Ho Ho HELP! How to Speed Clean this Holiday Season (Even if You Have to Cheat Just a Little)

Don’t have any extra time to clean during the holidays? Don’t sweat! This speed-cleaning checklist will get your home holiday ready in minimal time!

There is no time of year when I love my house—or enjoy being at home—more than during the month of December. There is just something magical about those twinkling Christmas tree lights and festive decorations. I love turning on some mellow Christmas music (the James Taylor Christmas album is my all-time fav!) and cuddling up on the couch with a cup of spiked cocoa and a good book or watching one of my favorite holiday classics. In fact, it might the only time during the whole year when I truly just chill.

But you know what totally ruins my Christmas spirit?

A messy house.

And while during the rest of the year, my regular speed-cleaning routine usually works just fine, this time of year I just don’t have an extra hour a day to devote to cleaning. Thus, in the interest of maintaining my sanity, I have found a way to cheat and get it done in half the time. Granted, come January my house will probably be due for some deep cleaning and reorganization, but if it gets me through the season with my sanity intact, I am okay with that. Life is all about balance and giving yourself grace when needed!

How to Speed Clean this Holiday Season (Even if You Have to Cheat Just a Little)

What you will need:

Most of the year I prefer using these homemade green & thrifty cleaning products. Not only are they cheaper, but they smell better and require me to keep far fewer bottles of stuff lying around!

Even so, there is something to be said for convenience, and during the holidays, when there is so much other stuff going on, I am perfectly okay with cheating! My cheater go-to cleaning supplies include “green” disposable disinfectant wipes, Windex wipes, a Swiffer Wet Jet, and Swiffer Disposable Dusters, as well as a daily shower-cleaning spray. A squeegee is also helpful if you have a glass shower door.

General Guidelines:

• Cleaning is much easier when you have less clutter, so the key to this entire plan is finding a quick and easy place to stash all the stuff. If you don’t have time to do a major de-cluttering session right now, find a big box or basket that you can store in an out-of-the-way place such as the garage, basement or spare bedroom. Use this to collect the random clutter you’ve got around the house, then set a date in January to go through it all.
• Start at the same end of the house each time you clean. (I start in our master bedroom and work my way through the living room and kitchen to the girls’ room and bathroom.)
• Use a large laundry basket to collect items such as toys or clothing as you clean, then dump contents of basket into your garage box. It won’t be pretty but at least you’ll know where to find it (or where to tell the kids to look.)
• On the days you need to sweep, mop or vacuum, save it until the end, then do it all at once.
• Keep the daily shower cleaner in the bath/shower and spray down after each use.

The LWSL Holiday Speed-Cleaning Routine:

• Why I Make My Bed. Even if there are other things laying around, the room will look much, much cleaner.
• Quickly pick up any clothes, toys or dishes that are lying around.
• Use a duster to quickly dust the surfaces that really need it.