Before and after party cleaning tips
Hosting a party for your friends is great! However, the clear up isn’t. Clearing up is usually the last thing on your mind with a hangover.
BEFORE EVENT CLEANING
Start clean.
Not only will your lovely, sparkling home impress guests, but it will make your life a lot easier when it comes to cleaning up in the morning. Wipe down all surfaces, mop the floor, hoover all carpets, and do anything else you can think of to de-clutter your house and generally make it cleaner. Take this time to pack away any valuable objects like fancy china or expensive show pieces.
Dunk disposable, set up trash points!
Seriously, it helps. Why put plates, cutlery and glasses through the dishwasher, when you can simply throw them away? So before your party invest in some disposable party-ware. Provide plenty of bins and make sure they’re visible! Try using brightly coloured bin bags; draw a bulls-eye on a piece of cardboard and stick it on top of your bins. This will make it fun, visible, and encourage your guests to use the bins!
Serve less-mess food.
To assist with those disposable plates you bought, serve some easy to dispose of food. We don’t mean easy to throw away, we mean easier to eat! Stick to bite-size, grab-as-you-go foods that guests can easily sample as they party the night away. Besides, if you decide to cook multi-course meals, you’ll find yourself stuck in the kitchen all night and not having fun like you should be. Would you want to serve Michelin Star food on a disposable plate?
Give guests guidance!
Just like the previous tip, if you don’t want guests entering certain rooms in your house, make it clear! All you need is an A4 sheet of paper and in big, bold writing, put something like ‘DO NOT ENTER’, then stick it on the firmly, closed door. This is helpful as instead of having to clean every room in the house, you only need to clean the rooms that the party was in.
AFTER EVENT CLEANING
Who says you have to clean up in the morning?
If you can, try not to wait until the next day to start your pre and post party cleaning. After your guests leave, survey each room they were in and identify things that need attention immediately such as spills on furniture. If you get it all done in the night, good news, you have the whole day to recover in bed!
Start with the disposables.
Go round the house with a few bin liners and chuck in all the disposables, easy! I bet you’re glad you bought them now ;). This gives you a clear overview of what needs cleaning and where the damages are (if any). If you didn’t use disposable party-ware, then simply go around your house with the recycling bins or cardboard boxes and collect all glass bottles and cans. Then move onto loading the dishwasher. Clearing the clutter gives you clarity about where you need to focus on next.
The rest of your house
Because of all the steps you put in place before, and the fact you may have cleaned up straight after guests have left, there shouldn’t be much left to do. If the other rooms are messy however, focus on cleaning each room separately starting with the messiest first and cleanest last.
This blog was written by Darren Timon, director of Aroma Cleaning UK Ltd, a nationwide cleaning company.