Cleaning Tips for Thanksgiving: Prepare Your Home for a Feast to Remember

Preparation for Thanksgiving – or any dinner party – can be daunting. Not only do you have to plan, shop for, and cook a multi-course meal, you have to call on all the cleaning tips and tricks in the book to freshen up, declutter, and organize your home. We’re not going to lie, it’s a lot of work. But if you’ve got some time and aren’t desperately trying to figure out how to clean your house in one day while preparing a giant feast, everything will work out fine. 

The first step towards achieving a turkey day for the record books is to sit down and think things through: How many people will be there? Where will they spend most of their time? Which bathroom or bathrooms will they use? What Thanksgiving table decorations, serving dishes, flatware, plates and napkins will you need to purchase or pick up from self-storage?

If this already sounds like a headache, keep scrolling to read our top ideas for cleaning and preparing your home for Thanksgiving. While we might not hit every point specific to you and your celebration, we’ll give you some good pointers on how to declutter fast and deep clean your home – or at least give the appearance of deep cleaning your home. We won’t tell if you don’t.

Declutter and Organize: A Fresh Start

Before you even think of picking up a sponge or mop, you need to declutter and organize any space your guests will access. Start here:

1. Pick up all loose bric-a-brac in your kitchen, dining room, living room, and bathrooms. Tuck these pieces away in a bin or bag.
2. Remove items from cocktail tables, side tables, and anywhere else someone might set a drink.
3. Clear off kitchen counters and tables of all houseplants, appliances, and food storage containers.
4. Store throw blankets and extra couch or chair pillows on a bed or in a guest room.
5. Roll up any loose rugs and move anything else that might be a tripping hazard (e.g., dog toys, shoes, etc.) to a safer spot.

The less personal pieces or ornaments you have in high-traffic areas, the calmer it will feel – and the easier it will be to clean.

Create a Cleaning Schedule: Stay on Track

Once you’ve picked up the hot spots, you’ll be able to write out an overall cleaning list for your house or apartment and back into when each area should be cleaned. Here’s a rough guide of cleaning tips and timelines to help your efforts:

• 2 Weeks Out: Clean exterior spaces and complete any lingering yard work.
• 1 Week Out: Empty your refrigerator and freezer, scrub them out, and discard anything that’s unappetizing or expired; wash and iron table linens, wash serveware, and polish silver.
• Day Before: Deep clean bathrooms, vacuum rugs and upholstered chairs, mop floors, dust all surfaces, clean counters, oven, and rangetop.
• Day Of: Spot clean any last-minute areas, run dishwasher, set table, put out fresh flowers.

While the above should get you started, our best advice is to follow the lead of professional event planners and create a “run of show” for your Thanksgiving decorating, cleaning, shopping, cooking, and entertaining duties. This will help you keep everything organized and throughout the weeks and days leading up to the big event – and during the big event as well!

Focus on High-Traffic Areas: Make an Impact

Out of all the cleaning ideas you might put into action, the one that will have the greatest impact is simple: focus on the areas of your home where your guests will spend their time. Don’t get distracted by that mess in the garage you’ve been meaning to deal with or those endless stuffies cluttering up the kids’ rooms. Instead, set your sights – and your cleaning supplies – on the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and front porch:

Deep Clean the Kitchen: The Heart of Thanksgiving

Before any cooking gets underway, you’ll want to scrub and sanitize your counters and any appliances you plan on using. Also, clean the floors, windows, and fixtures.

Spruce Up the Dining Area: Where Memories are Made

The dining area will need to be dusted and set with the table linens and trivets you plan on using (this can be done a day or two in advance if you don’t use the table regularly). Pull out and wipe off any extra chairs you’ll need.

Refresh Bathrooms: A Clean and Inviting Space

After you clean the toilet, sink, floor, and mirror, add a small bouquet of fresh flowers. Make sure there’s plenty of toilet paper, hand soap, a fresh towel, and air freshener.

Updating Your Porch

For the best possible first impression, spray off your porch and add potted mums, a new indoor/outdoor rug, and a festive wreath or other door décor.

One of our all-time favorite Thanksgiving cleaning tips? Make your own bed with fresh sheets so that you have a welcome oasis when the night is through!

Dust and Vacuum: Create a Clean Canvas

Dusting and vacuuming are two of the most important tasks you need to focus on prior to hosting any sort of get-together at your home. Always clean from the top down to ensure any dust, dander, or debris that falls from the high spots as you go can get sucked up at the end.

If you don’t have time to wipe down your baseboards and window sills, use the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner to give them a good scrub. Also be sure to dust off your ceiling fan blades and Venetian blinds, and don’t forget to vacuum the stairs (which seem to have an uncanny knack for collecting pet hair). For those of you with a Shop-Vac, haul it out to make quick work of leaves and dirt on your front porch.

Final Touches: Make it Special

After you’ve put all our house cleaning tips and tricks to work, give some thought to the little details that will make your home warm and welcoming. As we mention in our recent blog about slowing down and enjoying Thanksgiving, it’s wise to set up a food and drinks station outside of the kitchen where guests can help themselves to refreshments without bothering the chef.

Other ways to make the day special for all your guests include:

• Pulling together a small craft area to keep kiddos entertained – and out of your hair.
• Programming a Thanksgiving song playlist to set the mood during greetings, appetizers, dining, and wind-down.
• Designating a specific area for coats and bags so that no one creates clutter with their belongings.
• Cracking a few windows (weather permitting) to get good fresh air flow.
• Figuring out a game plan for the pets so that they’re not stressed – and don’t cause any stress in return.

Thanksgiving is one of the greatest holidays of the year, but it can be a lot to manage if you’re the host. Start early with your planning, prepping, purchasing, and cleaning for the best results, and the most relaxing holiday for you and your guests. Happy Thanksgiving and bon appétit!