Your Complete Guide to Getting the House Back in Order After a Festive Gathering

The celebration was a success and your final visitor has departed. Now comes the moment you assess what's been left behind: traces of spiced wine on the rug, a sink overflowing with every pot and pan you used, grease marks on cabinet surfaces in spots you'd never expect. As for the bathroom, it bears the unmistakable signs of a well-attended get-together. All at once, the task of restoring order feels heavier than the preparations for the party itself did. To help with that, we've put together a set of practical methods and tools designed to make your after-party cleanup quick, manageable and complete.

Begin With Urgent Stain Treatment

It could be the same evening, when you catch a spill as it occurs, or the following morning, when you're alarmed to find red wine that has already dried into a light-colored rug. Either way, there's a straightforward remedy that will put your mind at ease right away. Find out how shaving cream can be used to gently lift stubborn marks from carpet. This is a sensible starting point: dealing with a problem that is minor in size but pressing in nature.

Wipe Down Every Exposed Surface

After the stains have been dealt with, the next step is cleaning surfaces. You can create your own set of reusable cleaning cloths, allowing you to wipe bathroom and kitchen countertops completely with very little effort, using ingredients that are natural.

Handle the Toilet in Less Than a Minute

If you prepare these DIY toilet bowl cleaning tablets ahead of time, you can simply drop one in and let it work on the toilet while your attention goes to the sink. At that pace, the bathroom will be finished within a few minutes, freeing you up to focus on the heart of the post-party mess: the kitchen.

Give Your Slow Cookers Some Attention

A familiar pattern tends to play out: you work your way through the smaller dishes first, postponing the bulky, heavy items — your slow cookers among them. They put in plenty of effort during your party, and now it can feel like you'll need to put in even more effort to get them clean. The answer is to wash your slow cookers completely and with ease, without using water.

Lift Baked-On Oven Residue Using Natural Methods

Having dealt with the major jobs, you can now turn to the trickier items without investing the amount of time that a full deep clean typically demands. Prepare a homemade oven cleaning mixture to loosen and wipe away hardened buildup inside your oven naturally and with minimal effort.

Clean Wooden Cabinets Without Causing Damage

Those food and grease splatters you spotted right after the party? They've spread to more surfaces than you might realize. Finding a product that is both gentle on wood and effective against grease can be a challenge, but making one yourself is simple. Mix up a kitchen wood cleaner at home for a fast cabinet wipe-down.

Preserve the Paint as You Wash the Walls

It's just as difficult to find a cleaner without harsh chemicals that removes grease without also taking off your paint along with it. Create a wall-cleaning mixture at home that is mild, free of chemicals and capable of handling those annoying marks. Your walls will then look the way they did before.

Mix Together a Floor Cleaner From Natural Ingredients

If your floors are hardwood, you've been spared the trouble of difficult carpet stains. Even so, this type of surface can still accumulate dirt. Here's a simple wood floor cleaner you can make yourself to handle both minor and major messes, without risking harm to the wood's finish.

Deep Clean the Carpet

Your earlier spot treatment may have eliminated the visible messes, but that doesn't mean the carpet itself got cleaned. For a thorough, chemical-free result that leaves your house smelling like freshly laundered clothes, consider preparing your own carpet cleaning solution.

Neutralize Odors as a Final Step

By now, the whole house is clean. If you'd like to be certain that no traces of the holiday party linger, using baking soda to deodorize your trash cans makes for an ideal last touch.