Holiday Cleaning Schedule

October

First Week
This week we are going to work on our bathrooms.

  • Monday - Use a basket or box and go through all bathrooms and remove anything that does not belong there and put it in its correct room.
  • Tuesday - Clean out drawers and under sink cabinets - throw away old make-up, old medicine, half empty bottles of shampoo that have been there for 2 years (chances are you are not going to use it again!)
  • Wednesday - take down cloth shower curtains, curtains, rugs, and other bath accessories and wash and iron them and re-hang.
  • Thursday - Go through your linens and see if you need to get rid of anything. Chances are you have a few washcloths or towels that have seen better days. If you need to replace them, make a note of how many and what colors.
  • Friday - This is cleaning day! Spray all your surfaces with a good cleaner, scrub that toilet, mop the floor (or vacuum), etc. Really clean all glass in all bathrooms including globes on lights, windows, mirrors, etc.
Tip: run globes or other glass fixtures through the dishwasher for a great clean. If you can get to your outside window, clean it too.

Another hint: Choose only a few cleaners for the bathroom and get rid of as many ‘extra’s’ as possible. Use them up or throw them away. Also make sure the bottles of the things you do use are full. And don’t neglect the following items when in there:

  1. Soap dishes, get them clean and sparking
  2. Get the stuff out of the shower door tracks and/or the window tracks by running a hot coffee pot of ½ vinegar and ½ water, then pour into the tracks to remove grunge.
  3. Clean the hairbrushes and disinfect them
  4. Clean the area with the toothbrushes, and disinfect or replace the toothbrushes. Make a note to check for sales on them and buy a few extra for family members before you head into cold and flu season.
  5. Clean your toilet tank, seat cover set. Wash it or vacuum it or whatever will do the job!

Second Week
This week we are going to focus on the dining room.

  • Everyday: Spend 15 minutes in each room picking up and straightening the room. Use a timer and work the full 15 minutes - not one minute less! If you need to repeat this in the afternoon or evening to complete the job. All rooms do not have to be done at the same time - just as long as you work on each room 15 minutes each day. I space mine out - 15 minutes in the kitchen - then I do something else like play with the kids - then 15 minutes in the livingroom - work on my crafts - you get the picture.
  • Monday - Work 15 minutes twice today to get ready for the week ahead.
  • Tuesday - Clean off your China Cabinet (or equivalent) - put things away that do not belong. Do the same with your dining room table. Make sure your dishwasher is empty for tomorrow. I have lots of pictures and candles on the buffet. I dusted them all (to make candles shine, use an old pair of pantyhose to buff ‘em, it really works!) . Also.. if you take a piece of foil, bend up the sides to make a “bowl” fill it with vanilla and put it in the oven set on a low temp! The whole house will smell like you have been baking cookies all day! OH, I also buy these scented “sachets” at Walmart. They are 4/$1 and are paper bags filled with smelly good stuff. When I pack up my boxes of decorations, I put one in each box. The next year, that wonderful holiday smell really gets you in the mood to decorate!
  • Wednesday - clean your table and chairs really well - get under the table and clean too! Turn those chairs upside down, treat spots, and vacuum chairs if they are cloth. Vacuum the carpet in the dining room and clean any windows or doors that are in there.
A suggestion:
As you clean and decorate each room, think about how the room will be used for each function. Think about what will be needed, then take your calendar and schedule the function and when you will need to start setting things out for that function. Thanksgiving, Open House, Tree Trimming, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day

Our evening open house: First Saturday evening in December
Dining room

  • Punch bowl
  • Hot plate
  • Cracked ice tray for hordourves
  • Table Runners
  • Snack plates and cups
  • Silverware
  • Buy plates, plastic table service & napkins (if used)
  • Plan menu
  • Plan food purchases (put a dates in this one)
  • Plan entertainment (music) put someone in charge of this - make them responsible
  • Plan floral decorations and add dates to purchase or discuss with florist (Arrange for delivery)
  • Plan guest list
  • Plan invitations, purchase date and send out date
  • Plan wardrobe items, purchase, send to the cleaners, (don’t forget the rest of the family, [DH])
Well, you have inspired me. As I do each room, I write down how I want to decorate the room. I have a toilet seat cover that has a Santa on the top and as you lift the lid Santa covers his eyes on the underside of the lid. I plan to get red & green linens and make a shower curtain. Tissue box covers and TP-roll covers can be made. I will do faux stained glass on the window. Instead of the night light, I plan to put twinkle light around the mirror. Something I try and do each year when I “deep clean” is to update my household inventory. Going room by room makes it not such a big chore. I have a printed out copy of the last inventory and then I just stand and walk through each room and make all the adjustments, then when I have time I go and make all the changes in the computer. The first time is the worst, after that it’s not so bad.

Third Week

  • Monday - Empty all the dishes out of your china cabinet and place in your dishwasher (if they can be safely cleaned that way). If not at least wipe each piece off if you do not have the time to hand wash them. Hint: when hand washing dishes use your dishwasher racks as drying racks! As dishes get done stack them on your dining room table (if this is your only table consider going out to dinner tonight or having something that can be eaten elsewhere)
  • Tuesday - Spend today really cleaning your china cabinet - wash all glass - dust with lemon oil, touch up scratches, remember to dust the shelves inside as well as the outside. Replace all dishes - decide as you put things back if you really need everything in your cabinet.
  • Wednesday - clean your table and chairs really well - get under the table and clean too! Turn those chairs upside down, treat spots, and vacuum chairs if they are cloth. Vacuum the carpet in the dining room and clean any windows or doors that are in there.
  • Thursday - Look around the room and see if anything else needs to be done - do not forget to write down in your notebook how you want to decorate this room.

Fourth Week
Room of the Week: Living Room/Family Room
(if you have both, work on the one that the family spends the most time in because the other one is probably not as cluttered.  We will have a week or 2 for “other rooms” and you can put the formal living room in it)

  • Monday/Tuesday - Take a basket and go through the room and place everything that does not belong in the room into it and put it away in its correct room. Count the pieces of furniture in your living room that have stuff in them (bookcases, end tables, etc) and then count the other pieces like the couch, chair or TV. Pair up things from each list. Example: Bookcase and recliner, video cabinet and couch, etc. Once you have your pairs figured out then count up how many pairs you have and divide by 4 - this is how many pairs you need to do each day. You will do complete jobs on both parts. Each piece needs to be deep cleaned - I will use a bookcase and chair as an example: Take all the books off the bookshelf wiping each one with a dry cloth, decide if you still need this book or if it belongs in a different room - most towns have used bookstores that will take trade ins - after each shelf has been emptied dust the shelves really good all around - not just the bottom part! Next you need to MOVE the shelf out of its resting place and vacuum all around the floor where it sits. Also wipe down the base boards behind it. If you have one of those handy little steam cleaners you may also want to use that. The chair needs to be completely vacuumed, spots cleaned (steam cleaned if you have one) wood work on it needs to be dusted/oiled - if it is a recliner you may want to spray some WD 40 on the metal parts. Move the chair from its spot and vacuum the area really well and clean the base boards.
  • Wednesday - Vacuum the rest of the room, clean your windows, get cobwebs off walls, wash curtains and other table coverings, dust and clean all wall hangings, ceiling fans, light fixtures etc. All your woodwork should be done at this point but if not finish that up too. Do not forget to make your decorating notations for the holiday.
  • Thursday - challenge for this week (or what is left of it!)
    Pick one closet in your house and clean it out. Not the room it is in but just the closet. I would highly recommend doing a coat closet, hall closet, linen closet and not one where it will take you 2 weeks to get through. I am going to do my hall/coat closet. Since these types of closets are usually seen by others during the holiday's why not plan to wrap the door up like a present?

November

(First Week)
ROOM OF THE WEEK: KITCHEN: (remember to clean while listening to a Christmas tape)

  • Clean your house using the 15 minute rule 2 times today. It is hard to concentrate on one room if the rest of the house is a disaster!
  • Take the number of cabinets you have in your kitchen (this includes the pantry if it is separate - you may want to count it as 2) and divide by 5. This will get you the number you need to work on each day. Example in my kitchen I have 10 sets of cabinets - divided by 5 that is two cabinets a day to clean out. As you clean out have a give-a-way box and a trash can to put all the throw aways into - rule of thumb with food - if in doubt throw it out!!!! And ask yourself - do you really need 5 plastic pitchers? Our goal is to reduce space to make room for Christmas Baking items (which you should be buying already)
  • Clean up the top of your cabinets - do all dishes, put all Tupperware away, in other words declutter the counter tops (and do not forget the top of your fridge or other top surfaces you have in your kitchen)
  • Do your next set of cabinets. Clean all your counter top things really good - not just surface clean but get down into those groves! Take everything off the frig doors and sides and clean it real good, and use the appliance wax if you have some. Do the same with the stove, dishwasher and other large appliances in your kitchen.
  • Do your next set of cabinets. Clean out your fridge. Clean the inside of your oven.
  • Do your next set of cabinets. Clean out all drawers in your kitchen.
  • Do your last set of cabinets. Clean all the wood work (cabinet doors, trim, etc.) in your kitchen with a good wood cleaner - polish the cabinets with an oil if you do this - but clean first and get all that grease off them.
Hint: when cleaning out food cabinets have a container to put food into that should be used up soon. Use this box to “shop” out of instead of going to the grocery store this week. It will reduce both your grocery bill and the things in your cabinet. Think about what you can make with each thing. Be creative. I challenge everyone to eat out of their frig/freezer and cabinets this week instead of running to the store.

Remember to plan your decorations for this room too.

Now, you're pretty much ready to host the Holidays.