I have offered to blitz someone elses house...

[TinselinaBumSquash]

We are spending Christmas with some family, they havea house big enough to fit us all in and its fine, i love this person we are close.

However, this persons home is filthy and really messy, i have gently braosched the subject as i will be cooking the dinner in the Kitchen and they were fina about it.

Anyway i offered to come round a few days before the big day and give it a blitz while the kids all play together.

So back to the point, it is a large 4 bed house, i have a day to get it looking nice and get the hygeine levels up so i can cook a christmas dinner for 20 people.

What so i need, where do i start.
Any tips of advice welcome. :)

[nancy75]

if you are cooking i would say start in the kitchen!

Put oven cleaner in the oven first, so you can get other stuff done while its working.
Clean out the fridge
chuck out anything that you can.

Clean bathroom/toilets

Clean tidy the room where you will eat

Clean/tidy the bedroom you will use (put on bed clothes ect.

Then do the oven and wash kitchen floor.

Are they going to be offended if you do all this stuff?

[cakeywakey]

If you'd like to come to my house for a practice run you'd be more than welcome

I've always been told to work from the top down, starting with upstairs and finishing in the kitchen - as you'll be dragging mops and buckets and all sorts of stuff out from underneath the sink to clean the rest of the house.

[TinselinaBumSquash]

No they wont be offended, the person in question has a very demanding work los as a mum of 4 and a carer to our gran i approached her gently and offered, she will be helping. :)

[TinselinaBumSquash]

Plus they know i have ocd so its not unusual for me to roll up with antibacterial wipes and polish!

[nancy75]

generally mess is more clutter than dirt - encouraging her to have a big throw out will make it look much better almost straight away.

[TinselinaBumSquash]

I need a list of everything i want to get done so i can tick it off, i will go to Tesco that morning and get any cleaning products i need.

Its not to cluttered just needs a complete sort out and clean.

[JenaiMarrsTartanFoxCube]

Bumping, because I'm planning to do the same. Only at my house

A list would be marvellous.

Tinselina coming round even better

[Longtinsellyjosie]

Hire a steam cleaner. I am slightly obsessed with the virtues of steam cleaners at the moment

[booyhohoho]

tinselina, my address is......

[MayDayChild]

Jif and a cellulose sponge cleans EVERYTHING ! leave kitchen sink till very last and don't forget your handcream!
Those microfibre cloths make any surface shiny once cleaned, buff to shine sinks taps and hob

[JenaiMarrsTartanFoxCube]

What do you do with a steam cleaner, Tinselly? And where might one hire such a thing?

[Normasnorks]

"this persons home is filthy and really messy"


I bet it isn't really - you self-confessedly have OCD....

Unless they have raw chicken lying out on the surfaces, I bet it is fine.

I find it hard to believe that they won't be deeply offended when you turn up Anthea Turner-stylee?

[Longtinsellyjosie]

You blast it at everything and limescale, soap scum, all sorts - just give up. Without the need for cleaning products. Then you just wipe it off.

I know you can hire them but you'd need to Google to see where near you

[JenaiMarrsTartanFoxCube]

Off to Google. Thank you :)

[DreamTeamGirl]

Starting at the top is a really good idea, but in this instance I would start with the kitchen then go up and work down and finish in the kitchen again.

If you want a list
this is amazing- even if you skip a few bits its very achievable in 2-3 days

[JenaiMarrsTartanFoxCube]

Oh DreamTeam thank you - that's exactly what I needed.

I'm bullying encouraging ds and dp to do their part (to be fair, dp does more housework that I do as a rule) so who knows, perhaps we can get 2-3 days' worth of work sorted tomorrow.

I've tried Flylady before, but never got past oiling the sink

[BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree]

"I find it hard to believe that they won't be deeply offended when you turn up Anthea Turner-stylee?"

I don't find it hard to believe - I've never been offended when friends have turned up and started tidying/cleaning without even asking.

My brother wasn't offended when I blitzed his kitchen when I stayed with him (It was terrible) (he actually thanked me - and has mentioned is since then thanking me again.

If you're not a natural housekeeper and find it a struggle to keep on top non-judgey pants friends/relatives who walk into you home, clear a space on the sofa, put the kettle on and do a little bit to help you are wonderful. (though I have now thankfully stopped one of my friends from loading even a few rogue mugs into the dishwasher when she comes round or filling the sink to wash the dishes

[alfiesmadmother]

YANBU at all x

[BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree]

DreamTeam - thanks for that cleaning list. I've tried Flying before - never worked for me - I'm a list person. But have always loved her Crisis Cleaning - and that list is a great addition to go with it.

[Normasnorks]

BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree - the problem is that the OP doesn't sound like a 'non-judgey-pants' sort of person....her OP is full of condecenscion!

"get the hygeine levels up"

Each to their own, but I wouldn't want this sort of person around my house at Christmas!

Besides, if she really is an OCD-type cleanaholic, why would she need to post on here for 'tips and advice'?

Sorry, but the title of the post, and the general style of the language all sounds a bit smug and self-satisfied to me...

However I'm sure I will be flamed for this suggestion, so I'll respectfully bow out now..

[DreamTeamGirl]

Pleasure guys

I use that with my daily/ weekly list and usually get most - well at least SOME- done each week.

I find it easier to have a list to work from than randomly wandering around wondering what to do- plus its great to tick things off isnt it?

Good luck Jenai, I am sure you will get all the important things done!!!
Maybe it is worth printing off the list and highlighting the must dos, then good to do, nice to do and finally 'unimportant's'

[JenaiMarrsTartanFoxCube]

Oh yes, I'll be printing it off. I might even dig out some highlighters

[DreamTeamGirl]

LOL- I love highlighters- I am such a geek.

[BertieBottlesOfMulledWine]

I love it :) I wish someone would do this for me! I quite like having massive deep cleans, especially if someone helps me. Trouble is I'm terminally messy and disorganised and forget to do it every day. So it gets ridiculous before too long.

OP: for clutter you need boxes and boxes and boxes. Sort each room's mess into categories and then sort that box by box.