It’s the busiest time of the year and very often, the most stressful! With so much cleaning to do in preparation for the holiday season, a lot can slip your mind and leave you feeling more overwhelmed than ever. Particularly in 2020 when everyone is preparing for the festive season a little differently due to COVID-19, it definitely helps to know what you need to do at home, and when you should be doing it.

So, if you’re wondering how to clean your home for the holidays in 2020, here are five key tips to keep in mind.

1. Make a Priority List

Note down your Christmas cleaning list and prioritise tasks according to their importance. For example, if you know you’d like to clean your ceilings and walls before you decorate, make that one of your top priorities so you can get it done earlier than later. In fact, most big or time-consuming cleaning tasks should be prioritised to ensure that they are not overlooked or pushed aside. 

2. Start Early

While some people wait till the last minute to begin their Christmas cleaning, others are forced to because of busy work/personal schedules. With that said, there is always a way around this if you just plan and start early! Give yourself at least three weeks to clean and prepare your house properly before Christmas. This means sparing some time in your day (every day) to tackle cleaning tasks, big and small. Don’t worry if you can’t finish a single, big task in one day; you can always complete it the next day. The goal is to not stress yourself out more than you already are.

3. Declutter a Little Every Day

Every house falls prey to clutter at some point! Worst of all, the accumulation of clutter happens so gradually that you don’t realise it until the room is one big mess! As part of your Christmas cleaning (and otherwise), decluttering your home is a must. The good news, however, is that it’s not as hard as many people think. Most of the clutter in your house is actually just things left out of place while other forms of clutter may consist of rubbish that needs to be trashed and/or items which are no longer of use and therefore, can be donated. Tackle various forms of clutter every day and before you know it, you’ll have a clutter-free home for Christmas!

4. Deep Clean Your Refrigerator

A messy, disorganised fridge is not at all ideal around the holidays when more dishes are being cooked, and leftovers need to be stored. Of course, deep cleaning your refrigerator should be done every other month for sanitary reasons but if you haven’t done it in a while, now is not the time to neglect cleaning your fridge! It will also give you a chance to organise the contents so you won’t have to struggle for space every night after dinner.

5. Keep Your Bathrooms Clean

Cleaning the bathrooms is a must but maintaining it is what will save you a lot of time and effort while ensuring that your home is always ready for surprise visitors or guests. So, how do you keep your bathroom clean? Here are a few tips that will help you achieve that:

1. After you shower, wash the floor with plain water and make sure you squeegee the water properly so that the floor dries up faster. This will help prevent floor stains.
2. Wipe down the sink daily using a sponge/scrubber and all-purpose cleaner. This will take less than a minute of your time.
3. Pour some toilet cleaner around the interiors of the bowl and leave it overnight; scrub with a damp toilet brush the next morning and pull the flush. It’s the quickest and easiest way to keep your toilet bowl clean!
4. Use a mop to spot clean stains on your bathroom floor, and a scrub brush for spot cleaning other bathroom components.

Remember, Christmas cleaning doesn’t have to be this huge, overwhelming burden on your shoulders anymore. All you need to do is stay on top of things with the tips above and you and your home will be well prepared for the holidays in 2020!