12 December Cleaning Tips (Holiday Cleaning Checklist)

Quick Summary of Christmas Cleaning (12 Ways To Prep Your Home For The Holidays):

For most of us, December is the busiest time of the year. The final month is full of family gatherings, get-togethers with friends, and lots of holiday festivities.

And with all Christmas hoopla comes lots of opportunities for cleaning. A little extra housework always seems to be on the to-do list in December. And for some, Christmas cleaning is never-ending.

We don’t want that to be you. The holidays should be a time for creating memories and feeling happy. Not for stressing constantly about getting the house in order and cleaning it up properly afterward.

Here are 12 ways to prep and maintain your home for the holiday season. Follow these suggestions and you’ll save a lot of time and avoid even more headaches.

Don’t procrastinate. The longer you put cleaning off, the more stressed you’ll become. When you put yourself in this position, you feel like you have to do more in less time. This is not where you want your headspace to be.

And it’s easily avoidable.

Don’t wait until crunch time to get things done. Start your Christmas cleaning in November. One helpful thing that many people do is to combine Thanksgiving clean up with Christmas prep.

When you’ve already got your cleaning mojo working right after turkey day, get ready for the holidays simultaneously.

A good way to approach holiday cleaning is through the perspective of a guest. Even better, your mother-in-law. Imagine you are her walking through your house as she’s staying for Christmas. What is she going to notice?

If putting yourself in your in-laws shoes stresses you out, then don’t use that approach. But cleaning through the lens of another person does help you notice the little things. Things you may overlook if you were cleaning just for yourself.

However you do it, make sure you start early. You’ll be less stressed and probably have more time to dedicate to getting things ready. This you’ll do a more thorough job.

Compare that to deep cleaning the day before the guests arrive. You don’t want to do that.

In almost every Christmas cleaning scenario, the best thing to tackle first is decluttering. Especially if the task at hand as a whole is daunting. Sometimes you have such a big mess – after Thanksgiving, for example – that it’s overwhelming. And you just don’t even know where to begin.

Trust us. Start with decluttering and then go from there.

If you have kids, get them involved going room to room picking up the floor. Put things in their proper place. Throw trash away. Reorganized desks and counter space that has been disheveled.

If you feel the need, go through drawers and cupboards and get rid of things that don’t need to be there.

Once you’ve decluttered your home, everything else on your list suddenly doesn’t seem quite so intimating.

Cleaning walls is a chore that gets overlooked a lot. Or you may notice them but think that they’re not very dirty so you leave them alone.

In our experience, this is a mistake. Even slight discolorations – especially on white walls – are very noticeable. Eyes are quickly drawn to spots on walls.

Especially If you have small children, wall cleaning is something that probably needs to be done regularly. If you’ve never been in the habit of doing this, the results after your first time will definitely be a wow moment for you.

If you’re not sure how to go about doing this, here’s a good reference for cleaning the walls in your home.

You might be in the habit of buying all-purpose cleaning supplies for your household chores. The labels on these products will say that they can be used to clean tons of different things.

Countertops, tile, wood, stainless steel, etc. Don’t believe it.

Though it may seem like the spray is doing an adequate job, that’s just the thing. It’s almost certainly ONLY doing an adequate job. And in some cases, you may be damaging the finish on some surfaces by using such a product.

For example, not using a specific product designed for cleaning wood – and only wood – can damage it. Wood, leather, and stone are porous. Using “versatile” chemicals almost always do damage over time while it seems like it’s harmlessly cleaning it.

Your house will look so much better if you use dedicated products. By dedicated we mean use a glass cleaner to clean glass. Clean toilets using a product that’s branded to do that specific task. You get the idea.

You’ll absolutely see the difference when you make an effort to do your Christmas cleaning this way. And most of the time, these specific products to the job much quicker compared to all-purpose products.

This list of job-specific cleaning supplies will get you on the right path.

Part of your Christmas cleaning needs to be those out-of-sight, out-of-mind places. Under the rug, under the couch, underneath and in between couch cushions, under the beds, under rugs. You know the places we mean.

You don’t want guests plopping down on your couch, moving it back a bit, and revealing a bunch of junk.

Another thing about these unseen places that they’re often the source of the odor. You’ll be surprised what you find in between couch cushions or between the wall and your kid’s bed. Yuck.

This is another area that can get tedious if you have kids (or a dog). They seem to always be leaving their handprints everywhere, especially windows.

You want your guests to be able to look out a spotless window to see the falling snow. When they’re looking out, waiting for their favorite cousin or uncle to arrive, you want the window to be clean.

Depending on the style of your home, windows may be some of the most prominent features. If this is the case where you live, put a high priority on cleaning your windows. It will make such a huge difference.

And don’t just clean the glass. Get the gunk and dust out of the track in your sliding glass door. Vacuum out whatever has accumulated in the window sill and wipe it down.

If you want to go the extra mile in this category, get some water repellent. Spray it on the windows. This will prevent water spots from forming after you’ve made it look great.

We can help you with glass restoration and sealing.

Don’t overlook dusting.

Ingesting too much dust causes sickness, promotes allergies, and weakens the immune system. This is obviously not something you want happening in your home during the holidays. Plus, dusty surfaces and decorative items just look bad.

The air quality in homes that don’t get dusted regularly is not good. Poor air quality leads to, among other things, coughing and sneezing.

Here are some places you’ve got to dust. Some of them may not be on your Christmas cleaning radar:

Some of these things you can use the hose on your vacuum to get the job done. Others will require some dust spray and a good rag.

Here are some more dusting tips if you’re someone who’s not in the habit of dusting.

Consider having an indoor allergy treatment done in your home.

Most holiday messes happen in the kitchen. This is why it’s a really good idea to clean and seal your cooking surfaces. Especially if they’re made of granite.

Also, consider conditioning your cutting boards and butcher blocks. This will make them last longer and create a much more pleasant experience for guests who use them.

And don’t forget to wipe down and disinfect all cooking surfaces before you and others use them.

Refrigerators get cluttered really fast. You clean the fridge one Saturday morning and within a couple of weeks, it needs cleaning again. This is common.

But during the holidays, you’ve got guests bringing and preparing their food in your home. During these Christmas gatherings, your fridge gets opened and closed dozens and dozens of times. And with each interaction, more food gets taken out and even more, food gets put in.

Mountains of leftovers.

So, to prepare for the onslaught that your fridge will likely receive, empty it out. Give it a wipe down and a disinfecting. Throw away old and expired items to make room for all the Christmas goodies that are surely coming.

And while you’re doing your Christmas cleaning, give some attention to all of your kitchen appliances.

Of all the places in your home that get the most eyeballs looking at it, the carpet tops the list. The carpet also tends to have the most noticeable stains of any other place in the home.

If you want to create a clean and welcoming environment as a host, clean carpets is an absolute necessity. We recommend having it professionally done to make sure it looks as good as it possibly can. But if you feel like all it needs is some spot cleaning here and there, more power to you.

The thing with carpet, though, is that when a spot suddenly becomes visible, that’s not stage 1. That’s stage 3 or 4. It’s usually been there for a while in the fibers of the carpet and has finally reached the visible stage.

This is one of the main reasons it’s a good idea to have your carpets cleaned regularly. Similar to the schedule you have with your pest control company, for example.

But in preparing for the holidays, carpet cleaning is a must.

But we do more than that. We work hard to make sure that you are completely satisfied because we know that your trust has to be earned.

That’s why we use shoe covers, corner guards, furniture pads, and styrofoam blocks (to set furniture on to prevent water staining) to protect your home. We also move your furniture for you.

Unlike other carpet cleaning companies in Seattle, Edmonds or Kirkland, we do not rely on soaps and chemicals to clean your carpets (which can cause ‘crunchy carpeting’). Instead, we use special deionized water that actually lifts and removes dirt, germs, bacteria, and the soaps and chemicals left behind by previous carpet cleaning companies from the fibers of your carpeting.

This means that when we are done, your carpets are not only cleaner than ever before, they are actually healthier. our cleaning solution is the perfect option for any environmentally-conscious or health-sensitive family.

If you are looking for a professional, non-toxic, and long-lasting clean, then Pure Clean’s carpet cleaning services are your best option. Give us a call to discuss our options and schedule your appointment.

Give us a call and set up an appointment before you start all your December activities. Getting your carpet cleaning in the West Seattle area taken care of before the holiday rush will put you at ease. Not only that, but it will save you time, money, and your house will look great!

Nothing says welcome to my home than an uncleaned bathroom. 😉

This should go without saying. But if you have guests in your home for Christmas, your bathrooms need to be clean.

Grime on and around the toilet, hair in the sink, dried toothpaste on the counter, spots all over the mirror. All of these need to be a Christmas cleaning priority.

With so many people using it, you don’t want them to feel uncomfortable using your facilities.

And it’s worth noting that you may need to check on the status of your bathroom during the event. With people coming in and out, you never know what damage is being done for the next person to witness.

Also, make sure to keep deodorizing fragrant spray or something else to keep it smelling good in there.

Sometimes our guest rooms don’t get used very often. Dust accumulates in these rooms, including on the comforter and pillows.

Make sure to wash all the sheets, pillow cases, etc. in anticipation of Christmas guests. You don’t want someone laying down on your guest bed and dust flying around them. Or to find that the sheets have a weird smell.

Professional mattress cleaning is also something to consider during Christmas cleaning.

Use these Christmas cleaning suggestions to make your home look fantastic this holiday season. The cleaner the home, the stronger the Christmas spirit!

And of course, reach out to us for your holiday carpet cleaning needs.

Schedule  or give us a call to get your PureClean™  upholstery cleaning today