Do you plan to have family and friends over for Christmas or any other holiday this year? Do you want your home to be welcoming and cozy for your guests? No need to worry with this Christmas cleaning guide to help prepare your home for a cozy Christmas celebration.
I’ve put together this Christmas cleaning guide to help you get the most out of your efforts to clean your home and get it ready for Christmas visitors. Hopefully, these Christmas cleaning tips and tricks will inspire you to begin your Christmas cleaning routine without becoming overwhelmed. I’ve even created a Christmas cleaning checklist you can follow for fast and easy cleaning.
This Christmas cleaning checklist can also help with any holiday cleaning you need to do. Just replace the word Christmas with the holiday you’re cleaning for and follow the list.
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Table of Contents
When should you start cleaning for Christmas?
I usually start my Christmas cleaning right after the Thanksgiving holiday is over. My kitchen takes a bit of a beating for Thanksgiving, so this is the perfect opportunity to get it all cleaned up in preparation for Christmas, as well as all the other high traffic areas like bathrooms.
I find that spreading out the cleaning list over these few weeks makes it much easier to get it all done, rather than trying to do it all at once. That’s just too overwhelming!
Why do we clean for Christmas?
- The main reason to clean for Christmas is to clean and organize your home in a way that makes room for your Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations, as well as being prepared for Christmas guests.
- If you have a plan for Christmas cleaning, it makes it far easier to manage all the other (sometimes overwhelming) tasks that are required for Christmas, such as Christmas shopping, meal planning, baking and grocery shopping.
- It makes your after-Christmas cleaning so much easier to go into Christmas with a clean slate.
- Christmas cleaning reduces Christmas stress. You don’t want to be in the middle of cleaning your bathroom when your Christmas guests arrive.
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How do you clean your house for Christmas?
Pick a room and clean it with this Christmas cleaning guide! Make sure you have your cleaning supplies and tools on hand, as well as a ‘get it done’ attitude.
I find cleaning one room at a time in 10-15 minute chunks works best when cleaning the house for Christmas. This way I can get one or two tasks done in any spare time I have – even during commercials or while something is simmering on the stove. These small tasks snowball until I eventually have a clean house.
I usually do a Fall cleaning, so this Christmas cleaning guide just covers the basics as the deep cleaning has already been done. If you haven’t deep cleaned in a while, you may want to use my Fall cleaning guide and Fall deep cleaning checklist instead of this more superficial cleaning guide.
Christmas Cleaning Checklist
Use this room-by-room Christmas cleaning checklist to help guide you to clean your house and ensure you don’t miss anything. This list of Christmas cleaning tips can also be used for house cleaning any time of the year. You don’t have to follow the order of this list, pick a room and follow the guide while checking off items that are completed.
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Clean the bathroom for Christmas
Don’t skip any of these steps if you want to have that fresh, clean, sanitized bathroom feeling. The good news is that a bathroom can usually be cleaned in less than an hour. It’s a good place to start to build momentum to motivate you to continue your Christmas cleaning.
- Remove all trash from the room
- Pour toilet bowl cleaner into the toilet.
- Remove towels, face cloths and mats and launder them.
- Clear all surfaces in the bathroom including countertops, toilet cover and bathtub/shower ledges and wash and disinfect them.
- Scrub the bathtub or shower (or both if you have them).
- Put away anything that doesn’t belong in the bathroom.
- Wipe down sinks, tiles, walls, baseboards and ceilings.
- Scrub toilet bowl and wipe down all toilet surfaces.
- Wash windows and mirrors.
- Clear the floor and sweep it.
- Wash the floor and let it dry.
- Bring out your Christmas bathroom accessories and arrange them the way you like.
- Put out fresh towels, face cloths and mats (extra points for Christmas themed ones).
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Clean the kitchen for Christmas
The kitchen is the busiest room in your home and is the center of Christmas entertaining. It’s important to have a clean kitchen for Christmas, especially if you love to cook and bake. Once the kitchen has been cleaned, you will find it easy to maintain if you continue to clean as you go. Don’t let it pile up!
- Remove all trash from the room
- Clean and put away dishes.
- Remove dish towels, dish cloths and kitchen mats and launder them.
- Clear countertops, wipe them down and disinfect.
- Put away anything that doesn’t belong on the countertops.
- Clean the sinks and back splash.
- Clean out your fridge to make room for Christmas goodies
- Wipe down the exterior of kitchen appliances.
- Wipe down walls, baseboards and ceilings.
- Wash windows and mirrors.
- Clear the floor and sweep it.
- Wash the floor and let it dry.
- Arrange small kitchen appliances on countertops the way you like them. Make sure to leave room for any Christmas decorations you’d like to display.
- Put out fresh dish towels, dish cloths and mats
- Your kitchen is now ready for you to add any Christmas decorations that make you happy
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Clean your living room for Christmas (and other common rooms)
Living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms, entry ways and hallways are considered common rooms that are shared with other members of the household. Work through the Christmas cleaning checklist for each common room.
- Go through the room with a trash bag and throw away any trash
- Gather all washable items in a basket and launder them.
- Clear all surfaces in the room and dust them.
- Put away anything that doesn’t belong in the room.
- Dust items before you return them to their shelf or table top, leaving room for Christmas decorations.
- Clean windows, mirrors and any items on walls.
- Wipe down walls, baseboards and ceilings.
- Vacuum all floors and carpets.
- Treat any carpet stains with hydrogen peroxide
- Move furniture around to accommodate your Christmas tree or other decorations, making sure to vacuum any newly exposed areas.
- Vacuum stairs if there are any.
- Wash any hard floors and let dry.
- You should now be ready to put up your Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations that make the room cozy and inviting.
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Clean the bedrooms for Christmas
Christmas time is the most popular time for house guests. Sometimes, it’s the only time of year you can see some friends and/or family. Get your every day bedrooms and guest rooms ready to welcome guests using these Christmas cleaning tips.
- Go through the room with a trash bag and throw away any trash.
- Strip the bed and gather all other washable items in a basket and launder them.
- Clear all surfaces in the room and dust them.
- Put away anything that doesn’t belong in the room.
- Dust items before you return them to their shelf or table top.
- Clean windows, mirrors and any items on walls.
- Wipe down walls, baseboards and ceilings.
- Vacuum or sweep all floors and carpets.
- Wash any hard floors and let dry.
- Make the bed with fresh linen.
- Arrange any special Christmas decor you have that will make your guest room cozy and inviting.
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How do you keep your house clean for Christmas?
The first thing to do is to start with a clean house using this Christmas cleaning guide and Christmas cleaning checklist. The key to keeping your house clean for Christmas is to clean as you go. Completing your cleaning tasks in 5-10 minute chunks also helps to motivate you and avoid overwhelm.
Here are 10 tips to keep your house clean for Christmas:
- Make your bed as soon as you get up
- Throw away trash as you go – don’t let it pile up
- Make sure you put things away as you use them to avoid clutter
- Wipe down sinks and countertops after you use them
- Don’t let dishes pile up – wash them as you cook or load them into the dishwasher after every meal
- Make it a habit to swish your toilet bowl with a toilet brush at least every other day
- Sweep or vacuum as often as you can to avoid floors getting very dirty
- Tidy your kitchen while dinner is simmering or the microwave is reheating
- Clean hot spots – those places where keys, mail and other assorted items gather – on a daily basis. Don’t let them pile up and overwhelm you.
- On Christmas day, make sure you have a trash bag ready for all the wrapping paper generated from opening gifts. This one simple step can save you from becoming overwhelmed with the Christmas mess.
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After Christmas cleaning
If you’ve followed this Christmas cleaning guide and implemented the clean as you go tips, you shouldn’t have too much to do to clean your home after Christmas is over. Assign everyone a task, set a timer for 10 minutes, and get to it!
Here are some tasks you can assign to make after Christmas cleanup easy:
- Clear the table
- Put leftovers away
- Gather all the trash
- Break down boxes to recycle
- Gather all dishes from all rooms
- Load the dishwasher
This Christmas cleaning guide and Christmas cleaning checklist should help you to get your home clean for Christmas and avoid undue stress. By following these Christmas cleaning tips, it should be fairly easy to attain a warm, cozy and inviting home for your Christmas celebrations.
Merry Christmas!
