It is great to get together with your relatives after long time. But organizing and cleaning after family reunion is quite big task. Here is a simple plan that should help you clean after the big family gathering.
Prevention Tips
If you want to have less for tidying up and cleaning after the party you may help yourself before the reunion. If there will be small kids take in mind that they are hard to control. Children like to play and run around the house so it will be very good idea to hide everything fragile, that they can accidentally push on the floor. This way you prevent both broken glass all over the room the carpet and cut fingers. Actually if there are many people this can happen to everybody, so be sure to put away everything fragile.
Another thing that will ease the cleaning is to cover the upholstered furniture with bed coverings or blankets. It is easier to remove stain from blanket, than from sofa. You can also remove the area rugs for the same reason. Another good idea if you want to reduce the soiling on your carpet is to put doormats at every entrance.
Cleaning After the Family Gathering
When the fun is over you have to deal with the whole mess. It may seem impossible task, but actually it can be very easy if you have a plan. I always try to follow these simple steps:
- Decluttering. Go around the house with a big plastic bag. There will be a lot of garbage – empty bottles, food leftovers, full ash trays and so on.
- Collecting the dishes. No matter where you have served the meal, be sure that you will find glasses, plates and cutlery in every single room. Take them to the sink and leave them – you can clean them later, or the day after.
- Bathroom towels. Take the towels from the bathrooms and put them in the laundry room. Even if they look clean, it is better not to use them – too many people has wiped their hands with this towels.
- Wash the coverings and blankets. Collect the coverings and blankets from the furniture. There may be some stains from food and beverage spills. If you want to be sure that you will get rid of them easily, dissolve the stains with water and then put some detergent and let it do its job for a while, before you launder them.
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Clean the floors and carpets. Vacuum thoroughly everywhere around the house. There sure will be food crumbs and soil – it is inevitable. If there are some stains on wall-to-wall carpets, or rug (if you haven’t removed them in advance) don’t panic. The faster you react the better chance to remove the spot without a trace. Rinse the affected area and apply suitable stain remover. Let it stay like this for a few minutes and gently soak with clean cloth. If there still is a stain repeat the procedure. If you don’t have proper product, you can make your own cleaner at home, using vinegar, salt and baking soda – there are plenty recipes on the Internet. If the stain is still there you may have to call professional cleaners to deal with it.
