HOLY CRAP! GUESTS ARE COMING – 15 MINUTE POWER CLEAN

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Dirt Devil, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DirtDevil360Clean http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.

We’ve all been there.  You are going about your daily routine when you get a text saying friends would love to drop in to see you… in half an hour.  CRAP!  You look around at your everyday (read: dirty) house and panic.  How will you have enough time to get the house guest-ready before they arrive?  I am at peak-cleaning skills in the 30 minutes before guests arrive, so I thought I would share my quick cleaning ideas to help you do a 15-minute power clean of your house before last-minute guests arrive.

15-Minute Power Clean

1.  Close doors to rooms you won’t use.  This is especially important for those of you who live in single-story houses or apartments.  If guests will have to walk past your bedroom door to get to the bathroom, make sure the bedroom door is closed so they won’t get a peek at your unmade bed and piles of laundry.

2.  Pick up clutter and place it in an empty laundry basket that can then be shoved into a room with a closed door.  If you don’t have any closed door rooms in which to store the basket, throw it in the trunk of your car.

3.  Any unwashed dishes can be hidden away in the dish-hider (what we call the dishwasher in our house) or in the oven.

4. Vacuum all your floors, whether they are carpet, tile, wood, or other material.  Now is not the time to break out the mop or a bucket and scrub brush.  Just suck all the big stuff up through the vacuum and call it good.

5. Vacuum the couch.  If you have small kids like I do, your couch is probably a treasure trove of small toys, crumbs, and good old fashioned filth.  To prevent guests from plopping down into a den of dirt, snap an attachment onto your vacuum (which you still have out) and give it a once over.

6. Do a quick dust of the major horizontal surfaces in your entertaining space.  Your coffee table, end tables, and TV console are the most prominent dust collectors in your living room, so make sure to hit all of them.  While you are wiping, be sure to wipe your TV screen down too.  Any smudges or dust will be more visible when the TV is off, as it likely will be when your guests arrive.

7.  Grab an all-purpose cleaner to spray and wipe the bathroom mirror and counters and the kitchen counter.  Although I love using white vinegar to clean, avoid using it now unless you want your guests to think you’ve spent the whole day pickling vegetables.

8.  Clean the toilet.  I know, I hate it too.  But you have to do it.  Even if the rest of the house is sparkling, a dirty toilet makes the whole house seem gross.

9.  Lastly, light a candle, spray some room freshener, or pop some potpourri on the stove to make the house smell fresh.  Then turn off all overhead lighting, and switch on just a few accent lights.  Dirt is harder to see in low light.

My new Dirt Devil® 360° Reach™ is my go-to for quick cleaning jobs like this.  It is a 4-in-1 Stick Vac that can go from floors to ceilings to couches in seconds.  The Powered Stair & Upholstery Tool is perfect for eliminating any gunk from the couch cushions, and the SWIPES™ microfiber tool lets me dust and vacuum at the same time.

While supplies last, you can get your own Dirt Devil® 360° Reach™ for the special package price of $149.99.  The Dirt Devil website package includes an additional attachment package valued at $75.  Find out more about Dirt Devil products on facebook, twitter, and instagram.