House Cleaning Tips for Thanksgiving (more tips)

November 16, 2011   ·   By ServiceMaster   ·   No Comments   ·   Posted in News

Whether guests are expected or an intimate familycelebration is planned, a clean house is essential. The bathroom, dining room, living room and kitchen are the primary rooms used by guests, with over-night guests using a bedroom. Depending on your schedule, start at least two weeks before the holiday. Even with your family running around, it is possible to keep the house clean by maintaining it a little bit each day.

Entering the House

Walk outside onto the sidewalk in front of your house and look at it the yard. Remove old lawn furniture, trim unkempt shrubs and mow the yard. Repaint the front door and door-frame if necessary, or simply scrub them. Replace or scrub the entryway doormat on the porch. Clear the front porch of clutter and wash it clean.

Remove Clutter
Visual pollution is the worst enemy of a clean house. No matter how clean, a house will look dirty if it is cluttered. Walk through the house, room by room, with two large boxes. Use the first box to throw away old magazines, unwanted knick-knacks and other clutter that you have been cleaning around. Place things that don’t belong in that room in the other box and either put the box in the cellar or place the items in the rooms where they belong.

Dusting
Cleaning the house from the top down will save you extra work and prevent you from having to double back on yourself. Wipe the walls and ceiling with a static cling duster. Remove all knickknacks, books and pictures from atop cabinets or on bookshelves and thoroughly dust the shelves as well as the objects that set on them. Don’t forget to dust theceiling fan blades.

Vacuum the House
Vacuum upholstered furniture, using the crevice tool to clean between the cushions and any other tight spots. This is the time to spot-clean the chair arms and any other spots that have accumulated on the furniture. Polish all wooden furniture, especially the dining room table and chairs, since unnoticed food does collect on them.

Clean Carpets, Rugs and Floors
Rotary machines that use hot water and shampoo to scrub the carpet and hot water to vacuum up the dirt and shampoo are available for rent in almost any retail store. Don’t forget entryway rugs and bathmats. Scrub wooden floors and apply a coat of polish to them.

Clean Windows and Window Treatments
Dust window blinds and clean them according to manufacturer directions. Light curtains can be washed and pressed, and some heavy drapes are machine washable. Clean any metal work on the windows with the appropriate metal polish.

Special Bedroom Projects

Wash and press bedspreads, sheets and pillow cases and replace worn pillows where necessary. Empty enough drawers so the guests have room to place their belongings.

Waste Baskets
Empty and clean, or replace any stained or broken trash cans within the different rooms of the house.

For help with any of your cleaning needs, Call ServiceMaster Clean today @ (419) 861-9602.