5 Quick Cleaning Tips for Your Party

Do you ever get to this point right before a party?  “I’m never going to get this place cleaned up in time for the party, I should just cancel.”  DON’T CANCEL! I’m here to help  you with these 5 quick party cleaning tips to help prepare you for your party.

First things first, if your friends are going to judge your party based on if your house is vacuumed or dusted they obviously didn’t come to have a good time!

But, I know I feel better at my own party if I have the basic cleaning taken care of before the day of the party. However, I don’t always have time to clean every square inch of my house or get all the mail sorted or every toy put away.  We don’t have much storage in our home so there will be toys out on display. And that’s ok! They are picked up and in the toy box, as much as possible, but some toys are on the bookcase. People will be ok with this too!

So, what should you focus on to get the house together before a party? Here are my top 5 places to clean and even some quick hacks to “clean”.

1. Kitchen Cleaning Tips

The kitchen is a focal point of any party.  People naturally gather there. And of course, you want it to be clean since that is where the food will be made. So, before you begin any food prep for the party, clean the counters and stove top.  If you’re anything like me in the kitchen, don’t bother cleaning the floor, just yet. Then, the day before the party, but after all major cooking prep work has been done, wipe down the countertops, get all the crumbs from under the toaster cleaned up, wipe the stove top down, clean the sink and clean the floor.  This just gives everything a quick clean up before the guests arrive. It’s great to do it the day before so you are not rushing around the day of the party. It also gives time for any smells from the cleaning solutions to disappear before the guests arrive.

Also, while cleaning in the kitchen, wash up any serving platters you may need the day of the party that may have collected a little dust since the last time you had a party.  Or, if they are boxed up pull them out the day before the party so you have them easily accessible for the party food.

Quick tip – sometimes you will just have dirty dishes the day of the event that you don’t have time to clean before the party starts.  Or maybe after a dish has been used, during the party, and you don’t have time to clean it, hide it in your laundry room. Unless people are taking a tour of your house or need to walk through the laundry area to get to another part of the house, the washer and dryer are a great holding place for the dirty dishes.

2. Bathroom Cleaning Tips

Yes, your bathroom needs to be cleaned.  Do a deep clean of the toilet, sink and floor 2 days before the party.  On the day of the party, after getting ready, just take a damp cloth and wipe down the sink one last time.

Then, set the bathroom up for your guests.  Make sure there is extra toilet paper easily available for your guests.  Also, I don’t know about you, but one of my pet peeves is drying my hands on a wet towel.  Please make sure you either have a couple towels available on a towel rack or have disposable hand towels available.  And be sure to check on these during the party.

Quick tips – if you don’t have time to wash down your shower area, close the shower curtain or shower door.  Also, you just NEED to clean the bathroom(s) that your guests will be using. If you don’t have time to do a deep cleaning of your personal bathroom, that is ok, if your guests won’t be going in there.

3. Living Room/Family Room Cleaning Tips

All of the parties we host take place in our main living space.  Therefore, this area needs to be cleaned up. Again, I can only put so many toys away, so just have the area as neat as possible.  Two days before the party take time in this room to vacuum and dust.

Quick tip – If you have kids and this is also their play area, take out all the big toys the day before the party.  Put them away either in your extra bedroom, your child’s room, your bedroom or basement.

4. Piles of Mail

I hate going through the mail.  My husband has tried different things to try to keep all the mail together and get me to sort through my mail.  Nothing has worked. Now, mostly there is just a pile on the corner of the dinning table. (I’m trying to get better about this and today, I set a timer for 15 minutes to sort through it all and it worked! Less overwhelming and I know at the end of the timer I can quit)

If you have a pile of mail and you don’t have time to go through it before the party, you can do what I do, put it in a bag or box and hide it in your bedroom.  Just be sure to go back and get it later. (Turns out it doesn’t really disappear because you hid it from yourself!)

5. Patio Area Cleaning Tips

If your party will take place outside, go outside and give the patio table a good wipe down on the morning of the party.  Also, wipe off the chairs if you see dust, dirt or leaves on the chairs. We always have to check ours because our neighbor has bird feeders near our yard (that rant is for another time and place) and we want to make sure the birds didn’t leave any “gifts” for us to clean up.  If the grill needs to be cleaned, clean it prior to the guests arriving. This could be the morning of the party or I really recommend the evening before the party.

Quick Tip – My husband read somewhere how to get the grill grates clean easily and quickly. And he LOVES the results. Find a storage container large enough for your grill grates. Place water, vinegar and baking soda in the container then place the grill grates in to soak. In a short time, everything just peels off the grates and he rinses the grates off with a hose and puts them back on the grill. (Do this the day before the party)

Suggested Quick Cleaning Schedule

Your house doesn’t need to be spotless and you don’t need to be perfect, you just need to clean up the main party areas. Breaking it down over a few days before the party will help remove any pre party stress. Don’t rush around the day of the party trying to cook, decorate and clean.  You’ll just stress yourself out and your guests will feel that when they arrive. Just break down these few rooms that need to be cleaned and you’ll feel great about how your house looks when your guests arrive. Take a deep breath and figure out which rooms you need to focus on then get going cleaning.