5 Important Tips for Cleaning Up After Your Holiday Dinner

Congratulations! You made it through your holiday dinner. Before you start to worry about the long night of cleaning you will have to tidy up after your messy guests, we have some quick tips that will have your kitchen clean in no time so you can enjoy the rest of the day with your family and friends.

1. Don’t Wait to Clean

Starting the clean up right away is better than waiting until your guests leave and you want to crash in bed. Grab a garbage bag and throw away trash and food scraps. Rinse off your plates and load up the dishwasher. Save the rest of the cleanup until the morning, but you’ll be glad you got the bulk of it done the night before. Especially, when you start preparing holiday leftovers and you’ll have plenty of silverware and plates to use.

2. Box Up Leftover Food

Who actually wants to cook the day after a major holiday? And if your family is anything like mine, then you probably have several leftover dishes. Purchase plenty of plastic containers before your party to hand out leftovers to everyone before they leave. Holiday leftovers are (sometimes) the best part of the season.

3. Donate the Extra

If you have any leftover bags or cans of unopen food, call the local shelter to see if they are accepting any donations. Most food banks are busy this time of year and are eager for any help they can get from the community. If for some reason a shelter turns you away that doesn’t mean everyone in need has been helped. If you live in a city with a large homeless population, grab some plastic utensils, fill up some disposable containers with leftover food, grab some family members, and make a visit to those in need who are unable to make it to a shelter.

4. Assign Tasks to Everyone

It may seem rude to ask your guests to help with cleaning up after themselves. Don’t hand them a vacuum and some rubber gloves and tell them to get to work. Instead, simply ask them to clean up their space at the dinner table. Have them rinse and stack their dishes and silverware next to the kitchen sink. This will save you time and energy (especially when the food coma kicks in) from walking back and forth between the dining room and kitchen. Grab a cousin to help you dry while you handwash the larger dishes that can’t go into the dishwasher!

5. Make a Room by Room Cleaning Strategy

The morning after your party make a list of what needs to be done by each room. Make this a simplified cleaning list. Don’t expect to do a deep clean right after the party. Ask yourself, can you get away without dusting the light fixtures for one night? Focus on sweeping or vacuuming the floors, putting the furniture back where it belongs, and wiping down surfaces. 3 specific tasks on a to-do list are less daunting than writing “clean living room.”  Start in the social areas, then the kitchen, bathroom, and then any others that might need attention.