Christmas is barreling towards us and so is the rush to get the house in top form before friends and family come to stay. But in the rush of it all, did you know that people often forget to clean multiple key areas of their guest bedrooms?
I talked to cleaning professionals who shared eight spots in a guest bedroom people are most likely to forget to clean before the holidays, why these get overlooked, and how to have them sparkling in no time.
Add these to your pre-guest cleaning checklist to ensure a job well done is on the cards.
1. Under the bed
People often forget to clean underneath their guest's bed because it is out of sight. Cleaning this area will help maintain good hygiene and help reduce dust levels that might bother guests with allergies.
It will also reduce the risk of lingering odors, and save you embarrassed blushes if your guest drops something and has to reach under the bed to retrieve it. They may also store their luggage under the bed and it would be a shame for them to pull it out at the end of their trip and find it covered in dust or pet hair.
Tamara Meyer, founder of Nashville Neat Freaks, says, 'Underneath a bed is an area that’s usually a black hole for dust bunnies and stray socks. It’s easy to forget, especially if you’re like me and hope that what you can’t see won’t hurt you. But trust me, your guests will notice if they spot a rogue dust bunny peeking out!'
It's recommended to thoroughly clean, declutter and organize the area under the bed around a week before guests are due to visit to allow the smell of any cleaning products time to dissipate. You can then top this up with a quick vacuum the night before if you wish or if you live in a particularly dust-prone house.
'A good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, and for a touch-up any holistic product or homemade vinegar and water mix, are fantastic for this cleaning job,' says Meyer. Choosing simpler products such as these suggestions won't produce harsh chemical smells.
A HEPA air filter is designed to remove even the tiniest harmful particles from the air and most of the best vacuums have them.
All prices correct at time of publishing.
2. Baseboards
Learning how to clean baseboards is a worthwhile endeavor as they are one of the most looked-over parts of a home when it comes to any form of maintenance. Since they are low down and often seen as a part of the wall, people can forget they benefit from a wipe over just like any other surface.
Kostas Savakis of Power Bright Cleaning says, 'Baseboards are commonly missed when people are cleaning their homes, including in a guest bedroom. I recommend cleaning them at least once a month.'
If your baseboards are looking worse for wear with flaking pieces of paint, it might be worth investing in a paint touch-up pen such as this Refillable Touch Up Paint Pen Set on Amazon.
After you have wiped down your baseboards with a cloth and warm soapy water, allow them to dry for an hour and inspect the area for missing paint. You can then use your touch-up pen, filled with any color of paint you want, to go over those areas, efficiently fixing them up and enhancing the overall clean feeling of the guestroom.
Using your vacuum's fluffy brush attachment will help make this an easier clean but if you have lost it, you can use this dryer sheet hack to quickly clean your baseboards.
3. Door frames
Savakis noted how door frames are often neglected when it comes to cleaning, in the same way as baseboards are. The door will be the first thing your guest sees when approaching the guest bedroom, so it's important to make its frame look inviting and hygienic.
Door frames gather a lot of grub and bacteria as people's hands will frequently touch them and dust can gather on the top. You can freshen up your frames by giving them a good wipe down with a multi-purpose cleaning spray, such as the Lysol Hydrogen Peroxide Multi-Purpose Cleaner (which is low-odor), a few days before your guest(s) are due to arrive.
Grubby internal doors are also one of the dirty things professional cleaners notice in people's homes.
If you're feeling extra festive this year, why not try to hang a garland around your door to the guest bedroom? It'll certainly get your visitors in the Christmas spirit!
4. Light switches and handles
People's hands will be making constant contact with a room's light switches and handles. Take some time to look around the room and identify all of these areas – your door's handle, the handles to drawers in the room, the main light switch, the button on the bedside lighting – and go over them each with a disinfectant wipe.
'These little areas are high-touch areas that often get overlooked,' says Meyer. 'They’re touched so often that they can become grimy without us even realizing it!'
Savakis adds, 'Especially with flu season, it's important to disinfect these areas. Many times a guest will leave an Air BnB, and another one will enter in less than an hour. If the cleaners do not wipe down and disinfect these often-touched areas, like light switches, door handles and surfaces that are easy to reach and often touched, then the chance of spreading something is high.'
Wiping down these areas is one way to stop germs in your home spreading when someone is ill.
Regardless of whether your guests are travelers seeking a room for the night or family come to share the holidays, a thoughtful wipe of these areas will work wonders. You can grab a pack of 75 Clorox Bleach-Free Disinfecting and Cleaning Wipes for less than five dollars at Walmart. Don't forget to wipe over the television remote if your guest bedroom has one, too!
5. Light fixtures and lamp shades
Taking down your lamp shades for a good dusting won't go a miss this holiday season. I can't remember the last time I dusted mine and, in all honesty, I often forget it needs dusting because it's high up.
Caroline Haines at international cleaning brand, Clean Living, explained this is something many other people feel too, so they also forget to clean their lamp shades and light fixtures (including their portable lamps).
'We don’t often look up in the guest bedroom at our ceiling lights as someone who isn't a guest there,' says Haines. 'Unless you are relaxing horizontal in the bed, like the guest(s) will be, you likely won't see if these areas require attention.'
Haines suggests cleaning your lamp shades and lighting fixtures around a week before guests are due to arrive, mainly to get the task out of the way so it isn't forgotten amid other parts of your cleaning process.
If you wish to follow Haines' product recommendations, 'Grab your Clean Living Multi-Cleaning Mitt, which uses plush microfiber and static electricity to attract dust particles, and your Clean Living Multi-Purpose Cleaner to make your light fixtures sparkle without any streaks, fluff, or lint.'
To test out your cleaning job, why not lay down and look up to see if your fixtures are dust-free? Just make sure to replace the bed sheets so germs from your cleaning session don't make their way onto the covers.
6. Windows
After finishing up your guest room, it's easy to notice you have forgotten to wipe down the windows. They may have been hidden behind blinds or curtains all along. It's time to get them open, ventilate the room, and give their panes and frames a good once over with a cleaning cloth. It is one of the random things guests instantly notice about your home at Christmas.
'You might be so focused on hanging up twinkling Christmas lights that you overlook the layer of smudges and fingerprints on your windows,' says Haines. 'To clean your window without streaks, wipe your windows down with a glass cleaner and microfiber cloth.'
Using a glass cleaner such as the Windex Crystal Rain Scent Ammonia-Free Glass Cleaner Spray from Target will ensure that your room smells of a light pleasant scent instead of chemicals.
It's recommended to do this one to two days before your guest are due to arrive to have the shiniest window panes possible.
If you want to give the outside a clean but don't have (or don't want to get) a ladder out, a magnetic cleaning tool for windows might be the answer. Our content editor Chiana Dickson gave a magnetic window cleaner a go and now swears by the results (once she got the hang of it!).
This has a strong magnet, and will work through even double glazed windows, and a handy wrist strap stops it falling off and down to the ground.
7. The mattress
Crumbs and dirt accumulate onto a mattress out of seemingly nowhere, so it isn't only enough to replace your guest bedroom's linens with a fresh set.
'Learning how to clean a mattress is important', says Savakis, 'There are many solutions you can spray on a mattress and then with a small portable extractor or steam cleaner, clean the mattress efficiently.'
The envii Bed Fresh Natural Mattress Cleaner and Deodoriser Spray from Amazon is a great, versatile choice for tackling all sorts of stains or odors, including the ones that can pile up on a mattress.
And whilst steam cleaning a mattress can be a brilliant way to get rid of germs and kill dust mites, you should never use heat or excessively wet cleaning methods on a memory foam mattress or topper, as it will leave them at risk of mold.
Instead, learn how to clean a memory foam mattress, and a memory foam topper without damage.
If your guest room's mattress has become home to debris and dust, you can also vacuum over the surface prior to applying cleaning sprays with a handheld vacuum, such as the siubich Mattress Vacuum Cleaning Machine from Walmart.
Sprinkling a dusting of baking soda can remove odors and make a mattress smell nice. Simply leave the baking soda laying on the mattress for 30 minutes, then vacuum it back up.
If you're wondering how often you should replace your mattress and it's looking a bit deflated, perhaps it's worth investing in one of the best mattresses or best mattress toppers to keep your guests comfortable.
8. Corners
The corners of a room aren't always the easiest to see, but they can rapidly become home to cobwebs or mold. It's always worth checking them in good lighting to see if they require a deep clean before guest come over.
'Cobwebs and dust are sneaky. They often build up in hidden spots where we don’t usually look, and they can be easily missed during routine cleaning,' says Meyer. 'A duster like the Swiffer Duster is great for tackling corners.'
Meyer recommends to tackle this about a week before your guests arrive: 'This ensures everything looks fresh and clean, and you won’t be stirring up dust right before your guests walk in.'
Another common area people clean and stock up before guests arrive is the guest bathroom. Here, you can learn about the must-haves for an inviting guest bathroom.
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