Quick! Your friends or family are coming over in an hour, and your place is a tip! Here’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning the house – fast! Just follow the housekeeping tips below.
Open the windows and air the room. The first thing you should do is get some fresh air circulating in your house – psychologically, this will make it feel cleaner to your guests when they arrive!
Make the beds. Many a mother has told their children that ‘an untidy bed represents an untidy mind’! Make sure beds are made up even if your guests are unlikely to enter bedrooms. It’ll help you feel on top of the housework, even if you’re not!
Tidy away all the washing, dirty or otherwise. If you have clothes on a drying rack in your kitchen or lounge, store them somewhere else while your guests are around. Dirty washing can also make your room look very messy if left lying on the floor, so put all dirty garments and items in the washing basket and firmly close the lid! Put away clean clothes. If worse comes to worse, stuff them into the bottom of your wardrobe or in bags under your bed.
Deal with the dishes! At the very least, you should collect all the empty cups and dishes from around the house and stack them next to the sink. Even better, put them into the dishwasher as this will hide them from view and prevent any food smells from wafting under your guest’s noses
Box or bag up clutter. Wondering how to clean your house in less than an hour? You’re hardly going to have time to sort everything out and put back in the right place before your guests arrive, so box or bag up any junk that has piled up on the living floor, on tables, or beside beds and hide it in cupboards or behind furniture until you have time to go through it all after they’ve left.
Wipe clean any exposed surfaces. Use a wet cloth to run over the surfaces in your house – particularly in the kitchen and on any tables that guests might use. Forget about dusting shelves or in bedrooms that guests are unlikely to see.
Hide any obvious stains. Ideally, treat any upholstery or carpet stains with a specific stain removal cleaner. If you don’t have time, drape or move objects over the top of unsightly stains and hope your guests don’t notice them.
Musty smells can make a house feel dirtier than it is. For a fresher finish, use a multi-purpose cleaner with a zingy scent, such as Cif Cream Lemon. Remember to follow the instructions carefully.
The PollWould you be more likely to buy a Cleaning or Laundry product that had a QR code visible on the pack over a product without a QR code?
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Clean the toilet. No guest wants to be confronted with a stinky or stained toilet. The pouring spout on Domex bleach means it’s so easy to quickly give it a clean – just remember to read the directions on the label and test any product in a small area first.
Empty the rubbish bins. Overflowing bins are definitely a no-no! Do this just before your guests arrive.
Vacuum the floors. Make sure your guests don’t find your carpet’s crunchy underfoot! This should be the very last task on your list. Be sure to get up all the crumbs and dust dislodged by your quick tidy-up.
So, there’s the proof – cleaning the house doesn’t have to take an age! If you follow the above house cleaning tips, there’ll be no need to worry about uninvited guests popping by.
Concentrate on the most visible mess, like what’s on tables & surfaces.
Make use of storage space in order to hide clutter quickly.
Don’t forget to scan the whole house – you never know where guests will see!
Do you want to learn which household cleaning tasks cause the most stress? Then read our Heated Household data analysis.