Category: Cleaning Tip

Deep cleaning is the ultimate house cleaning, providing a fresh start whether you’re moving into a new Toronto home, or want to reset your current home’s level of cleanliness. 

In this article, we will share our checklist for deep cleaning services in Toronto to make sure you tackle every surface in the home!

What is deep cleaning?

Deep cleaning services in Toronto provide a more detailed level of clean, such as your annual spring cleaning, New Year’s cleaning, or “my mother-in-law is coming to visit” cleaning.

This level of cleaning helps you enjoy your home free of germs, bacteria, lingering odours, mould, and allergens that accumulate over time. Unless you are obsessed with cleaning, chances are your average weekly (or monthly) cleaning doesn’t remove common culprits that can increase your risk of illness. 

When you deep clean, you remove all the risky residue from your home’s surfaces, making it easier to maintain a sense of freshness and cleanliness for improved health. Of course, you can also conduct your own version of deep cleaning to remove all the unappealing factors you encounter in an unclean home.

What rooms does deep cleaning tackle?

The answer is easy: any rooms that you like. Although cleaning your entire home is best, you can focus on key rooms that you use most often and the areas most likely to collect germs and bacteria, namely, the bathroom and kitchen. 

What are the tasks of deep cleaning?

This is where our Toronto deep cleaning services checklist comes in. If you want a fresh start in your home, use this room-by-room breakdown to achieve your goals:

Bathrooms

• Bathtub and shower enclosure
• Inside, out, and behind the toilet
• Lights, mirrors, sinks, countertops
• Vacuum ceiling fan cover
• Light switches and door knobs
• Empty garbage bins
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards

Bedrooms

• Make the beds
• Tidy any clothing
• Dust counters, table tops, and picture frames
• Clean mirrors and polish ornaments
• Wipe switches and door knobs
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Wipe window ledges

Kitchen

• If the dishwasher is empty, start a new load
• If the dishwasher is full, put away clean dishes
• Clean inside the microwave
• Wipe the stovetop
• Polish the fridge front
• Wipe the backsplash, countertops, and cupboard fronts
• Clean the sink
• Wipe light switches and door knobs
• Replace garbage and recycling liners
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Wipe window ledges

Living and Dining Rooms

• General tidying
• Tidy and vacuum sofa seating
• Wipe table tops, picture frames, and window ledges
• Clean mirrors and dust ornaments
• Wipe telephones, switches, and door knobs
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Clean under and behind furniture

Laundry Room

• Clear air vent
• Clear lint trap
• Wipe washer and dryer
• Clean floors

What are the benefits of deep cleaning?

There are many benefits to deep cleaning, including the following:

Killing Viruses and Bacteria

You probably don’t realize that every dust particle in your home is a magnet for germs and bacteria. As a result, when you don’t clean properly, all those dust particles trap unhealthy viruses and bacteria. 

This increases your risk of illness. With an annual, semi-annual, or even seasonal deep cleaning, you’ll help reduce harmful germs and bacteria so you can enjoy improved health.

Reduce Risk of Pests

Pests are attracted to the tiniest crumbs, which puts your home at risk for infestations. 

When living in a multi-unit residence such as a condo, apartment building, or row houses in Toronto, you are at higher risk of pests spreading into your home. The less food available, the less temptation there is, and the less risk there is for bugs and rodents.

Breathe Easier

As already mentioned, dust accumulation in your home harbours germs and bacteria. Those same particles remain in the air and on surfaces, which can contribute to poor indoor air quality.

If you suffer from symptoms such as, itchy watery eyes, chronic cough, or a runny nose, these could be caused by allergens in your carpets, on furniture, in your curtains, and floating in the air. Deep cleaning removes hidden dust and allergens, helping you breathe easier.

Improved Mood

A clean home reduces stress and enhances mood. Living in a clean environment helps keep your mind calm and your body healthy for an improved quality of life.

Save Time and Money

When you create a clean slate with deep cleaning services in Toronto, you make it easier to maintain an acceptable level of cleanliness. Therefore, tasks like dusting and cleaning bathroom surfaces become easier.

You’ll find that you can focus more on wiping away dirt, as opposed to scrubbing. Thus, you will save time and money, as you’ll need fewer cleaning products. The result is more time and money spent enjoying the things you love!

Decrease Foodborne Illnesses

Your kitchen is a haven for germs and bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses like E. coli and salmonella. A deep cleaning helps remove germs and bacteria from kitchen surfaces and appliances, so you can avoid unnecessary illness. 

You also remove the “ick” factor from things like caked-on grease and unknown food stains that make it hard not to cringe every time you fix yourself a snack.

Welcoming Guests

If you like to entertain or are a regular Jerry Seinfeld with people popping in unexpectedly, a deep clean is key to keeping your home presentable to welcome guests.

A Better Work Space

If you work from home, all the above benefits also apply to your work environment!

Tips to Get Your Deep Cleaning Started

If our checklist feels a little intense, we get it. This is not your run-of-the-mill cleaning checklist that you can tackle every weekend. However, you can use these tips to make the job easier:

• Work by room: If it sounds like too much work at once, you can tackle a different room every weekend until you finish the entire home.
• Invest in the right tools: Using the right tools can make it easier to achieve your deep cleaning goals. For example, you might invest in a duster that can reach the ceiling, or purchase a vacuum with a wider variety of attachments. 
• Enlist help: If you don’t live alone, enlist the help of family members, your partner, or roommates to help get through the checklist faster. 

Hire Deep Cleaning Services in Toronto

An even better idea is to hire a deep cleaning service in Toronto to manage the job for you. At Maid4Condos, we have the proper cleaning tools, equipment, products, and expertise to complete the job efficiently and achieve the highest possible level of cleanliness.

If you want a fresh start in your home, click here to learn more about our deep cleaning services that Toronto loves. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

If you love pets as much as we do, you probably wish there was an easier way to overlook common pet-related messes. In this article, we offer a guide for cleaning pet messes in Toronto quickly and effectively so you can focus more on the love and less on the mess and odours!

Cleaning Pet Hair

Pet hair is more of an annoyance than anything, as it luckily doesn’t contribute to pet odours in the home. Some tips to help you tackle pet hair include the following:

Vacuum With a Pet Hair Attachment

If your vacuum has a pet hair attachment, take advantage of it and vacuum up pet hair at least once a week. You can also use a hand-held vacuum or remove the attachment from your canister vacuum and apply the hose directly to surfaces to help remove hair and dander.

Use a Squeegee

Squeegees are window cleaners with rubber strips that remove water for streak-free windows. However, that rubber strip is also a very effective hair remover when cleaning Toronto homes. 

Dragging a squeegee over soft surfaces like couches, upholstered chairs, and carpets can help collect hair missed while vacuuming, and create manageable clumps that you can then pick up with your hand.

Try a Lint Remover (or Paint Roller)

Lint removers also work well to capture hair left behind after vacuuming. If you don’t have a lint roller, or you need to tackle a larger area, covering a paint roller with tape, tacky side out, makes short work of larger surfaces like couches and carpets. You can then just remove the tape and toss it in the garbage. 

Attract Hair With Rubber Gloves

Rubber gloves have a magnetic effect on pet hair, allowing you to brush your hand over upholstered surfaces and collect hair. It works on your clothes, too.

Cleaning Pet Stains and Odours

Removing pet stains becomes much harder if you’re not quick to clean up the mess. When it occurs in your absence, your job gets even trickier. Here are some pet stain and odour removal tips to help protect your furniture and keep your home looking and smelling its best:

Act Fast

This is the most important step in fighting pet stains and odours. The longer the stain remains on the surface, the more time it has to set in, and the more likely it will leave lingering odours behind.

Keep the Right Tools Handy

Keeping a pet stain caddy in your home allows you to grab what you need quickly. Your caddy should include:

• Rubber gloves 
• Paper towels or microfiber cloths
• Clean rags 
• Small trash bags
• Soft-bristled brush
• Pet-safe cleaners designed for stains and odours
• Baking soda to lift stains and remove odours
• Baby wipes
• Bottled water

Create Your Own Cleaner

An effective, pet-friendly cleaner consisting of one tablespoon of dish soap, one tablespoon of vinegar, and two cups of warm water can clean up most surfaces without causing damage. Use your DIY cleaner in a spray bottle for easy application to stains. 

Follow the Right Steps for Poop Removal

The following steps provide an effective method to remove fresh poop:

• Use your rubber gloves to pick up solids using a paper towel.
• Place the solids in your trash bag.
• Use a baby wipe to remove any remaining smaller pieces, but don’t wipe the carpet yet!
• Use a new baby wipe to address any “smearing”.
• Apply your homemade or store-bought pet stain product.
• Use your soft-bristled brush to work the cleaner into the fibres and remove the stain.
• Apply clean cold water to remove soapy residue.
• Dab at the carpet to remove excess water using clean paper towels.
• Apply baking soda to the area and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
• Vacuum up the powder and repeat the baking soda step until you remove most of the odours.

Follow Different Steps for Urine

Fresh pet urine requires a different approach. Follow these steps:

• Quickly apply a pile of paper towels to the urine and top off with a pile of newspapers.
• If the stain is on an area rug, lift the rug and lay down paper towels and newspaper on the floor to capture anything that seeps through.
• Turn back the rug, and then stand on the pile of paper and stamp your feet to help absorb the urine.
• If you have a dog, you can place the soaked papers in their designated bathroom area to help associate the smells with that spot.
• Blot-dry any remaining dampness.
• Apply cold water to the area and continue to blot-dry until the urine is removed.
• Apply an odour-removing pet cleaner to the area, following the instructions on the bottle.

Dried Pet Stain Removal

When dealing with an older or dried pet stain, the process requires a different approach. First, although it’s tempting to use a steam cleaner, the heat will permanently set the stain and odours because the steam will bond the proteins to the fibres. 

You should also not use strong chemical cleaners like ammonia or vinegar, as they accentuate the odours. Instead, follow these steps:

• Put on your rubber gloves and pick up any solids and place them in a small trash bag.
• If the mess is pronounced, consider renting a carpet cleaner (not a steamer) to help get deep into the carpet to remove the stains.
• Use an odour-fighting pet cleaner and apply it to the stain.
• You might have to clean a few times to get the stain out.
• Allow the carpet to dry before applying a pet stain odour neutralizer.

Wood Floor Pet Stains

For wood floors, follow these steps:

• Dab up wet messes with a rag or paper towels and remove any solids.
• Use your DIY cleaner to wipe up any remaining messes.
• Wipe the floor clean.
• Apply a generous amount of baking soda to the surface and let it sit for an hour.
• Vacuum or sweep up the baking soda. 
• If the area still smells or feels damp, repeat the baking soda step.

More Household Pet Cleaning Tips

Use the following tips to make life with pets easier:

• Limit access to certain rooms in the house to reduce the chance of stains, hair, and odours in every room.
• Bathe dogs regularly to help reduce pet odours they’ll leave behind on soft furnishings.
• Groom your pets often to reduce shedding.
• Choose hard floors over carpets, and avoid area rugs if possible.
• Treat soft furnishings with stain guard products or use washable covers for everyday furniture use.
• Use a pet toy bin, basket, or box to make it easier to keep things tidy.
• Keep paw wipes at the front door to clean paws before your dog enters your home.

Contact the Cleaning Experts in Toronto

There’s not much to be done about the urine, poop, and occasional vomit that your pet might produce. Knowing how to deal with pet messes makes it easier to take the good with the bad, and avoid having a stinky home covered in pet fluff.

If you want to help control pet odours, hair, and messes, reach out to Maid4Condos to learn more about our professional cleaning that Toronto loves. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

Often, property managers focus on keeping common areas clean and well-maintained without much thought to the cleanliness of units between tenants. Although landlords have an obligation to ensure units are clean and sanitary when new tenants move in, they might not clean to the level new tenants would expect. 

This can set a bad first impression and increase tenant churn. In this article, we will share our top ten professional cleaning tips for Toronto property managers to help ensure tenant satisfaction and retention.

1. Create a warm welcome

Whether you manage a single-unit rental property or a multi-unit building, creating a warm welcome is always important for new tenants. Making sure the front door and surrounding walls are clean and dusted and having the entire entry cleaned to a sparkling finish helps make tenants feel welcome in their new homes.

Paying special attention to the walls, floors, ceiling, and light switches addresses the highest touch and traffic areas. 

2. Consider health

Tenants have a right to feel that their homes are safe, which makes it important to consider how cleaning impacts their health. A deep cleaning that sanitizes the Toronto home, especially in the bathrooms and kitchen, ensures the surfaces look and smell clean.

Even a hint of must, lingering pet or food odours, or mould may scare tenants into thinking the home is not healthy.

3. Tackle carpet odours

If your lease does not allow pets, you know that some tenants hide the fact they are pet owners, which can contribute to carpet odours. Regardless of whether there are pets in the unit or not, odours often find their way into carpets, including cigarette/marijuana smoke, food odours, lingering smells from water damage, and overuse of powder deodorizers.

A thorough vacuuming and carpet cleaning ensures the carpet is clean enough for bare feet and small children while eliminating all odours. As a result, tenants don’t have to contend with unpleasant smells in their new home.

4. Polish wood floors

Although many landlords have discovered the beauty of low-maintenance, durable, luxury vinyl floors, older units (or exclusive rentals) tend to have wood. By arranging for a thorough polishing and cleaning of wood floors, you can help protect them from wear and tear and keep them looking their best.

No doubt, tenants love hardwood floors and will be proud to live in a home with this high-end finish.

5. Protect stone and marble counters

Whether it’s the kitchen or bathroom counters, stone and marble require special care to avoid stains. Using a stone or marble sealant between tenants (or even every year) will ensure your counters remain flawless and protect against stains that can reduce tenant satisfaction.

6. Clean appliances

In most cases, rental units come with used appliances, which most tenants find a little off-putting, especially if the appliances do not appear clean. Ensuring appliances are cleaned properly between tenants not only provides a clean place to store and prepare foods, but also ensures appliances are operating efficiently. 

7. Get windows to sparkle

Filthy windows detract from the cleanliness of the unit, as well as the views from the home. You want the windows to be immaculate to accent the beauty of the area, especially when renting apartments overlooking the lake, the city skyline, or lovely green spaces.

Even if the views aren’t show-stoppers, clean windows bring in more natural light and make the apartment feel more livable and appealing.

8. Partner with a professional cleaning company

A professional cleaning lady or service in Toronto will provide the level of cleaning that makes tenants feel comfortable from the day they move in. Scrubbing every surface ensures tenants enter a home that is germ– and bacteria-free, while making a good first impression that shows you care about the condition of their home.

This can speak volumes to the quality of the building they’ve chosen, and provide confidence in your property management to keep their new home well-maintained.

9. Unit inspections

Once the old tenants move out, you should immediately inspect the unit to create a checklist of specific issues you must address. This should include a standard move-out cleaning list, as well as issues that require repairs. 

For example, things like slow leaks under the sink might go unnoticed by tenants, which can lead to mould and wood rot. You might also discover the appliances don’t work because the tenant never cooked a meal at home, so didn’t bother reporting it. 

Unpleasant smells might set in due to pets or the poor cleaning habits of the previous tenant, which must be addressed. Unit inspections will ensure all existing issues are fixed, while also determining whether the former tenants deserve their deposit back.

10. Give new tenants a “maintenance tour”

Finally, when new tenants move in, give them a “maintenance tour” to offer tips on how to keep their new home in good repair. For example, you might point out that the oven is self-cleaning, or that the stove top is glass and requires a special tool to remove stains. You can provide the tool, and show them where you keep it. 

You can also point out challenges like the hardwood floors and explain how to clean the floors to keep them looking their best, or advise them to use a sealant on marble or granite countertops. 

For something tricky, like the windows of a glass-walled shower that are prone to water stains, explain how a quick swipe of a squeegee can avoid this after showering. This also makes your tenants’ lives easier, as it reduces the amount of cleaning required.

This little tour can be the saviour of your unit maintenance, prolonging the life of delicate finishes like marble and wood, keeping your appliances operating more efficiently, and helping tenants enjoy living in a comfortable, clean space. 

Focus on the positives, pointing out the challenges as features, and then explaining how to care for them to keep them in good condition. They will be more likely to see the challenges as benefits that make their home more attractive and take pride in keeping everything looking its best!

Contact the Toronto Cleaning Professionals

Although retaining good tenants and reducing complaints isn’t easy, these tips will help keep tenants happy and reduce tenant churn.

For more information about Maid4Condos’ professional cleaning lady services in Toronto, click here. You can also call us at 647-822-0601.

If your condo is a cleaning challenge due to its smaller size and open-concept layout, you might find that you have to clean more often than you’d like. Whether you hate cleaning or are obsessed with it, you can use these ten tips for condo cleaning in Scarborough to make cleaning quick and efficient.

1. Get a good start with spring cleaning 

We like to think of spring cleaning as a fresh start that sets a basis for cleaning throughout the year. Spring cleaning tackles every nook and cranny of your home so that it just takes a light touch daily and then a more thorough cleaning weekly to keep your home sparkling and fresh until next spring.

2. Don’t leave things messy or dirty

A rookie mistake that makes cleaning harder and takes longer is not cleaning up messes when they happen. Putting things away, wiping counters, doing the dishes each day, etc., all contribute to a cleaner home so you’re never overwhelmed with an unmanageable mess that stresses you out. Never go to bed when there’s a mess!

3. Keep suitable cleaning products in each room

If your condo is like most, storage space is at a premium. Therefore, consider keeping suitable cleaning products in each room. For example, keeping sanitizing wipes on your bathroom and kitchen counters means they’re always within reach to wipe up messes. 

As a result, you never face stuff like bright yellow mustard stains on the kitchen counter or caked-on toothpaste in the bathroom sink. When you wipe as you go, cleaning becomes more manageable. 

Additionally, when you do your weekly cleaning, everything is there when you need it, whether it’s shower and glass cleaner in the bathroom, or stainless steel polish and porcelain stove top cleaner in the kitchen. You also free up space in your general storage area for things like your broom, duster, mop, multipurpose cleaner, and vacuum.

4. January declutter

Along with your spring cleaning each year, a January declutter gets rid of all the stuff that’s overwhelming your small home. Go through your closets and get rid of anything you don’t need, whether it’s your wardrobe, kitchen pantry, etc.

You’ll free up space for the things you do need and help keep your home more organized. An organized home is easier to keep tidy, so you have less mess to contend with on cleaning day.

5. Don’t do it all at once

Yes, you absolutely can choose a day of the week as your cleaning day. However, you also might find cleaning easier if you don’t try to do everything at once. For example, by setting a laundry day, you can also use it as the perfect time to clean your bathroom.

Toss in a load of laundry, and then tackle the bathroom. By the time your laundry is done, your bathroom is clean, you have clean clothes, and you can relax. That’s one less task on cleaning day. 

Also, bursts of cleaning keep your Scarborough home from ever being completely messy. You might grab all the clothes on your bedroom floor (or crumpled up on that chair in the corner) and toss them in the laundry before heading to work, or give the toilet bowl a swirl every day after you shower. 

Cleaning in bursts, tackling two jobs at once, and tidying up after yourself all add up to more efficient, quicker condo cleaning, so you don’t ever have to spend an entire day cleaning.

6. Have cleaning rules  

If you have a roommate, partner, or kids, having cleaning rules ensures everyone is contributing to keep the home clean. It is also the easiest way to help share the cleaning load accordingly, such as:

• Teach kids from a young age to put their toys away. 
• Tell roommates that whoever makes a mess in the kitchen has to clean it right away, and ditto for the bathroom if it is shared.
• Have your partner do their own laundry. Additionally, share in the efforts to keep things clean, whether it’s throwing their newspaper in the recycle bin, putting their dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, or swiping the toilet with a brush after a particularly unpleasant event. Once cleaning day rolls around, you’re finished in a flash because everyone has pitched in and followed the rules!

7. Invest in basic cleaning tools and products

Cleaning takes longer when you aren’t using the right tools and cleaning products. Some basics that every Scarborough condo dweller needs to save time include the following:

• Wet mop
• Broom
• Cleaning wipes
• Abrasive cleaner
• Multi-purpose cleaner
• Sponge/microfiber cloths
• Vacuum (if you have carpeting)

8. Make cleaning fun

Although fun and efficiency don’t go together, when cleaning, having a little fun allows you to face tasks with less dread. For example, listening to your favourite musical playlist helps you work faster. You can also create a game that makes your kids want to help or challenge your roommates to a race to finish certain tasks faster.

9. Focus!

Avoid distraction by keeping focused on one task at a time. For example, if you’re vacuuming, you might get side-tracked by something on the ground like a toy. Suddenly, you stop what you’re doing and switch gears to start putting toys away. 

Make sure you choose a logical order for your cleaning to reduce distractions and disruptions that have you working all over the condo. We recommend tidying first to clear the way for dusting and vacuuming, so each task completed makes the next one easier.

Additionally, when doing something like the laundry or dishes, make sure you complete the entire job. Laundry isn’t done until it’s folded and put away, while the dishes aren’t finished until the dish rack is empty.

10. Clean while you enjoy yourself

Multitasking is the spice of life—at least for us cleaners! For example, if you plan to binge-watch Succession, use this opportunity to do the laundry. You throw in a load of laundry and watch an episode. Then, put the clothes in the dryer, and watch an episode. Fold the laundry and watch an episode. Put your laundry away, and watch an episode.

You’ll feel good about yourself knowing you really weren’t wasting time and also not feel left out from the group chat now that you know what everyone is talking about!

Contact the Scarborough Cleaning Experts

Cleaning is always quicker and more efficient when you keep things tidy every day, use the right tools, and find ways to remain focused. These ten tips also make cleaning a little less “worky” and a little more fun. 

If you still can’t keep on top of your cleaning, or just hate it, contact Maid4Condos for condo cleaning services in Scarborough. Our name says it all. Click here for a quote. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

In this article, we will share 10 eco-friendly cleaning tips from our residential cleaning services in Toronto so you can do your part to help save the planet.

1. Create your own multi-purpose cleaner

This truly is the easiest and, might we add, most affordable option to tackle house cleaning with a clean conscience! DIY cleaning products are easy to make and use with items you likely have in your pantry. Some common environmentally-friendly DIY cleaning ingredients include lemons, baking soda, and vinegar. 

You can make your own multipurpose solution by combining 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 30 drops of your essential oil of choice to create a cleaner that smells like your idea of heaven. Feel free to experiment with different oil blends to make your own signature fragrance! 

2. Choose reusable cleaning tools

Reusable cleaning tools such as wet mops with microfiber cloths help reduce waste produced from house cleaning. Stop throwing out single-use items for tools like wet mops.

Instead, you can ace your cleaning with the power of microfiber cloths that can be tossed in the laundry instead of the trash and, ultimately, the local landfill site. Choosing microfiber cloths over sponges and paper towels makes a big difference.

3. Use products with eco-friendly containers

Although plastic can be recycled, you can find eco-friendly containers, with emerging “boutique” cleaning brands filling the gaps of the eco-friendly niche. Although they often cost a little more, specialty cleaning brands are gaining attention in the cleaning industry.

Products made for use in reusable spray bottles take a unique approach to packaging. For example, you can buy tablets you drop into a spray bottle filled with water or vinegar. The tablets come in paper packaging that goes into your recycle bin.  

4. Use natural laundry products

House cleaning flushes contaminated water into our local sewage systems, contributing to issues with local wildlife and drinking water. Laundry products containing harsh chemicals like bleach are a perfect example.

Choosing phosphate, bleach, and fragrance-free laundry products helps reduce pollutants. Keep in mind that reducing harsh chemicals in laundry detergents also decreases exposure to certain chemicals that stay in your body forever, contributing to health issues over time.

5. Avoid materials from non-renewable resources

Non-renewable resources like petroleum-based plastics are used in many cleaning tools like mops. Along with those washable mop heads, choosing tools that are made of wood or bamboo are much better for the environment. Sustainable materials, like straw for brooms and bamboo used on handles, have a far less negative impact on the planet.

6. If it isn’t broken, don’t toss it 

We get it. You see the latest wet mop product, or some ultra-tough scrubbing brush, and you think, “Wow, that would make my life so much easier!” The next thing you know, you’re tossing out all kinds of cleaning tools that are in fine condition. The materialistic lifestyle is the number one enemy when it comes to landfill sites.

The longer you use something, the less you throw away, and the less impact your carbon footprint has on the environment. So, as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and as a green warrior, if it ain’t broke, don’t toss it!

7. Discover the cleaning power of vinegar and baking soda

Yes, we did already mention the benefits of vinegar, but this is a different recipe. Vinegar and baking soda make a powerful cleaning solution for tackling tough, caked-on messes that call for something abrasive.

A sprinkle of baking soda spritzed with vinegar can tackle grease, scum, and crusty build-up while removing odours, along with germs and bacteria. Miraculous? We like to think so.

8. Lemony fresh cleaning magic

There’s a reason so many cleaning products claim to be “lemony fresh.” People have been using lemons to keep their homes clean and fresh for centuries. You can tackle the following cleaning jobs using these lemony-fresh tips: 

• Sprinkle salt on your cutting board and scrub it with half a lemon as a food-safe cleaner.
• Put some lemon slices in a suitable container with water and place it in your oven or microwave on medium-high heat to create steam to loosen gunk and grease.
• Feed some lemon slices into your food disposal system as a powerful deodorizer.
• Ditto for removing odours from your kitchen drain with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
• Scrub bathroom surfaces with a sprinkle of baking soda and a spritz of fresh lemon juice to deodorize and sanitize your bathroom.

9. Remove odours with essential oils

Instead of depending on store-bought odour-removing products like sprays, create your own home-refreshing scents using essential oils. As mentioned above, essential oils can be mixed into your DIY cleaning products, creating mood-changing scents that keep your Toronto home smelling wonderful and your mood relaxed or invigorated, depending on what oils you choose. 

Use your essential oil signature fragrance to create a linen spray with equal parts distilled water, witch hazel, and up to 30 drops of your essential oil. You can spritz linens and soft surfaces lightly to remove odours. 

You can also create a dry cleaning powder to refresh extra-stinky carpets and soft furnishings (think of pet odours) with 1 cup of baking soda combined with 1–30 drops of essential oil. Be sure to let the powder dry and shake it well to avoid clumping. Vacuum the powder up after letting it sit for at least 20 minutes.  

10. Invest in a steam cleaner

Steam defeats just about any caked-on, greasy, stubborn mess you can think of. Investing in a steam cleaner is worth it as you’ll also reduce the amount of cleaning products and tools you need. As a result, you save money in the long run. Steam cleaners can be used on a long list of cleaning woes, including:

• Killing bacteria and germs in the bathroom on all surfaces.
• Loosening gunk so it can be wiped away.
• Cleaning baked-on food on the stove, in the oven, and in the microwave.
• Disinfecting countertops.
• Cleaning and disinfecting tile floors and walls.
• Cleaning your dishwasher. 
• Removing calcium build-up from faucets, shower heads, water/ice dispensers, etc.
• Cleaning the toilet.
• Cleaning window and sliding door tracks.
• Removing wallpaper or old shelving paper.

Contact the Toronto Cleaning Professionals

These cleaning tips will help keep your home clean, germ-free, and smelling heavenly. 

If this all sounds like way too much work, enlist our residential cleaning services in Toronto to tackle the cleaning for you. Click here to learn more about our services at Maid4Condos. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

If you are one of the millions who now work from home, you have a whole new area of your living space that requires cleaning now and then. In this article, we will share our professional Scarborough cleaning services tips on how to clean and organize your home office space to reduce stress and increase productivity.

Carve Out Your Work Space

It all starts by finding the ideal workspace in your home. Ideally, you have a designated room where your office is out of sight and out of mind when you’re not working. However, living in a small space like a condo or apartment means you’ll need to carve out a multi-purpose area to serve as your home office.

Whether it’s a corner of your dining room or kitchen table, a small desk in your bedroom, or a shared space that serves as a yoga room, guest room, and office, having a designated work area keeps all your work supplies, equipment, and files organized. 

Get Everything Organized and Tidy

Once you find the ideal workspace, you need a clean slate to create an organized foundation that is easier to manage. Consider your workspace and the items you use daily, weekly, and occasionally to determine what things you need front and centre and what items you can store away in drawers or on shelves.

This will allow you to find a spot for everything so that, as you use the items, you have a spot to put them away. You also create a more organized workspace so you always have what you need nearby and can work more efficiently.

Go Paperless

If possible, consider keeping a paperless workspace/office to help reduce the mess and keep your workstation tidier. Paper is difficult to manage and can create chaos if you don’t keep on top of it. If you must use paper, make sure you have a system, such as paper trays, files, file boxes, drawers, etc. so you can keep paper messes to a minimum.

Organize Your Day

A lot of cleaning for your home office has to do with your ability to stay organized. By doing so, you can stay on top of messes by dealing with things like filing, accounting, answering emails, etc., at certain times. When you have an organized to-do list and a process to follow, you can keep things under control so your workspace is tidier. This also ensures nothing gets missed or lost.

Use Colour Coding

If you contend with a lot of paper and files, using a colour coding system can provide visual cues that also keep things neater. You can separate files based on things like urgent papers, projects, personal files, clients, etc. so you always know where everything goes, and can also find the files and papers you need easily.

Leverage Cute Containers

Get creative and add some personality to your home office. Shop for unique trays, drawer organizers, and file organizers that appeal to your sense of style so you can store your supplies out of sight in containers to reduce clutter and keep things feeling a little more “you.”

This ensures you have a clear area to work so your desk remains functional and your mind feels less stressed. By choosing items you love, you also create a more pleasant workspace where you’ll feel happier when you work. 

Take Advantage of Wall Space

If you have limited space in your work area, take advantage of wall space using shelves, bulletin boards, and hanging office organizers, for example. This helps keep your desk surface neat and tidy, and provides a visual reminder for things like your calendar, to-do list, urgent papers, and so on.

Have an End-of-Day Cleaning Process

All of the above tips contribute to an end-of-day cleaning process by providing space to keep work organized. Always make sure your workspace is clean at the end of the day, so you avoid feeling overwhelmed every time you walk past your desk.

File papers away in their folders, put office supplies away in their containers, make notes on your calendar/to-do list so you know what you need to tackle in the morning, take your coffee mug to the kitchen, etc. Your end-of-day cleaning process ensures your office is always organized and clutter-free.

Clean Your Desk

Your desk is going to get dusty, and also have things like coffee/tea stains that build up each week. At the end of the week, when you complete your end-of-day cleaning process, take the time to actually clean your desk.

Use a duster to clean your shelves, and then spritz a fresh-smelling, all-purpose cleaner on your desk to wipe away stains. You can also dust your keyboard, lamps, and anything else that might be crumby or dusty after a week of work.

If you have a severe dust allergy, you have no reason to worry. When you choose our superior cleaning services in Scarborough, our team will clean every single surface, ensuring your home office is dust-free and completely spotless. Let our experts do all the hard work, so that you can prioritize your health and make more time for yourself.

Recycle!

Keeping a shredder and recycling bin at your desk allows you to tackle things like junk mail, envelopes, flyers, etc. that might end up at your workspace. A daily mail sorting, paper purging, and shredding will keep control of paper, reduce clutter, and generally contribute to keeping your workspace organized.

Prioritize a Record-Keeping System

Based on your employer or own record-keeping requirements, you should prioritize your system to ensure you only hold onto papers you need. Although we keep harping on the whole paper thing, some industries and businesses do have requirements for record keeping, so paper is unavoidable. Having a system will ensure you maintain records, while purging the files you no longer need to reduce clutter. 

Consider Adding a Plant or Two

Plants help keep the mind calm while also contributing to cleaner indoor air. If you have the space, consider adding a plant or two to your home office or work area to create a more comfortable work environment that can help improve productivity and reduce stress.

Call the Cleaning Professionals

If all of these tips still feel overwhelming, Maid4Condos’ Scarborough cleaning services is the perfect answer for you. Our expert team is dedicated to keeping your home office clean. Click here for a free quote. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

Keeping your home clean doesn’t have to be a pain! Our professional cleaning services in Toronto ensure your private sanctuary is squeaky clean, so that you can have peace of mind. 

If you’re ready to turn over a new leaf this year and would like a neater and more organized space, you can use our 14 tips and tricks as your ultimate home cleaning guide.

1. Always work with a plan

Instead of running head-first into cleaning, tackling random jobs here and there, always work with a plan. Having a checklist of the work you want to tackle keeps you focused, so you get everything done. You’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment every time you check something off your list.

2. Keep on top of dusting

Dust is one of those things that can get the better of you if you allow it to keep building. We always recommend keeping a duster handy to tackle dust once a week. By using a good microstatic/fibre duster every week, you can keep dust under control and have a home that looks and feels much cleaner.

3. Target knick-knacks with a hair dryer

Knick-knacks are notorious dust collectors that can contribute to the dust in the air. A good trick is to give them a blast with your hair dryer on low every now and then to remove the dust. Let it settle for a few minutes, and then complete your weekly dusting to help keep your home dust-free.

4. Tackle pet hair weekly

You love your pet, but let’s face it, their fur can really be an issue. Tackling pet hair once a week helps manage it and keeps your home looking a lot cleaner. A dry mop works very well on pet hair to keep it under control on your floors.

For furniture, keep a lint roller or rubber glove nearby, and give surfaces a quick swipe when your pet wanders off. Not only will your home be cleaner, but your allergies will be more controlled, and your clothes will be more likely to stay pet hair-free!

5. Never panic-scrub spills

Whether you spill red wine on your favourite white chair or a cup of coffee across your pale blue area rug, avoid the temptation to panic-scrub the stain. This will push the dyes deeper into the fibres, making it impossible to remove.

Instead, follow the daubing method, gently blotting at the stain with a clean cloth and fabric-safe cleaner to remove as much of the liquid as possible. 

6. Never ignore a mess

It’s always tempting to ignore a mess and do something other than cleaning. However, the moment you spot or make a mess, you should clean it right away. The clean-as-you-go method is what separates tidy homes from messy ones.

By putting items away after you use them, tossing things in the garbage, doing the dishes, and wiping up counters, you’ll have a cleaner home that only requires a quick straightening, cleaning, and vacuuming once a week. It’s worth the effort and will actually result in more downtime in the end.

7. Embrace wipes

Wipes are a homeowner’s best friend. Keeping wipes on your kitchen and bathroom counters makes it easy to wipe up messes as they occur. As a result, your kitchen and bathroom will shine and also be germ-free.

As a bonus tip, keep a package of baby wipes in the house for a quick spot cleaner of soft furnishings. They are gentler and drier than your average house-cleaning wipe and will be safer for those occasional mistakes like chocolate smears or cheesie finger dust on your couch arms.

8. Rid your stainless steel of water stains

Both small and large stainless appliances are prone to water stains if you aren’t using the right cleaners. A pro tip is to use hand sanitizer to wipe stainless steel surfaces clean for a sparkling, streak-free finish.

9. Don’t rush deep cleaning

When cleaning kitchen counters and bathroom surfaces, you need a deep clean to remove and kill germs and bacteria. Instead of just wiping these surfaces, you should apply your germ-killing cleaner and let it sit for a few minutes to have time to work. You can then wipe the cleaner away for germ-free surfaces that are easier to clean, as the soaking time also helps loosen the grime.

If you don’t have time in your busy schedule for deep cleaning, we are just a call away. Choose our cleaning services in Toronto and our team of experts will clean your home from top to bottom, so that you can focus on your priorities. 

10. Work from the top down

A rookie mistake is cleaning in the wrong order. You should always start by dusting from the top down so that the dust falls downwards as you work. This way, by the time you get to the floors, all the loose dust has landed and can be swept or vacuumed.

11. Equip your home with the right tools

As professional cleaners, we know that having the right tools goes a long way in keeping homes clean. Creating a cleaning caddy provides a kit you can carry around as you work, keeping you organized and making quick work of each cleaning task. Some cleaning basics we recommend every household keeps on hand includes:

• A good all-purpose cleaner 
• Appropriate floor cleaner (such as wood cleaner for wood floors, tile cleaner for tile floors, etc.)
• Disinfectant cleaner for bathrooms
• All-purpose kitchen cleaner
• Wet mop
• Vacuum or broom
• Duster
• Microfibre cloths
• Sponge
• Scrubbing brush
• Bucket
• Paper towels

12. Keep things fresh with lemons

Lemons are a miracle cleaner that keeps your home smelling clean and fresh. Lemon juice can be used to clean a wide variety of cleaning woes including your toilet bowl, kitchen counter, and cutting board, as well as to remove odours from your kitchen drain. Combined with baking soda, lemons also make the perfect fresh abrasive cleanser.

13. Tackle grout with baking soda

Dirty tiles and grout on backsplashes and in the bathroom can be tackled with a natural cleaner made of baking soda and enough water to create a paste. Apply it to grout to scrub away the mess. If the stains are really stubborn, squirt vinegar or lemon juice on the paste to create a bubbling effect that will help remove the grime.

14. Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed

The important thing is to avoid feeling overwhelmed by cleaning. These tips will help you stay one step ahead of the mess, so your weekly cleaning day takes minutes instead of hours.

Maid4Condos: Professional Cleaning Services in Toronto

If all of these tips still seem like too much work, why not hire Maid4Condos’ cleaning services in Toronto to keep your home clean? Click here for a free quote. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

The New Year is the time for resolutions that make your life better. Although cleaning might not be the first thing that comes to mind, keeping your home clean can reduce stress and create a more pleasing living space. 

In this article, we will share ten helpful ways to refresh your home for the New Year from our expert residential cleaners in Toronto. 

1. Start with a good scrub down

We find that starting with a clean, fresh base makes it easier to keep things that way. By paying closer attention to the factors that make your house physically dirty, you can keep your home feeling fresh by tackling those jobs first.

A good scrub down of all your home’s surfaces will remove the dirt and grime, so you have an easier time keeping things clean. 

You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes with how quickly you can complete your weekly cleaning, as well as the positive impact on the appearance and smell of your home. 

If you’re looking for a head start, consider calling in your favourite Toronto cleaners for a deep clean that will give you a perfect base to start fresh. 

2. Tackle those closets

Imagine how much fresher and airier your home would feel if you didn’t have closets crammed with junk. Make a plan to tackle every closet in the home with thorough decluttering and organization. 

There are several reasons this works as a refresher:

• Decluttering makes it easier to find what you need, thus reducing stress.
• You can free up space in your closets so you can store more of the things making your house messy behind closed doors.
• You can share unused items with others so you feel good about yourself.
• Organized closets contribute to organized minds.

3. Clean messes as you make them 

All those drips, scuffs, smears, spills, crumbs, and more are what transform a scrubbed home into a dirty home. The best way to keep your residence clean is to clean messes as you make them.

Keep cleaning wipes in the bathroom so you can quickly swipe the sink and counters every day. Do the same in the kitchen. 

When you make food, clean up the mess, do the dishes, and sweep the floors. You get the picture!

4. Keep things tidy

Tidiness is an essential clean home tool that ensures that a scrubbed base works harder for you. 

Tidying up is different from cleaning. It doesn’t require any cleaning tools or cleaning products. Instead, it’s all about putting things away. Some tidying examples include the following:

• If you read the paper, fold it up and toss it in the recycle bin, or better yet, subscribe to online publications. 
• If you work from home, clean up your desk at the end of the day. 
• For arts and crafts projects with the kids, put the lids back on everything and put items away after you’re done.
• After playing a game of Scrabble, put the tiles in the box and place the box back on the shelf or in the drawer where you found it. 
• With received mail, open and sort it, or have a tray to keep it organized until you do.

5. Everything has its place

Refresh how you store and organize things in your home by ensuring everything has its place. This makes it easier to keep things tidy, as you know where everything goes, making it simpler to find items and put them away. 

This might call for some new baskets, containers, and shelves, but it’s worth the investment to keep everything tidy. 

6. Improve your work-from-home setup

If you’re like many Torontonians who work from home, you might find your workspace is tumbling over into your living space, or vice versa. Consider your work-from-home setup, and look for ways to make it feel less intrusive. 

Is there a fold-up desk solution that allows you to shut everything up at the end of the day? Can you make a closet or a tight, out-of-the-way corner into a makeshift office? 

Are there some desk organizers, drawer sets, filing cabinets, baskets, or shelves that can help keep things organized? Maybe you can install a little curtain you can pull across your workstation or a partition you can unfold when work is done.

All of these things provide a quick, tidy refresh that helps separate your work from your downtime space more efficiently.

7. Add some statement colour pieces to your home

Although we might be cleaners in Toronto, we understand refreshing your space isn’t always about cleaning. 

Look for opportunities to add statement colours to your home using wall art, throw cushions, area rugs, cozy blankets, etc. This can make your home feel like a whole new space and really brighten your day.

8. Simplify and downsize furnishings

Along the lines of decluttering, try to simplify the rooms in your home by removing items you don’t need. 

For example, if you have two or three dressers in your bedroom, go through the drawers and see if you can condense everything down to one or two. This reduces the surfaces you need to dust and creates an airier home that feels fresh and open.

9. Purify the air

There are several things you can do to improve the indoor air quality in your home, including the following:

• Dust more often, using a damp or static duster, so dust is removed instead of just moved around.
• Invest in an air purifier.
• Use HEPA filters and bags in your vacuum.
• Use a static-style floor duster.
• Add some plants to your home to produce more oxygen and add some soothing nature to your space.

10. Embrace aromatherapy

Aromatherapy helps improve your mood while keeping your home smelling fresh. There’s no need to fuss over things like scented candles and diffusers; instead, choose natural cleaning products scented with essential oils. 

In fact, you can create your own cleaning products infused with your favourite scents with a mix of 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, and 30 drops of essential oils. Some popular scents for eco-friendly cleaning products include:

• Cinnamon
• Eucalyptus 
• Grapefruit
• Lavender
• Lemon
• Orange
• Peppermint
• Tea tree

However, the sky’s the limit when it comes to concocting your own stimulating home-cleaning products.

Contact the Cleaning Professionals

There you have it: 10 of our professional cleaners in Toronto’s top tips to refresh your home in the New Year.
If you don’t have the time to worry about refreshing your home, let Maid4Condos do it for you! You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online for more information.

Your walls are large surfaces prone to dirt, scuff marks, and unknown (and sometimes unthinkable) smears. These unsightly marks can make your home appear dirtier than it actually is.

To help keep your home looking its best, use these ten hacks that professional maids in Toronto trust and use every day.

1. Use vinegar to tackle grease on kitchen walls

Of all the walls in your home, your kitchen walls take the biggest hits when it comes to built-up grime. Grease becomes very tacky over time, attracting more grease, dust, dead bugs, and all kinds of other horrors. To help keep grease under control, vinegar is the ultimate cleaner. A great hack is soaking a clean sponge in a mix of ⅔ cups of vinegar and ⅔ cups of water. 

Using a sponge with a gentle scrubbing pad works best. Wring out the access liquid, and then use a circular motion on the greasy areas. This should loosen the grease so you can easily remove it. You can then use a clean sponge and water to remove the loosened mess. 

2. Use liquid dishwashing detergent to remove dead bugs

We’ve all been there. A pesky bug has been flying around your home, or you spot something crawling on the wall and, splat, we squish them in their tracks. That can leave a nasty streak of bug guts and blood. 

The trick here is to act fast with a clean cloth or paper towel and a mix of water and dishwashing detergent. Wipe the mess away, and then use a clean damp cloth to remove the soapy residue. This works on old bug guts and blood as well. 

3. Use lemon juice to remove rust stains

Rust stains on shower walls are distressing and unsightly. They can also be tough to tackle with basic shower-cleaning products. A good natural hack is to use lemon  juice with a bit of salt or baking soda on the tiles.

This creates a mild abrasive paste that can safely remove rust. Using a microfibre cloth or sponge to gently rub away the stain, along with a quick rinse, should reveal a rust-free wall.

4. Use cleaning “erasers” on stubborn wall art

If you’ve got a little artist in the family who thinks of your home as their canvas, you’ll likely find more than a few stubborn pencil or crayon marks on your walls that are a nightmare to clean. These marks can pose a real cleaning challenge—unless you have a cleaning eraser, that is. 

Cleaning erasers are designed to tackle those glaring marks that tend to stay where they are—forever. However, with a quick scrub of an eraser, those pencil and crayon marks are gone. 

Bonus hack: You can also use an old DIY cleaning hack: hairspray. Hairspray contains ingredients that “housewives” of the past discovered can remove ink stains from clothes. 

You can try a spritz of hairspray on pencil, ink, and crayon-marked walls to wipe them away. 

5. Use toothpaste on lipstick smears

We won’t ask how that lipstick got on your walls (it’s none of our business). However, lipstick has a lot of moisturizing oils and waxy materials that cling to walls a lot better than they cling to lips in some cases. This mess calls for a three-step process:

• Use something non-metal like a popsicle stick or rubber spatula to scrape off the majority of the smear.
• Apply white toothpaste (it has to be toothpaste; gel won’t work) to the remaining blotch and let it sit a bit.
• Wipe the toothpaste away with a damp cloth.

6. Use rubbing alcohol on permanent felt tip marker

The word “permanent” is the first clue that these stains mean business. However, cleaning permanent marker messes isn’t always hopeless. Here are a few possible hacks:

• Your first choice is rubbing alcohol applied with an absorbent cotton ball or pad. Gently wipe at the mark to see if it comes off. 
• Next, try our hairspray trick mentioned above.
• No luck? Your next choice is (wait for it) shaving foam. Something in it can sometimes work on this type of permanent ink.
• If this doesn’t work, your last resort is nail polish remover. However, there’s a reason we don’t recommend this as your first choice: it will likely also take off the paint with it. We advise you to try this behind the couch or somewhere less noticeable before applying it to the stain. 

7. Use mild dishwashing liquid on candle smoke stains

No doubt, the flicker of ambient candlelight is romantic and classy. However, if you have candle wall sconces, that pretty flickering light also causes black smoke stains. If you love your candlelight, you can still enjoy it with the help of this hack. Mild dishwashing liquid, water, and a sponge will usually do the trick. 

8. Use a mix of liquid detergent, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda on tile walls

Tile walls are becoming more popular as interesting statement walls, especially around fireplaces. To keep them clean, use a simple mix of hydrogen peroxide and liquid detergent to create a mildly abrasive paste with baking soda.

Apply it to the tiles with a soft brush and clean in a circular motion. Remove the paste with a damp cloth and finish with a final rinse with water and a clean cloth. 

9. Use vinegar and water on mould and mildew

Mould and mildew can be removed using a mix of 1 tablespoon white vinegar to 1 quart water. Spray it on the walls and it should almost instantly dissolve the marks. If not, try a spray bleach. In both cases, rinse the residue away with a damp, clean cloth.

10. Use a damp, clean cloth on scuff marks 

Scuff marks look like they’d be tough to clean, but honestly, in most cases it just takes a damp cloth and a bit of elbow grease to remove black scuffs from your walls!

Contact the Cleaning Experts

These budget-friendly cleaning hacks that professional maids in Toronto use will help keep your walls looking freshly painted.
If you don’t have the time to worry about wall stains, let Maid4Condos tackle your cleaning jobs for you. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online for more information.

Although ‘tis the season to be jolly, it’s also the season to be messy! Here, we share our Toronto cleaning services’ 14 dos and don’ts for holiday cleaning, both to prepare for your guests and to clean up their mess.

1. Do create a pre-party cleaning checklist

Your checklist should address every room where guests are likely to wander, which realistically could be anywhere.

A good pre-party cleaning checklist will make sure you don’t miss anything, and that your home is party-ready, including:

• Dusting
• Vacuuming and sweeping
• Mopping hard-surface floors
• Wiping down walls
• Decluttering
• Sweeping up those tree needles
• Keeping holiday light wires safe and out of the way to avoid trips
• Full bathroom disinfecting and cleaning
• Complete kitchen disinfecting and cleaning
• Cleaning your oven, stove, microwave, and fridge
• Steam-cleaning dirty carpets

2. Don’t forget to check your tableware

Tableware tends to be a last-minute thing whether you’re putting it out for your buffet or setting the table. That’s when you discover (too late) that you have several chipped dishes, your silver is tarnished, and you forgot Uncle Phillip broke three champagne glasses at your last family gathering.

Give yourself a good week’s head start to check your tableware, and make sure you have enough dishes, flatware, and glassware to serve all your guests.

3. Do wash your table linens

Along with your tableware, pull out your table linens and toss them in the laundry or send them to the dry cleaners. If you have to use the dry cleaners for delicate fabrics, do this at least two weeks out.

Also, be sure to take everything out of the dryer right away and fold it carefully to avoid wrinkles. Remember that some fabrics can wrinkle badly and need to be ironed. It will be worth it to get that crisp look for your table setting.

4. Don’t try to do everything at once

It can be overwhelming getting everything ready for the big day. Give yourself a break and work in manageable bites so you don’t get too stressed or run out of time. 

Clean room by room, and you’ll find cleaning less daunting. This also applies to clean-up after the party as well.

If you’re finding that doing a full pre-party deep clean is too much of a tall task, enlisting the help of Toronto cleaning services might be worthwhile. Leave the heavy lifting to the experts so you can focus on the more fun aspects of holiday party planning. 

5. Do declutter as a starting point

If you declutter the main areas where you’ll be entertaining, you can set a clean foundation that makes it easier to keep your home clean before the big day. It also keeps your home clean throughout this hectic season! 

Use the “everything has its place rule” and put them back where they belong as you use things. Do a daily clean-up. Then, on the day of the gathering, you’ll just have to tackle cleaning tasks like the floors, light dusting, and setting up your dining area.

6. Don’t scrimp on the bathroom and kitchen deep cleaning

We’re not only in the season to be jolly, but also the season to get sick. Make sure you’re cleaning with a good-quality disinfectant cleaner, and tackle every surface for a sparkling, germ-free clean, including:

• Countertops
• Appliance exteriors and handles
• Floors
• Toilets
• Sinks
• Faucets
• Mirrors

Bonus tip: You should also wipe down all your frequently touched surfaces like doorknobs, lightswitches, and appliance handles after the party just in case someone was in the early stages of a cold or flu. 

7. Do put out your best hand and tea towels

The day of the gathering, put out clean, fresh, unstained hand and tea towels to create a good impression. 

Have fun and invest in some festive-themed towels for guests to add to the holiday cheer. Dollar stores tend to have these in spades, so shop for them early to beat the last-minute rush.

8. Don’t forget the coasters!

Protect your furniture by putting out coasters throughout your living and dining rooms so that people have somewhere to place their drinks. This will avoid unsightly rings on your great-grandmother’s coffee table, or that side table you just bought at Urban Barn.

9. Do set up an emergency cleaning station

You know accidents are going to happen, so be ready to leap into action when that first glass of cranberry punch sloshes onto your white couch. Your emergency cleaning station should include the following:

• A clean sponge
• A few clean microfiber cloths 
• Butler’s broom and dustpan (mini-set)
• Handheld vacuum
• Countertop wipes 
• Soda water for dabbing at carpet spills 
• Laundry stain stick for table linens 
• Masking or duct tape to safely pick up tiny pieces of shattered glass 
• Vinegar and baking soda to remove stains quickly and safely 

10. Don’t contribute to entryway clutter

Your entryway is the first thing guests see when they come into your home. It’s also going to be cluttered with boots and coats as guests arrive. Put your family’s boots and coats in a hall or bedroom closet so they don’t contribute to entryway clutter. 

As well, invest in a few boot trays to place by the door. You can also consider adding a few more coat hooks on the wall to help keep the area neat and avoid lost hats and mitts.

11. Do lay down an indoor-outdoor area rug

Another trick to reduce the mess trailed into your home is to lay down an indoor-outdoor area rug at your entry. Whether it’s a little circular mat or a full-sized area rug, this will collect things like slush, salt, and sand to protect your floors. 

12. Don’t dust and vacuum until the day-of

If you follow point No. 5 and declutter, your day of dusting and vacuuming/sweeping will be a breeze. Leave this until the last hour or two before people arrive, so everything is spotless. 

13. Do perform a sniff test

Take a deep breath in your bathroom, kitchen, and entertainment areas to make sure everything passes the sniff test. Luckily, there are all kinds of holiday scents on the market at this time of year to keep your home smelling fresh.

Change the garbage, spray the bathroom, and also give your kitchen sink a sniff, as these are the most common areas that contribute to odours.

14. Don’t forget post-party clean-up tips

Be prepared with some post-party clean-up tips including:

• Put food away as soon as dinner is finished.
• Load the dishwasher as you go and turn it on once it’s full.
• Set up a guest garbage station where you can toss things away quickly.
• Check for sticky stains and wipe them up with an all-purpose cleaner.
• Check for wax drips and rub them with an ice cube to harden them so you can remove them easily.
• Spot-clean any carpet or upholstery stains you find using soda water and a clean microfiber cloth.

Call the Cleaning Professionals

These do’s and don’ts will help prepare and keep your home clean throughout the holiday season.

If you don’t have the time, let our Toronto cleaning services at Maid4Condos take on your cleaning for you. Call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online for more information.