Top Tips: Preparing For Christmas At Home

It’s silly season and Christmas is around the corner! It’s a good idea to prepare for the festive season by cleaning and tidying your home, and adorning your Christmas Tree of course. 

Here are Cleanipedia’s best festive season cleaning tips for the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and living room and advice on how to prevent any Christmas Tree calamities. 

When you’re shopping for gifts and Christmas tree décor, don’t forget to stock up on cleaning essentials too, this way, you’ll be prepared for any eventuality. 

Bedrooms: Bedrooms Should Be Airy And Clean

Change the sheets so that they’re clean and fresh. Bedding – sheets and duvet covers – can be washed in the washing machine! Try to wash them separately from other clothing, as smaller items like socks can get caught amongst the sheets and might not be cleaned properly.

Vacuum and polish the room to freshen it up, as we are spending more time at home, having a fresh environment can make any home feel airy and cool. Clean down any surfaces, like skirting boards. You may wish to have a house plant in your bedroom to maintain fresh air. 

Clear out any unwanted clothes/items in preparation for any extra purchases and gifts or guests. For peace of mind, check for signs of mould, as wardrobes can be ideal breeding grounds. 

Kitchen: The Heart Of The Home

The kitchen is the heart of any home, especially during Christmas. However, the kitchen isn’t just about cooking – it’s also about safely and hygienically storing food; it’s about keeping your glassware, cutlery, and crockery clean and shiny; and, if you keep your washing machine in the kitchen, it’s also about staying on top of your laundry. 

Here are some kitchen tasks you may wish to tackle during the pre-Christmas tidy-up:

Clean your oven before Christmas so that it’s ready to cook your festive meals to perfection. If your oven is covered in small bits of burnt food, it could not only affect the taste of your meat, but it could also start to smoke, leaving a nasty, lingering smell in the house. Always make sure that the oven is cool before you start to clean it.

Clean your fridge by removing any out-of-date. Emptying out your fridge also means you’ve got plenty of room for extra food like wine and pudding!

To create the perfect festive drinks, such as wine, gin and sherry, you’ll want your glassware sparkling. No one wants a drink served in cloudy-looking glass, so make sure you clean any glassware before the day. An easy way to do this is to rinse the outside of the glass in vinegar – don’t worry about the smell, as it will fade as it dries.

Bathroom: Hygiene Is Key

One of the most important things you can do during the pre-Christmas clean-up is to get your bathroom as clean and hygienic as possible and to try and maintain this level of cleanliness all throughout the festive period. Maintaining a clean bathroom area is vital in order to prevent the spread of germs. 

Living Room

Vacuuming is important over Christmas to keep your home looking clean and fresh. Prior to the big day, it’s also important to get your carpets clean before your kids sit on the floor opening and playing with their gifts from Santa. If you’ve got rugs, flip them over and vacuum the undersides to remove as much dust and dirt as possible.

When you do the big Christmas tidy up is entirely up to you, but many homeowners prefer to clean in the few days leading up to 25 December, as this means they don’t feel rushed to get everything done in just one day, and it also means they can then spend Christmas and Boxing Day relaxing, drinking mulled wine, and eating mince pies, without having to worry about chores.

How To Protect Your Tree From Pets, Toddlers And Other Calamities

Having pets or young children in your home doesn’t mean you have to skip the tree this year. Use common sense when it comes to safety and access, just like you would around windows, radiators, and stairs. 

• If you can, leave the tree unadorned for a day or two to let your dog (or toddler!) get used to it and allow the novelty to wear off.

• Wondering how to keep your cat out of the Christmas tree? Place some tin foil around the base – cats don’t like the texture, so they’ll be less likely to try to climb it.

• Another handy hack (that works for both pets and small kids) is to add decorative bell ornaments at various (unreachable) points on your tree. This way, you’ll hear literal alarm bells whenever it’s touched and can hopefully sweep in before any damage is done.

• Make sure to only use shatter-proof ornaments, especially on the lower branches.

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