If you are planning an excellent Valentine’s Day party, then you will need help to clean up afterward. From tablecloths to placemats, decorations, and chocolates, there can be a lot of things to clean up after the party has ended, so we have prepared a few tips to help make that cleanup more comfortable for you!
Cleaning starts before the party.
Make your cleaning bash faster and easier by securing the hatches beforehand. Close the doors to rooms you don’t want your guests to visit and store fragile items inside them. Then place the paper towels in easy-to-get locations so you can take care of spills pronto. Prepare two garbage bins – label one for recycling and the other one for trash. You may even want to have separate containers for the returnable bottles and cans. This can encourage your guests to clean up after themselves making your clean up a little easier.
Prepare in advance.
Do a few things ahead of time, Make sure that your bathrooms are ready for your guests. Consider hanging up Valentine’s day themed towels in the bathroom. Check your kleenex and hand soap, perhaps fill your soap dispenser with soap that is sweet-scented for Valentine’s day. Make sure you have kleenex available, and the wastebasket is empty.
Decide where you want your guests to hang their coats and put their boots if the weather requires them. If you are using a room for that purpose, make sure that it is clean and maybe even has a holiday theme to it. You might want to have an empty wastebasket in that room too.
Are there games you want to play that require game boards, cards, or access to video games? If so you want those stacked and ready for your guests.
Then Decorate. Select or make decorations a few days ahead of time. Then decorate. Make sure you have the table decor and cloths or placemats ready to use and set that up the night before. That makes the rest of the day go so much easier since you will be busy with other tasks.
When the party is over, toss the obvious.
This is time to grab a garbage bag and as you walk through the aftermath of your party, start picking up the garbage that is to be thrown out. Then take a second trip with a bag for recycling and pick up all those things that go into the recycle bin or back to the store for the bottle & can returns.
Luckily, getting rid of those things is easy to do. Next, take down all those decorations and toss any that are not worth saving for next year. If you had games out for the guests, gather those up and put them away. Now you are ready for the real clean up tasks.
Clean stains and surfaces.
Gather your cleaning supply box with the microfiber cloths and sponges, and you are ready to clean. Hopefully, it has been stocked with an all-purpose organic cleaner and microfiber cloth (or/and sponge). Now start going through your place.
If you see spills on the counters, wipe them up as soon as possible. If you didn’t notice them until after the party has ended, you might need to allow a little time for a cleanser to work on them.
Here are guides to remove some common stains:
Chocolate
If only chocolates would melt inside the mouth and not in the hands, right? Then they won’t be a messy problem; but if you have melted chocolates, we have tips to clean that mess up!
You can begin by scraping off hardened chocolate. All clothing or small sized items such as throw pillows can be placed in the freezer for 15 minutes to make the scraping process easier.
If it’s upholstery or furniture we’re talking about, then you can gently sponge at the spot with a mix of two cups of cold water and a tablespoon of dish soap until the chocolate stain disappears.
Red Wine
Let’s be honest here, and if you’re having a splendid time, the drinks will spill. If you have stains from red wine or red colored drinks, we can help you get rid of most, if not all of, those stains!
The most efficient thing you can first do is to soak as much wine as possible through a paper towel or clean rag.
For tablecloths or clothing, sprinkle with salt to stop the wine stain for setting and spill a bit of soda water onto the spot to remove the stain, using a cloth to dab as you go. Then it can either be washed or dry cleaned as you usually have it done.
On carpets or upholstery, after you have soaked up as much as possible, mix two cups of cold water and a tablespoon of dish soap in a bowl or bucket. Then dip the sponge in it and blot the stained area until everything is lifted. If it is still stained, then take cold water and pour it directly onto the stain to dilute it some more. Just use a little bit of water to do this, you don’t want the carpet to get too wet. Then blot it again, getting up as much of the stain as possible. Now prepare a paste of 3 parts baking soda to one part water and put that over the stain. Wait for it to dry and then vacuum it. Voila, the stain should have disappeared!
Finishing touches.
Check the floor for spills and mop them up, unless it’s a wood floor. Then follow these recommendations for cleaning it up.. If you have a carpet, just vacuum it. Place the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and you’re almost done! Now just put those precious fragile things back where they belong and you are done!
Never be afraid of hosting your own Valentine’s day party! Just have fun and enjoy the time with friends and family! If you would like to have professionals do your clean up instead of doing it yourself, just give them a call to schedule it now!
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