It’s amazing how quickly things become a mess once the party begins. After enjoying yourself for a few hours, you can’t believe how long it will take to clean up from all the fun. While you may try to keep things neat throughout the party, you’ll still have plenty to do when the last guest leaves.
Try these tips to make clean up quicker and easier:
First, collect all food and beverages and put away any leftovers. Put away items that need to be refrigerated first, to avoid waste. Then, pick up all glasses, dishes, utensils, silverware, and serving pieces and take them to the kitchen. Load the dishwasher, wash them up, or fill them with soapy water to soak.
Instead of cleaning one room top to bottom, go through the whole house with a large trash bag (or more than one). Empty all small wastebaskets and collect all the trash to get it out of the way. Be sure to pick up any trash that may have been left outside on the deck or patio.
The next step is to wipe down all hard surfaces throughout the house or outdoors. The dining table, the coffee table, counters, picnic table, etc. Get rid of all the crumbs and sticky stuff.
After wiping down each surface, proceed to cleaning the floors. Sweep or vacuum as needed. If the kitchen floor needs to be mopped, it’s a good idea to give it at least a quick once over to avoid having crumbs and footprints turn into sticky messes that will require scrubbing if you wait. The same is true of decks and patios. If you hosted an outdoor party, sweep away large debris and quickly hose off any sticky messes.
Enlisting help is also a good idea. While you are washing up dishes or putting away food, another member of the household can pick up trash, sweep, vacuum, or wipe surfaces.