Tips for cleaning and readying your house for guests

Dreamstime

When cleaning for surprise guests, prioritize the most important tasks and areas first. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Sometimes you have fair warning when guests are coming over, such as for major holiday events. Other times people drop in with little or no warning. Whatever the case, you want your home to make the best impression. If you’re short on time, here are some tips on how to quickly prep your home for maximum comfort and give your guests a great experience. Fear not — you can accomplish quite a bit of cleaning in a short amount of time, if need be.

How to clean for houseguests

Walk through your house, and think like a visitor. What are the things you notice first that might not look so great? Pay special attention to common areas, guest bedrooms and bathrooms.

Prioritize what needs to be cleaned first. You can always close the door to your home office, your own bedroom and other areas guests won’t go.

Wipe down commonly touched surfaces such as countertops, doorknobs and light switches. For the best results to get rid of germs and viruses, use a two-step process. Clean with soap and water first, then disinfect using a bleach solution or alcohol wipes.

Wash all the bedding and linens in the guest rooms.

Be aware of your guest’s needs. For instance, if they have allergies to particular scents, avoid cleaning materials that use them.

Give your oven and refrigerator a good cleaning. The oven will probably get a lot of use, so you want to make sure it’s in the best order. Remove all outdated food from your fridge to make room for leftovers.

Check all your bulbs, indoors and out. Sometimes it’s easy not to notice a burned-out bulb in an area you’re really familiar with, but your guests might notice.

Prep the bathrooms

You want your bathrooms in particular to give your guests a good impression. Give each bathroom they might use a good wipe-down, particularly the toilet, shower basin, sink, floor and fixtures.

Make sure the supplies are up to date. Clean expired medicine from the cabinet. Make sure soap, towels, shampoo, conditioner and a hair dryer are available. Stock the cabinet and sink with commonly used items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, disposable razors, feminine products, allergy medication, over-the-counter painkillers or cotton swabs.

Leave room on a flat surface for the toiletries your guests will bring.

Hire it out

If you lack the time yourself, you can always hire a professional housecleaner for the job.

Housecleaning services cost between $40 and $80 per hour, per cleaner, and the average one-time job runs between $150 and $200.

Keep in mind you might have a hard time getting a housecleaner on short notice if you don’t have an existing relationship with one, and you could pay a premium for same-day scheduling.