It’s easy to become adjusted to your own mess at home. Stacks of paper, spiderwebs in corners or untidy rooms easily go unnoticed – except by visitors. Cleanliness is always scrutinised by visitors so if you’re expecting guests this festive season, you’ll want to put your best foot forward. To help you, we’ve put together the top 8 MUST DO cleaning chores to complete before guests arrive:
This might seem like a no brainer but with kids in the house, your loos can be clean one moment and dirty the next. No matter how untidy your home is, your guest will forgive you as long as they are welcomed by a beautifully clean loo. Many guests travel far and wide to visit their loved ones; ensure they can relax and feel comfortable from the moment they arrive by ensuring they’re welcomed by a clean bathroom.
Right off the back of the number one clean zone, the loo, is a clean bathroom. Guests may want to bath or shower after their journey and being met by a dirty, mouldy, grimy or hairy bath or shower won’t do. Ensure you clean the ring around the top of the bath and remove any hair from the plugs or from the walls in the shower. No one likes to see any trace of another person in the bathroom. Also make the effort to clean away the grime around your bathroom bottles, soap dishes, etc.
Things can get away from us during the year. While you may not have time to defrost the freezer, ensure to clean out your fridge. Guests can be accidentally nosy while looking to pass you something from the fridge while you’re cooking (for example), and they may open a tub to find something that has been sitting there for 3 months. Unless you want mould in your food or an unpleasant smell every time you open your fridge, clean out all tubs and drawers, and give it a good wipe down before visitors arrive.
As before mentioned, no guest likes to find traces of another person in their personal space even if only temporary. Ensure that you have clean linen and change the sheets before their arrival. No guest wants to pull back the cover and find hair or marks on the linen. Freshly washed and ironed linen is a great “welcome to our home” symbol for visitors.
Many home owners, and restaurants for that matter, don’t realise that dirty glasses ruin a drinking experience. This doesn’t necessarily mean red lipstick on a glass but simple grime like smudges, finger and lip marks on a glass or cup can put users off. Always ensure that you clean your glasses thoroughly to avoid watermarks or from looking smoky. This goes for coffee cups as well. Use bicarbonate of soda to remove reminiscence of coffee at the bottom of mugs.
While most of us are wrapped around our pet’s paws (let’s admit it, we are), maintaining who is boss is very important, especially when it comes to visitors. Guests in the home do not think hairy dog beds, messy bird cages or over spilling cat litter trays are endearing. Most guests understand that pets require upkeep yet aiming to have your pet beds and litter trays clean at the time of your guest’s arrival is still important. Should they deteriorate over the time of their visit, guests will understand it is the nature of things, so to speak. However, homes that smell of kitty litter trays or wet dog will not make any guest feel welcome.
Take 5 minutes to pack away your throws. Many home owners use throws or pillows to decorate their couches or to add an extra homely touch. Ensuring that you lay your throws and pillows out neatly will ensure your home looks smart and show that care has been taken before your guest’s arrival.
This may seem like a strange thing to point out but many guests are afraid of spiders. Some home owners may even keep spiders in their home (to catch flies they claim!) but for visiting guests, spider webs can be creepy. They’re the kind of details that are easily unnoticed by home owners but really noticeable for guests. We mean to clear them away yet forget and days go by while good old Charlotte continues to enjoy her web. Get that feather duster and remove them before your guests arrive. It will take you 10 minutes to do the whole house, and it’s well worth it.
During holiday season, no one expects you to do all the housework alone. When your friends visit you, more often than not, they are happy to help maintain the home. In order to get them to help though, you need to be prepared with cleaning items. Have different coloured sponges for different areas (dishes, counters, floors) and have enough drying cloths and hand cloths for your visitors to help. If there are enough tools there will be enough helpers.