Can you believe that the festive season and summer holidays are nearly here! If like most of us, you are not organised for visitors and festivities, (and possibly even think it’s still spring, not December!), let us help you with some SimplyClean Holiday Cleaning hacks – loved & tested by the SimplyClean team – that will make your life easier.
Freeing you up to spend more time with your family, friends and loved ones; something we all need.
BEFORE YOUR GUESTS AND VISITORS ARRIVE:
- Put together an emergency holiday cleaning kit – take a basket, or even reuse a cardboard box to keep all your essentials together. We recommend Lime Spray & Wipe; Lemon Myrtle or Eucalyptus Disinfectant Cleaner; Fragrance Free Stain Remover & Sanitising Powder, Lemon Myrtle Air Freshener, Simply No Mould and an old toothbrush and a couple of microfibre cloths – so you are prepared for spills, mess and any eventuality.
- If you don’t have time for a full house clean – put aside 30 minutes before your guests arrive and wipe down all surfaces in the kitchen with Lime Spray & Wipe; wipe down the bathroom with HealthyClean Bathroom and clean the front door and front facing windows with Lemon Myrtle Window Cleaner.
- Set aside a microfibre cloth or old clean tea-towel to be used on the floor. Pre-mix 25ml of disinfectant cleaner with 500ml of water in an empty spray bottle. Use this combo over the holiday for spot-cleaning your hard floors as you need – in the bathroom around the toilet, and especially in the kitchen, around the preparation benchtops, cooker and sink areas where most of the crumbs and other food debris finish up! (Perfect for tiles, wooden floorboards, polished concrete, and laminate – note this doesn’t work on carpet!). Nothing beats a full mop wash, but this ready-to-go spray & wipe approach to floor cleaning is a great standby, that’s fast and discreet. After all, you don’t want to be mopping the floor, while you could be enjoying yourself.
- Make your home smell fresh and clean, by spritzing Lemon Myrtle Air Freshener throughout the house, just before guests are due. You can even spray direct onto the doorframe of guest bedrooms for the lingering scent of lemon myrtle when walking through the doorway. Your guests will love the fresh, invigorating fragrance – just like having the nature indoors.
- Pop some SimplyClean Eucalyptus Toilet Cleaner in the bottom of the toilet brush holder. Every time you or one of your guests uses the brush, you’ll enjoy the smell of eucalyptus, and keep the toilet bowl clean and fresh.
- If you are having lots of visitors and are worried about your bins smelling nasty, especially during hotter weather, put some Lemon Myrtle, Lime or Eucalyptus Essential oil on a cotton pad, and pop under the bin liner (that’s biodegradable we hope!). This will make your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen bins smell naturally fresh, and reduce those nasty bin smells.
- If you are using linens (and we love that cloth is more eco than disposable), pre-wash your tablecloth and napkins with SimplyClean Eucalyptus Laundry Powder and a scoop of Stain Remover & Sanitiser Powder. This will ensure your linens are clean and fresh, with no mustiness or old food stains remaining.
DURING YOUR BREAK:
- Making lots of coffees and teas for everyone, will mean that your favourite mugs and cups will quickly stain with the tannins. A favourite SimplyClean Team trick is to fill stained cups with hot water from the kettle, adding a teaspoon of Fragrance-Free Stain Remover Powder to each one and leave to soak for an hour or two. Then easily clean the stains away and rinse well. It’s perfectly food safe.
- If (or in our case, when!) you’ve had a cooking nightmare and burned festive food in your best stainless steel or non-stick pot or pan, sprinkle in a scoop or two of our Fragrance-Free Stain Remover Powder, fill the pan 1/3 full with water and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Your pan should come up like new!
- Keep your cooktop looking clean throughout the holiday period, by spraying with Lime Spray & Wipe as soon as you’ve finished cooking, while the cooktop is still warm. Leave the spray and wipe to do its job, while you enjoy your food and company. After you have eaten, cooked-on food should wipe easily away, keeping clean-up to a minimum, and your stainless steel looking super shiny. (It’s great on fridge doors too, for getting rid of those mucky fingerprints).
- With all the food debris and high usage, your kitchen sink drain might start to smell a bit yukky. Thoroughly spray into your kitchen sink waste with a good dose of Simply No Mould and leave the hydrogen peroxide and cleaning agents to do their work…you’ll see lots of fizzing as they eat away at built-up slime, food debris and other nasties in the wastepipe. Add a good brush around the stainless strainer and waste with an old toothbrush and your sink will look shiny as new.
- If you find a ring on your favourite table, or beautiful stone benchtops from red wine, spray with a little HealthyClean Bathroom (or Kitchen) that you gently distribute over the stain with a dry cloth. Leave, don’t wipe away! The stain should disappear with this, or a second application.
- Red wine, coffee or tomato sauce spilt on your carpet? Arrgh. Blot as much away as possible. Ensuring your carpet is colourfast, spray with Simply No Mould, and work in very gently. Leave for a few minutes and blot away with a damp cloth. Rinse well, with minimal warm water, once the stain has almost disappeared.
We hope these hacks help you tackle the cleaning essentials and clean-up of any little messes over the festive season ….and leave you with plenty of time for some well-deserved relaxation and fun!