Christmas Cleaning

I used to be in love with the Christmas cleaning schedule I discovered back in the 80s.  You know the one, where you started in August and deep cleaned your way to Christmas? No more. One, I don't have the time or energy to spend with that kind of cleaning during this time of the year, and two, my cleaning schedule just consists of doing what is needed just in time. When I see a need, it gets done. This is what works for me.

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That all being said, I do like to take some time to clean up for the Big Day.  I love this 12 Days of Christmas Cleaning because it gives me about a 30 minute task each day before Christmas.  I love that there is an element of deep cleaning, but nothing that takes a huge amount of time.  To make it all the easier, I have created a downloaded chart that can be hung on your laundry room door and with places to put checkmarks (I love checking things off a list!) Continue reading to hear details about each day.

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Overview:  I break down the cleaning into three parts:  General cleaning, a big project and a touch up project.  General cleaning is something you will want your regular supplies to do.  Think dusting, vacuuming and washing.  The big project is something you don't do often but do need to do occasionally. The touch up project is something that needs attention but doesn't take a lot of time.

Before you start your 12 Days plan, go through the house, room by room and use the three basket strategy to clean away clutter.  One basket is called Put Away, and this is just things that you want that belong in another space.  One basket is called Throw Away and thing that go in here are headed for the trash (or recycling.)  The third basket is called Donate and everything that goes here will be donated before you start. Once this part is done, you are ready to start your 12 Days of Christmas Cleaning plan!

Day 1.  Start with the master bedroom.  Your big project here is the curtains.  The curtains are dust trappers and will make your whole room feel cleaner right away.

Day 2.  Kids rooms are always hard because they get messed up right away.  The big project here is organizing toys. I suggest that you clear out all but three sets of toys. Keep the toys your child plays with daily.  That will make future cleaning easy, and it is just for 12 days!

Day 3.  The laundry room is so easy to skip. Don't! Just because it is behind closed doors doesn't mean that you shouldn't clean it.  The big project is to wipe down your appliances.  Clean the filters if you can.

Day 4 is the hallway.  The big project is to knock down any cobwebs you might have around the ceiling line and around objects hanging on the wall.

Day 5 are bathrooms.  I have 4 bathrooms to clean, so I always start with the powder room, then move to the bathrooms that are used the most.  The big project is cleaning the toilets.

Day 6 is the Kitchen.  You will doing some cooking and baking during this week most likely, so all we are going to do is wash down surfaces and clean countertops and floors.  The big project is cleaning appliances (the outside!)

Day 7 are back to the bedrooms.  The big project is to organize the closets, so that they are neat, but not the kind of organization where you empty them out and then restock them. Nope, you are going to clean up the fallen clothing, shoes, jewelry and arrange things neatly. Vacuum the floor and put in an air freshener.

Day 8 are the hallways again.  What's nice about this day is that it will probably will only take 15 minutes, so if you want to tackle the dining room, this is the time.  Dust, vacuum, cobweb removal!

Day 9  Bathrooms again!  This time the showers and bathtubs get the big clean!

Day 10.  We are back to the kitchen.  Clean your ovens!  That way cooking on Christmas will feel so nice, when you open the door to a clean oven!

Day 11.  Whole House cleaning.  It's the day before Christmas, and you will want the whole house to be fresh.  Vacuum and dust everything, mop floors, check the bathrooms and spot clean.  Tidy up the kitchen and check the dining room.  Spend no more than 90 minutes on this task. Engage the help of spouses and kids!

Day 12.  Merry Christmas!  All today is for is to have fun and make memories.  Your biggest clean up task is to recycle bows, paper and boxes!!

I hope this will be a helpful guide for cleaning at Christmas.  Keep it low stress, but feel like you are accomplishing something, too! I'll be following my plan myself, and posting it on Instagram~follow me at  https://www.instagram.com/onechristmastree/