re aiming for! Just don’t forget to do those dishes at the end of the night. Then take advantage of your $5 e-Movie cash reward offer from your Finish products!
For a limited time, get a $5 e-Movie cash reward when you buy 2 Finish dish products in a single transaction at Target between 10/30/17-12/21/17. Snap a picture of your receipt and visit www.finishmovieticket.com to redeem a $5 e-Movie cash reward.
*vs Cascade Premium
**Based on retail pack size comparison of Finish® Quantum Max® and Cascade Platinum. Cascade Platinum is a registered trademark of P&G.
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