Does this scenario sound familiar? It’s the holiday season and you’re not entertaining any guests this year. You’re enjoying the time off work, the delicious leftovers, and the fact that sweatpants are appropriate attire for the weekend ahead. Housework, laundry and floor cleaning are the last things on your mind as you soak up every family-fun-filled minute. All of a sudden your phone rings. A family member is on the other end, informing you they’ll be driving through your town in a little while and want to stop by. Of course you tell them you’re excited to see them, but deep down a mini-panic sets in as you look at the unclean state of your home.
Don’t let this scenario be your reality this year! Here are ten simple tips for quickly cleaning your house for unexpected visitors:
- Enlist the family.
Give everyone in the family a job and make it seem like a game. Offer up a prize for the person who does the best job cleaning their assigned area. A little friendly competition will surely get them motivated!
- Forget the ladder, but don’t forget the cobwebs.
People can overlook a lot of unclean areas, but if they spot a cobweb they will immediately notice everything else. You can knock down cobwebs quickly by covering your broom with a towel or an old pillowcase and sweeping them down. No ladder required!
- Turn off the lights and open the windows to see areas that need dusted.
Turn off your artificial lights and open up your windows for natural light if you want to see all of the areas where dust is hiding in your living room. Give a little one a dust rag and let them go to town. Once they’re done, if it still looks dusty, just close the windows and resort back to your lamps to hide any missed dust.
- Make your house smell nice.
Use an old real estate trick to make your house smell amazing in an instant. Bake a cookie! You don’t have to bake a BATCH of cookies, though. Do you have a pack of pre-cut cookies in your fridge? Simply pop one into the microwave and it will smell like you’ve been baking for hours. (But you might want to make them all if your guests will be looking or them with that great smell!)
- Declutter!
Everything doesn’t have to go to its “permanent home”, but you can quickly declutter to make your home look better. Grab a laundry basket and go around loading everything into it and stash it away in a closet or unused room.
- Clean the Path
Think about the way that your guests will be walking through your home and focus on those spots first. Will they be walking through the kitchen but not down the hallway? Clean the kitchen, forget the hallway.
- Hide the Dishes!
Fill your dishwasher as full as it will go, and hide the rest. Half-fill your kitchen sink with water and dishsoap and put the rest of your dirty dishes under those suds. Hey, a little pre-soak never hurt anyone, right?
- Clean the Bathroom
The main room you should focus on cleaning is definitely the bathroom! Take everything off your counters, spray them down with a cleaner, and wipe it all down. For a quick toilet bowl cleaning, use old fabric softener sheets. Make sure there is plenty of toilet paper to avoid awkward situations for your guests.
- Give the floors a once over
Clean floors can go a long way to make your house look clean. This is especially the case when you have pets! Run a vacuum over the carpets (if you have them) and take a mop to the bare floors. That doesn’t sound like a “quick tip”, but with the O-Cedar ProMist I’m able to finish my whole little house in a few minutes. (I got mine at Walmart.) The cleaner is held right on-board the mop and it has a handy reusable/washable cleaning pad. Super easy!
#CleanForTheHolidays #CollectiveBias
- Calm down!
Take a deep breath and don’t stress out. Your family is your family and your friends are your friends. If they notice a little bit of a mess it won’t be the end of the world.
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So for now, keep on relaxing in your sweat pants and enjoy the holiday season, but if you get that call from unexpected holiday visitors, you’ll have these these ten simple tips lined up to help you keep your sanity and the appearance of a super clean home.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
I never get unexpected guests because people know better than to stop by without calling first, but it’s always a good idea to keep a clean house.
Terri Beavers says
Oh my goodness, I need to write down all of your tips. I’m a madd woman when I cleaning. I love the bake a cookie tip. Once it’s finished, I can eat it for more energy, lol.
Chrysa says
Cookie energy is the best! 🙂
Vicki W says
I love these ideas! I don’t get the phone calls ahead of time since I run a sewing and alterations business out of my home…I get the pop-ins at anytime of the day! I am constantly struggling to keep the house clean on top of homeschooling and working from home. I even have to worry about looking presentable at all times LOL.
Chrysa says
Oh, wow! I don’t think I could handle that!
Dawn says
I love this spray mop. O’Cedar is a great brand, and these work so much better than mops.
Lisa says
Thanks for these great tips. I’m not a huge fan of unexpected visitors, but when they come, I’d prefer it if they didn’t see how I really live! =D
Eileen says
Great tips for cleaning up the house. I definitely want my place to be clean when I have people over!
michele d says
I’ll be doing this very soon myself. Rugs included. Tons of work ahead of me!
kristin says
I love the Soaking dish thing. So many great tips.
Kari Jordan says
Luckily, I don’t get lots of visitors bc most of my family is local…..maybe that’s not so lucky after all?? But, honestly, these are great tips! Could be good for weekly spruce ups, too!
Franc Ramon says
The Promist Spray mop can really make cleaning a lot faster. This tips can really tidy up the house for guests.
courtney says
Fabulous cleaning tips!!! Thank you so much!!
Shasta says
Great tips. I really need to get myself a spray mop.
Erica Brooks says
Good cleaning tips but If you drop by my house unexpected you get what you get. LOL
Myrabev says
hahaha love the hide the rest of the dishes lol, I agree a pre-soak never hurt anyone and does the unexpected guest think you were planning on washing your dishes lol
Fi Ní Neachtáin says
Great tips for cleaning up for guests. I think cleaning the bathroom is the most important on the list!
Samantha Angell says
These are all great tips! I think enlisting help of the family is the best- if everyone works for 10 minutes, its amazing how much gets done!
Rena McDaniel says
We just moved to a new house with hardwood floors and I have been looking at this mop. I will definitely be going back to pick it up now! Great tips for keeping a clean house.
Elizabeth O says
There’s nothing like thorough cleaning.
Shaney Vijendranath says
I always try to make my house smell nice, I love lighting candles. Great tips, will definitely be handy for the holidays coming up.
Alyssa C says
These are great tips! I need to get myself a new mop!
Amanda @ Adorkablii says
These are some great tips! I love cleaning so I am down for some of these! hehehe
Amby Felix says
My home is super clean most of the time but I swear… the day I let my hair down a little, is the day I have unexpected guests LOL! We all do what is called “burst mode” we all clean as fast as we can and see who can do the most in 10 minutes! It’s so much fun! Thank you for these fantastic tips!
Nichole says
This is very helpful. And great timing as we just had my FIL make a surprise visit.
Liz Mays says
Opening the windows to see the dust is a scary thought, but super smart. I like the idea of checking the path visitors would walk too.
Kae James says
Great tips. I hate when people come to my house unannounced. I mean a simple little phone call could not hurt. Even if 5 minds before. I can get a lot of cleaning done by then Lol.
Krystal says
Thanks for these great tips! I’ll be trying the one about finding dust. I ALWAYS seem to miss something.
SHELLEY R ZUREK says
I think as long as the dust isn’t thick enough to write your name in, then the top items to focus on are bathrooms and floors. And REALLY, the whole family should help (but do they ever?)
Lynndee says
Wow! Thank you for the tips. Don’t worry, I will try my best to calm down. 😉
Emy Cooks says
LOl, I enjoyed that as I recognized some of them. I love having guest overnight or passersby. I do used O’Cedar mop not the spray but would love to try it. I like their products…
Ann Bacciaglia says
These are great tips for a quick clean up. I like the calm down tip the most.
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
Great tips! Unfortunately, my house doesn’t stay tidy for more than 5 minutes thanks to my little ones but these will definitely help with keeping things clean looking. #client
estherjulee says
haha we shove everything in our closet! we have the opposite problem and even though we would love to host.. our house is more set up as a home office.. so it’s not a cozy space that people want to hang out in.
Stephanie says
I hadn’t thought about turning of the lights to see where the dust is before. I also hide the laundry that usually is waiting to be folded in our closet. 🙂
Manu Kalia says
Thank you for reminding, I have a lot of guest in the next weeks I think I need to clean up. Great review with the product
Johanna says
ohh, how pissed of i can be when after soccer game my boyfriend take his friends up and i feel i have to make a quick cleaning…the baking thing won’t work as they can eat that all day long 🙂 The hiding the dishes is my best move usually!! 🙂
Debbie (MAD Hippies Life) says
Great suggestions on fast cleaning! Very true about turning off the lights and opening the windows to see the dust. For air freshening, I have put an essential oil in a cup with water and place in the microwave, and take it out and the warm scent lingers.
Rosey says
I saw a cobweb yesterday on the ceiling in our basement. I had a handful of laundry and forgot about it, but now I need to get rid of it. They make me very not happy…silly spiders coming in my house. 😉
Lara says
Great tips! NOW if the product could just do it all itself. LOL
Risa says
Decluttering is a must for me. I’ve been working on it. I tackled the basement today. Took me a good hour to get some things sorted and I’m not even close to done. Thanks for sharing your tips.
Carly Anderson says
Thanks for these great tips! I love having unexpected guests over… but having a clean house all the time is somewhat of a problem with a three year old.
Elizabeth O. says
Your ideas are great! I’ll definitely keep this in mind!
HilLesha says
Between blogging and house cleaning, I’m going to be one busy woman this holiday season! By the way, that last picture is so adorable.
April @ Everyday Fitness and Nutrition says
Great tips to clean quickly and efficiently! My house could definitely use a little TLC right now.
Brandy says
I used to own this brand and it worked great. I love that you are sharing it as a means to keep clean this holiday season!
john lopez says
Grest tips thank you fir sharing this quickly clean, so if we had a unwanted guest, like germs lol. But thanks friend.
Paulina says
These are great guests during the holiday so many people just stop by.
Rebecca Swenor says
These are great tips for quick cleaning indeed. I have to agree about people noticing the cob webs than seeing everything, It is true that natural light is better to for seeing everything that you need to clean. Thanks for sharing.
Peachy @ The Peach Kitchen says
Great cleaning tips! I hope I can find this mop and this brand here .
Brenda says
The cobwebs! So true. I feel like if my counters are clear and all the random stuff is put away, empty sink- then my house is good to go. Oh yes, and if my floors are clean. I love this mop! These tips are great- thank you.