Hosting turns a house into a stage. The rooms guests actually walk through get looked at closely, and the ones they never enter do not matter that week. Working out which is which is most of the job.
What should you clean before holiday guests arrive?
Clean the rooms guests actually occupy, in this order: entry, guest bathroom, kitchen, then the room people sit in. Everything else can wait. Spreading the work across the week before beats one exhausting day, and it leaves the visible surfaces for last, when they matter most.
The order is not arbitrary. Guests form their impression at the door and confirm it in the bathroom, and both of those rooms are small enough to finish properly. A kitchen that is clean where people stand is worth more than a kitchen that is clean everywhere.
What should you clean the week before?
Do the slow work first, because none of it needs redoing. Scrub the guest bathroom properly, wash the cabinet fronts and trim where hands land, clear the coat area, and change the linens in any room a guest is sleeping in. All of it holds for a week.
- Scrub the guest bathroom top to bottom. Done properly now, the day of the gathering needs only a wipe.
- Wash cabinet fronts, trim and doors in the kitchen and entry. These are the surfaces hands actually touch, and washing beats dusting on all of them.
- Clear the coat area. Make somewhere for bags and boots to go that is not the hallway floor.
- Change the linens. Any bed a guest will sleep in, plus fresh towels set out where they can be seen.
- Book anything you want a cleaning service to do. December fills earlier than any other month of the year.
What should you clean the day before?
Dust high to low with a microfiber cloth, then vacuum, then mop — but dust-mop rather than wet-mop any unsealed or waxed wood, where water gets into the seams and lifts the finish. Working in that order means nothing you knock down lands on a floor you have already finished.
Wipe light switches, door handles and handrails while you are there. Those are the surfaces every guest touches and almost nobody cleans, and they take about four minutes for a whole floor.
Two cautions if you are attacking marks on woodwork the day before. A melamine sponge is a fine abrasive, so on gloss or semi-gloss trim it takes the mark and the sheen off together and leaves a dull patch that only paint fixes. And if anything has been painted in the last month, leave it alone, because latex needs two to four weeks to cure before it can take a damp cloth.
What should you clean the morning of?
Empty and reline every bin, clear the sink, wipe the counters and the dining table, then walk the house slowly and look at it the way a visitor would. That last pass finds more than any checklist does, because it catches what is out of place rather than what is dirty.
Can you get a house ready for guests in three hours?
Yes, if you triage rather than clean. Three hours buys the entry, one bathroom, the kitchen counters and floor, and the room people will sit in. Close the doors on everything else, and do not start anything you cannot finish, because a half-done room reads worse than an untouched one.
In that order, roughly: thirty minutes clearing clutter into one basket per room, forty on the bathroom, forty on the kitchen, thirty on the sitting room, and whatever is left on floors. Set a timer for each room and move on when it goes, even if you are not finished.
What is worth doing in a guest bathroom?
Guests notice three things in a bathroom: the toilet, the shower glass and whether there is a clean towel. Clean the toilet base and behind the pedestal rather than only the bowl, clear the shower door track, and put out fresh towels where they can be found without anyone having to ask.
Shower glass is the one that frustrates people, and it is worth being honest about. Hard water and mineral buildup are not something Happy Maids promises to remove, and no cleaning service should tell you that one visit will clear years of film.
What works is repetition with standard supplies. The film comes off a layer at a time across several visits, and once the glass is clear, regular cleaning keeps it clear. What does not work is force: an abrasive pad or an aggressive acid takes the film off and etches the glass or dulls the tile permanently, and etched glass is far more noticeable than film.
What can you add to a holiday clean that is not included?
Several of the jobs people most want before a gathering are add-ons rather than part of a standard clean. Happy Maids asks for at least one business day's notice on all of them, and they cannot be added on cleaning day itself, which is the detail that catches people in December.
- Inside the oven
- Inside the refrigerator
- Washing inside cabinets, emptied
- Interior windows, within step-ladder reach
- Vacuuming inside the sofa
- Bed linen change, per bed
- Cleaning a finished basement
Inside the oven and inside the refrigerator are the two requested most often before a holiday meal, and nearly everyone hosting takes them. Ask for them when you book rather than on the day. The room-by-room breakdown of what is standard, what is detailed and what is an extra sits on the cleaning checklist.
What will a cleaning service not do before a party?
Happy Maids works up to a two-step ladder and no further, which rules out several things people ask for in December. Being told no in advance is better than discovering it on the day, so here is the honest list.
- Nothing above a two-step ladder. That includes chandeliers and high light fixtures. Tall-ceiling work is a specialist's job.
- No exterior windows. Interior glass within step-ladder reach is an add-on. Outside is a window washer's trade.
- No laundry, and no organizing or decluttering. Happy Maids cleans; it does not sort your closets or fold your wash.
- No carpet or steam cleaning. Last year's red-wine stain needs a carpet company.
- No moving heavy furniture, and no washing walls or ceilings.
- Nothing inside china cabinets, closets or drawers, and nothing behind glass or solid doors on shelving units.
Damage is handled the same honest way. Incidental damage is credited toward future service, anything larger goes through insurance, and inherently unstable items and old window blinds are excluded. All of it is written out on the policies page rather than left for you to discover.
Is a clean before guests a deep clean or a regular clean?
Usually a deep clean, because the crew is bringing the house up to a standard rather than holding it there. Happy Maids charges deep cleans hourly and pro-rates every ten minutes. Recurring service is the flat-rate one, set by the size of your home, the services you choose and its condition.
The practical difference shows up on surfaces rather than on the schedule. On a recurring visit, baseboards, doors, blinds and stair spindles are dusted. On a deep clean they are hand-washed, along with cabinet fronts and the grease film above the range.
If the gathering is the start of a longer stretch of hosting, a recurring housekeeping plan is the steadier shape, because a flat rate does not move when the house is busier.
When should you book a cleaning before a holiday gathering?
Book as early as you can and at least a few days ahead — December is the busiest cleaning month of the year in the northwest suburbs, and add-ons need at least one business day's notice. Our guide to when to book your December holiday cleaning covers the timing in detail.
What if a cleaner you have never met arrives?
The visit should still be the same. Holiday scheduling moves crews around, and the person at your door may be covering for a colleague who is ill or on a scheduled holiday. Happy Maids sends the same familiar team whenever possible, and December is the month when that is hardest to hold to.
No company can promise that a specific person will never be out. What a company can offer is depth to draw on, an office that calls you rather than a day that simply does not happen, and a crew trained to the same written checklist so the result does not depend on which individual walks in.
What is worth doing after everyone leaves?
Strip the guest beds, run the bathroom fan, and get the kitchen back before the leftovers become a project. Then let the next clean handle the rest, because a house that hosted twenty people is not a maintenance job and it was never meant to be done alone.
If you are wondering whether to tip the crew who cleaned before or after the gathering, that has its own answer in do you tip house cleaners at Christmas.
Happy Maids has cleaned homes in Barrington and the northwest suburbs since 1985, with background-checked employees who are bonded and insured. Call 847-382-0082, Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, or start with house cleaning and tell the office what day the guests land.
Frequently asked questions
What should you clean before holiday guests arrive?
Clean the rooms guests actually occupy, in this order: entry, guest bathroom, kitchen, then the room people sit in. Everything else can wait. Spread the work across the week before rather than doing it all in one day, and leave the visible surfaces for last.
How do you get a house ready for guests in three hours?
Triage rather than clean. Three hours buys the entry, one bathroom, the kitchen counters and floor, and the room people will sit in. Close the doors on everything else, set a timer per room, and do not start anything you cannot finish, because a half-done room reads worse than an untouched one.
What should I clean first if I only have one evening?
The guest bathroom, then the entry. Those are the two rooms every guest uses and both are small enough to finish properly. After that, clear the kitchen counters and the sink, and wipe the light switches and door handles on the way through.
Can I add oven or refrigerator cleaning on the day of my holiday clean?
No. Add-ons need at least one business day's notice and cannot be added on cleaning day. Inside the oven, inside the refrigerator, washing inside emptied cabinets, interior windows within step-ladder reach and a linen change are all requested when you book.
Will the cleaners do my chandelier or the outside windows before the party?
No. Happy Maids works up to a two-step ladder and no further, which rules out chandeliers and high fixtures, and exterior windows are a window washer's trade. Interior glass within step-ladder reach is available as an add-on.
Is a clean before guests a deep clean or a regular clean?
Usually a deep clean, because the crew is bringing the house up to a standard rather than holding it there. Deep cleans are billed hourly and pro-rated every ten minutes. Recurring service is the flat-rate one, set by the size of your home, the services chosen and its condition.
When should I book a cleaning before a holiday gathering?
As early as you can and at least a few days out, since December schedules fill first and add-ons need a business day's notice; see booking your December holiday cleaning for the full timing.
Will a holiday clean get the hard water film off my shower glass?
Not in one visit, and Happy Maids does not promise to remove hard water or mineral buildup. The crew works it every visit with standard supplies and it comes off a layer at a time. Nobody will use an abrasive pad or an aggressive acid, because both permanently etch glass and dull tile.