Following a joyful night of serving your friends tasty drinks and a fantastic dinner, you need to clean it all up. After your guests leave, it can feel overwhelming trying to address everything at once.
That’s why you need to have a plan in place for how you want to complete all the tasks. Here is a host’s guide to quick and easy holiday dinner cleanup.
Put Away the Leftovers
Whether you’re hosting a successful wine and cheese party or a neighborhood potluck, you’ll have leftover food from dinner. Start by putting all the leftovers in containers, bags, or boxes and placing them where they need to go. In addition, you can cork the wine, try to salvage any leftover alcohol bottles, and start gathering all the dirty dishes before washing them.
Clean All Your Dishes
Once you put away all the food and drinks, it’s time to begin the dishwashing process. First, clear your table of all plates, utensils, cups, and serving trays and put them next to your sink.
One thing to consider before hosting the party is whether to use disposable dishware or glass. By choosing disposable materials, the cleanup process becomes much simpler since all you have to do is throw it away when the party ends.
If you don’t go this route, you need to start washing your dishes. If you have a dishwasher, fill it up as much as possible and then wait to run the load until you finish handwashing the rest.
Wipe All Your Surfaces
By now, you’ve washed the dishes and put away the leftovers. You want to finish the job. You’re almost there!
There are only a few more things left, which brings us to the next task. Wipe down all your surfaces to make the room look its best. If there’s excess water by your sink from handwashing, wipe it down with a washcloth, so mold or mildew don’t start forming. Your table should look spotless after you finish wiping it down.
Take Out All Garbage and Recycling
Finally, you need to throw away all the garbage and recycling from your dinner party. If you feel exhausted from the previous chores, you can save this step for the following morning, but you have to do it eventually.
Overall, your party should be a fun experience for everyone, including yourself! If you follow our guide to quick and easy holiday dinner cleanup, you won’t have to dread cleaning and putting everything away.
