Tag Archive for: Christmas

Dementia-Friendly Christmas Tips

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Christmas is a time for family, comfort, and togetherness. However, for individuals living with dementia, the busy atmosphere, bright lights, and loud noises can sometimes be overwhelming.

By making a few minor adjustments, you can help create a calm, familiar, and enjoyable festive season for everyone.

At Merry Maids UK, we are certified Dementia Friends, as many of our staff members work with individuals who suffer from the condition and strive to ensure they are cared for properly and confidently while we clean their homes.

Last year, we raised £4,000 for Alzheimer’s Society as part of our Forget Me Knot Challenge and have pledged to raise £10,000 in 2025.

Year-round, we work diligently to ensure the safety and well-being of our customers.

Here are some straightforward dementia-friendly Christmas tips to enjoy your celebrations:

1. Keep Decorations Simple

Bright lights and flashing decorations can be confusing or distressing for some individuals living with dementia.

  • Instead, opt for gentle, warm lighting rather than flashing fairy lights.
  • Use familiar and safe decorations, and avoid cluttering rooms or walkways to ensure a safe environment.

Maintain the layout of your home, as changing the position of furniture can make navigation more difficult for someone living with dementia.

2. Create Calm Spaces

Christmas gatherings can get noisy, especially with the addition of visitors and music.

  • Designate a quiet space where your loved one can rest if they feel tired or overwhelmed.
  • A familiar chair, soft lighting, and calming background sounds create a comfortable and secure atmosphere.

3. Keep Routines as Normal as Possible

Establishing a routine provides stability.

  • Try to keep consistent mealtimes, bedtime, and daily habits throughout the holidays.
  • Abrupt changes can be confusing, so schedule visits or outings at times that align with your loved one’s regular rhythm.

4. Choose Activities Everyone Can Enjoy

Engaging in simple, shared activities can help create an inclusive atmosphere during the Christmas season.

  • Listening to music quietly, looking through old photos, or decorating cookies together can help spark happy memories and conversations.
  • Steer clear of anything overly complicated or hurried. Slower moments often hold the deepest significance.

5. Be Mindful of Noise and Lighting

Loud music, television, and bright flashing lights can lead to sensory overload.

  • Maintain low background noise and use soft, consistent lighting. This creates a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

6. Prepare Guests

If friends or relatives are visiting, inform them in advance about any changes or assistance your loved one may need. A little understanding can significantly enhance everyone’s experience together.

7. Keep the Home Safe and Clean

A tidy home reduces trip hazards and makes moving around easier. Clear walkways, keep floors dry, and ensure decorations don’t block doors or lights.

We hope you have an enjoyable and safe dementia-friendly Christmas for all those celebrating with individuals living with dementia. To learn more about how we can help you or a loved one, find your nearest Merry Maids business to book a clean online or call 0800 021 3072 today.

Merry Maids Lincoln Spread Festive Cheer with Personal Touches This December

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Merry Maids Lincoln has brought a strong festive focus to every clean this December. Not only are they committed to giving you a sparkling clean home, but they have gone above and beyond to add some seasonal touches to every home that shows how much the team care about their customers. This approach has helped the service stand out in the local domestic cleaning market, especially as more households prepare their homes for the festivities throughout December.

The team have added thoughtful extras to each visit. Customers received a personalised Christmas card, a handwritten note from their cleaner, and a small treat of chocolates. These touches create a warm experience for their customers and their families. The team also kept the theme alive through the homes with clever details. Toilet rolls become snowmen, and towels are folded into simple bows. These touches help their customers’ homes feel ready for the busy season.

Feedback from customers has been positive, with many customers calling ecstatic about the touches Merry Maids Lincoln has made. Many calls and emails have come in to thank the team. Two comments shared this week include:

“Thank you for the lovely card and chocolates.” Mrs T.

“The fancy festive toilet rolls are a lovely touch. My kids love it when Merry Maids have been.” Mrs H.

What Makes Merry Maids Lincoln Different? 

Merry Maids Lincoln focuses on consistency, trust, and simple service. You get a professionally trained team, clear communication, and a cleaning plan that fits your routine. You also get the same standard at every visit. Your dedicated team works with care, respecting your time and space. This helps you feel confident that your home is in safe hands.

Merry Maids Lincoln Committed to Customer Care

Merry Maids Lincoln puts customer care at the heart of how they work. The team take time to learn what you need. They pay close attention to your home and any requests you raise. This helps you feel comfortable, especially if you prefer a hands-off experience.

You also get regular check-ins from the office team. This lets you share feedback and adjust your cleaning plan when needed. Many customers say this support helps them feel calm about letting a cleaner into their home.

Merry Maids Lincoln delivers Celebrity Service in Every Clean

The team describe their cleaning approach as celebrity service. Merry Maids Lincoln is committed to rolling out the red carpet for every customer. This means they go above and beyond to make sure their customers feel valued from the moment you book through to the moment your cleaner leaves your home.

This focus helps you enjoy peace of mind. You know your home is clean, cared for, and ready for guests. The approach also supports strong customer loyalty. Many clients stay with Merry Maids Lincoln for years.

Looking for a festive clean?

If you want your home ready for the festive season or need help with hosting, Merry Maids Lincoln can support you. You can book a festive clean, a deep clean, or set up a regular domestic clean. If you live outside Lincoln, you can use the postcode search tool to find your nearest Merry Maids provider.

Cleaning your TV Screen Ready For Christmas TV

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Ever tried to clean your TV screen and been left with more streaks and marks than when you started? This is for you.

It’s not long now until Christmas, and one thing we can look forward to with the holidays drawing closer is, of course, Christmas telly. But it’s no good if a streaky flatscreen ruins your festive viewing. So how do you clean your TV screen without leaving streaks and pesky marks?

Turn the TV off at the mains

This part speaks for itself a bit, as you need to see what you’re doing and avoid damaging yourself or the TV. Using any liquid to clean a powered-on LCD TV screen can leave streaks due to heat, making it more prone to marking.

Use a dry, clean, and lint-free cloth

Be sure that any cloths you’re using to clean your screen are dry. Perhaps rather obviously, your electronics don’t mix well with water, and the screen will benefit from a lighter touch; preferably, use a lint-free cloth.

You could even use a feather duster or a microfiber cloth if you have one – but definitely give the kitchen roll a miss at the dusting stage, as this will only scratch up the screen. At this stage, use as light a touch as possible, and clean in a slow, circular motion to remove dust from the screen without leaving a mark.

Get rid of existing marks

If lightly dusting your TV screen still leaves you with many marks, you probably have existing ones that need to be removed.

These stubborn markings will likely be too strong for a microfiber cloth, so your best course of action is to get a new cloth and use some distilled water.

We recommend moistening your cloth with distilled water and never applying any cleaning solution directly to the screen. This can cause moisture to enter the seal around the screen and damage the electronics. Dampen the cloth very slightly so you can wipe away any stubborn streaks – then follow up with a dry cloth to remove excess moisture.

Worst-case scenario: You’ve done everything up until now, and the markings are persisting.

But remember, whatever your gut instinct might be, this is not the time to be reaching for cleaning chemicals, as they, particularly those with an ammonia base (commonly found in popular brands like Dettol, Flash, and Cif), can break down the protective layers on LCD flat-screen TVs and severely damage the screen.

So what can you do instead?

Use antibacterial wipes

Something we’ve all become more accustomed to having around and using in the COVID-19 pandemic is alcohol-based cleaning wipes. These might even now be the first port of call for cleaning a grubby flat-screen; however, we recommend using a little distilled water alongside it to reduce the alcohol’s strength and avoid damaging the screen. Do this with a very light touch, and it should do the job nicely and safely.

Note: As you are still using water, all of our previous advice about turning off electronics and drying the screen afterwards still applies.

Try some DIY Remedies

And no, these aren’t urban myths like your Gran might’ve recommended back in the day. Our cleaning experts can suggest some effective DIY home solutions to this decidedly modern problem.

The first one you might want to try involves using the materials you should’ve already attempted, along with another food product that most will already have at home.

  • Combine 50% white wine vinegar with 50% distilled water
  • Combine DIY remedies like this in a spray bottle and then spray it onto a lint-free cloth
  • Again, wipe in a circular motion to avoid any more streaks, then wipe away excess mixture with a dry cloth to prevent vinegar from sticking to the screen or seeping behind it.

You could also try using a minimal amount of dish soap at a significantly lower ratio, as bubbles can easily get out of hand. Follow the same process: combine distilled water in a spray bottle, spray onto a lint-free cloth, rub in circles, then dry off with a dry cloth.

Call in the Experts

If you would rather leave all of your domestic cleaning needs to the professionals, find your nearest Merry Maids business to book a clean or call 0800 021 3072 today.

Pre-Christmas Cleaning Guide

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Christmas is approaching! So, here’s our pre-Christmas cleaning guide.

Are you planning to host a Christmas party or spend Christmas Day with the entire family? If so, you might want to tidy up before the guests arrive. However, with so much to do, Christmas cleaning can feel overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve made a list (and checked it twice) of useful pre-Christmas cleaning tasks to ensure your home stays in order during this festive season.

Guest Bedroom Pre-Christmas Cleaning

If you have a spare or guest room, the temptation may be to use it for… “storage”.

However, around this time of year, make sure your spare bedroom(s) are cleaned in case of unexpected overnight guests.

Just in case a white Christmas or an extra glass of sherry makes driving home for Christmas inadvisable.

When cleaning your spare bedroom, remember to:

  • Change the sheets/bedding & duvets so they are clean and fresh for your guests. A quick tip to make them even fresher smelling is to wash them separately from any clothes
  • Vacuum and polish the guest room to ensure the room has a welcoming scent

If your guest room isn’t used that often, it may not be as welcoming as other rooms.

  • You can potentially get a few paintings or photos up in the room, maybe a houseplant or anything else you may feel is welcoming

Your guests are likely to be staying more than one night. Therefore, they’ll need space for their clothes and other belongings. So:

  • Empty the wardrobe and drawers of all your summer clothes, or the “I’ll take these to a charity shop one day” clothes. This will ensure your guest has sufficient space and will feel more at home instead of living out of their suitcase

Kitchen Pre-Christmas Cleaning

The kitchen is usually the centre of the action at Christmas.

Especially with mulled wine brewing on the stove, it feels warm and festive!

First, your oven should be clean to ensure it’s ready for the juicy turkey or tasty nut roast!

  • Buy an oven cleaning product and follow the instructions on the label, as there are lots of different products you can use
  • A clean oven will make your food taste better and won’t produce smoke that floats around the house, making it smell unpleasant.

You’ll probably have to put LOADS of food in your fridge and freezer, so it’s time for a clear-out.

A clean, less cluttered fridge will allow space for all the pigs in blankets, wine, and pudding!

  • Have a clean fridge for all of your Christmas food
    – Remove all food, drawers and shelves
    – Soak drawers and shelves in washing-up liquid
    – Use warm water and washing-up liquid to wipe the interior
    – Wipe outer surfaces and dry inside with a kitchen roll
    – Dry and return the drawers/shelves
    – Wait until the temperature has returned to 5°C

Bathroom Pre-Christmas Cleaning

Wintertime is when people get horrid colds they can’t shake.

That’s why pre-cleaning the bathroom and maintaining cleanliness throughout your guests’ stay are vital.

  • Clean the bathroom from top to bottom, including the bath, shower, sink, toilet, carpet, cupboards and anything else you may have in there.
  • Tidy up your bathroom to leave space for your guests’ toiletries, or if you have two washrooms, move all your toiletries to the bathroom your guests won’t be using. This will again make them feel at home.

Living Room Pre-Christmas Cleaning

Your living room is the social and board gaming hub, with the fire roaring in the background and the smell of Christmas all around. Lovely!

  • Vacuum your living room carpet before your guests arrive and during their stay, depending on how long they’re there for
  • Vacuum all of your upholstery and cushions before guests arrive
  • Have a general tidy-up and, if you have time, a bit of a declutter of things you don’t need during the winter period

Home Exterior Pre-Christmas Cleaning

Ensure the outside of your house looks welcoming to your guests and any neighbours who might pop by to wish you a Merry Christmas.

  • Clean your outside decorations just by wiping them with a dry cloth
  • Clean your windows on the inside and outside
  • Ensure that, if you have a drive, you’ve left enough space for your guest’s car (s) or, if it’s on-street parking, there is enough space for them. If necessary, remember to sort out their on-street parking permits.

A bit much?

All this cleaning might seem like a bit much, especially with all the extra Christmas prep.

We provide all the services listed above and more, so you can focus on what matters at Christmas without worrying about cleaning.

If you would like to learn more about our services and how we can help you, find your nearest Merry Maids business to book a clean or call 0800 021 3072 today.

The 12 cleans of Christmas Part 1

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With December now upon us, we’ve put together a list of twelve things around the house that you probably aren’t cleaning regularly, that you should be ahead of the festive season.

You might not have a partridge and pear tree or five gold rings, but there are still quite several things around the house that need a good clean this Christmas. Several of which, most of us don’t ever really touch.

We’re going to share the first six of twelve items that you should be cleaning (but aren’t), so you can get ahead before company descends on you for Christmas.

  1. The Dishwasher

Dishwashers can have strainers that can become blocked by being clogged with food and other debris which can create a smell, spread bacteria and fungus, or end up on your dishes.

You can clean out your dishwasher quickly and regularly with a dishcloth on the interior, and use a dishwasher cleaner on a self-clean setting. Or if you want to do it yourself, scrub with baking soda or use a cup of distilled vinegar in a cycle.

This can dispel the odour and break down any mineral deposits from hard water.

  1. Washing Machine

In the washing machine, you need to be careful of mould and mildew deposits forming in the door and leftover detergent etc. becoming stuck in the filters, which can leave behind marks and stains on your clothes.

Deep cleaning your machine once a month can avoid this. Similar to a dishwasher, many washing machines now come with settings that allow you to run a self-cleaning cycle with added bleach.

If you don’t have this option, you can add half a cup of liquid chlorine bleach to the dispenser and run a cycle with hot water.

However, bleach alone won’t dissolve some residues in the machine so a machine cleaner is probably your best option.

When your cleaning cycle is done, rinse and add another spin to ensure that any bleach has washed away, then clean the dispenser drawer by running it under hot water and scrubbing it down with a toothbrush.

  1. Dryer

Emptying the lint tray of your dryer will also help it to be used more efficiently, but cleaning the venting duct is also a good idea.

Dryer vent fires are very common and if the outside vent is clogged, this means that any moist air can’t escape and cause mould or odours.

This can be avoided by making sure to remove lint deposits from the dryer duct outside the vent with a long-handled brush.

If the worst does happen, and a dryer fire causes damage to your home, one of the other ServiceMaster brands offers disaster restoration services, ServiceMaster Restore.

  1. Reusable Shopping Bags

Reusable shopping bags are great for the environment because they keep plastic out of landfill sites.

However, because you’re reusing them they can become a hotspot for bacteria from food, meat, and other raw produce.

If you’re repeatedly using the same bags for all of your shopping, you might also have cross-contamination between food and cleaning products.

The good news is that most of these bags can be machine washed provided you put them on a gentle cycle remove the bottoms and turn them inside out.

Then just let them dry and they should be good to go again in no time.

  1. Toothbrushes and Toothbrush Holders

Considering we put them in our mouths multiple times a day, giving your toothbrush clean is surprisingly not a very common practice.

Researchers at the University of Manchester found that toothbrushes can be breeding grounds for staphylococci bacteria and E. coli.

Reports also show that toothbrushes contain at least 200,000 bacteria per square inch.

All this simply means is that, instead of making your pearly whites whiter, you could be contaminating your body with life-threatening bacteria.

Now that your dishwasher is nice and clean, you can pop it in there once a week (just the head if it’s electric), or rinse it in antibacterial mouthwash to get rid of germs and other bacteria.

Your toothbrush can also be easily cleaned by hand by pouring 3% hydrogen peroxide into a small cup and letting it soak for about 15 minutes.

Be sure not to let it sit any longer than this as it could damage the bristles.

Then rinse your toothbrush thoroughly with warm water before use.

The holders we use for them can also be a breeding ground for germs and bacteria from the water and toothbrush running down the handles.

It’s likely that if you’ve ever looked in the bottom of a toothbrush holder after some frequent use, you’ve not been greeted with a pretty sight.

The best thing to do is to put the cup or holder in the dishwasher once a week, or soak it in boiling water and soap and give it a good rinse.

  1. Vacuums, Mops, Brooms & Toilet Brushes

Similarly, washing your cleaning utensils is another good habit to get into.

You should wash or replace any vacuum filters, then check hoses and rollers for blockages from dust or tangled hair. You can wash mop heads with hot water and detergent and the broom in a bucket of hot, soapy water.

Then with the broom, be sure to rinse and air dry it.

Cleaning a toilet brush may be a little off-putting, but doing so will avoid spreading germs from the toilet around your bathroom.

To clean the holder, we recommend disinfectant spray or soaking it in a bleach solution. To clean the brush, fill a bucket with hot water and bleach, and leave it to soak for an hour.

Then, rinse it and put it back in your lovely clean holder.

For some extra top tips on cleaning this winter, check out our blog from last week here, and then be sure to come back next week for the final six items. And if you want to leave your winter cleaning to the professionals, why not get in touch with us?

You can give us a call and speak to our cleaning experts on 0800 021 3072, or find your local Merry Maids UK here.

Merry Maids’ Pre-Christmas Cleaning Checklist

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Our guide to getting all your pre-Christmas cleaning done. 

Christmas is on its way!

Are you planning to host a Christmas party or spend Christmas Day with the whole family?

If you are, you may want to tidy up before the guests arrive.

But with so much to do, Christmas cleaning can feel overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve made a list (and we’ve checked it twice) of handy pre-Christmas cleaning tasks to ensure your cleaning and home can stay in order this festive season.

Guest Bedroom Pre-Christmas Cleaning

If you have a spare or guest room, the temptation may be to use it for… “storage”.

However, around this time of year, ensure your spare bedroom(s) are cleaned for any unexpected overnight guests.

Just in case a white Christmas or extra glass of sherry mean that driving home for Christmas home becomes inadvisable.

When cleaning your spare bedroom, remember to:

  • Change the sheets/bedding & duvets so they are clean and fresh for your guests. A quick tip to make them even fresher smelling is to wash them separately from any clothes
  • Vacuum and polish the guest room to ensure the room has a welcoming scent

If your guest room isn’t used that often, it may not be as welcoming as other rooms.

  • You can potentially get a few paintings or photos up in the room, maybe a houseplant or anything else you may feel is welcoming

Your guests are likely to be staying more than one night. Therefore, they’ll need space for their clothes and other belongings. So:

  • Empty the wardrobe and drawers of usually all of your summer clothes or the: “I’ll take these to a charity shop one-day” clothes. This will ensure your guest has sufficient space and will feel more at home instead of living out of their suitcase

Kitchen Pre-Christmas Cleaning

The kitchen is usually the centre of the action at Christmas.

Especially with the mulled wine brewing on the stove, it makes it feel warm and festive!

First, your oven should be clean to ensure it’s ready for the juicy turkey or tasty nut roast!

  • Buy an oven cleaning product and follow the instructions on the label, as there are lots of different products you can use
  • A clean oven will make your food taste better and won’t produce smoke that would float around the house and make it smell unpleasant.

You’ll probably have to put LOADS of food in your fridge and freezer, so it’s time for a clear-out.

A clean and less cluttered fridge will allow space for all pigs in blankets, wine and pudding!

  • Have a clean fridge for all of your Christmas food
    – Remove all food, drawers and shelves
    – Soak drawers and shelves in washing up liquid
    – Use warm water and washing-up liquid to wipe the interior
    – Wipe outer surfaces and dry inside with kitchen roll
    – Dry and return the drawers/shelves
    – Wait until the temperature has returned to 5°C

Bathroom Pre-Christmas Cleaning

The wintertime is the time of year when people get horrid colds that they can’t shake.

That’s why pre-cleaning the bathroom and maintaining the cleanliness throughout the time your guests are here is vital.

  • Clean the bathroom from top to bottom, including the bath, shower, sink, toilet, carpet, cupboards and anything else you may have in there.
  • Tidy up your bathroom to leave space for your guest’s toiletries, or if you have two washrooms, move all your toiletries to the bathroom your guests won’t be using. This will again make them feel at home.

Living Room Pre-Christmas Cleaning

Your living room is the social and board gaming hub, with the fire roaring in the background and the smell of Christmas all around. Lovely!

  • Vacuum your living room carpet before your guests arrive and during their stay, depending on how long they’re there for
  • Vacuum all of your upholstery and cushions before guests arrive
  • Have a general tidy-up and, if you have time, a bit of a declutter of things you don’t need during the winter period

Home Exterior Pre-Christmas Cleaning

Ensure the outside of your house looks welcoming for your guests and any neighbours that might pop around to wish you a Merry Christmas.

  • Clean your outside decorations just by wiping them with a dry cloth
  • Clean your windows on the inside and outside
  • Ensure, if you have a drive, you’ve left enough space for your guest’s car/s or, if it’s on-street parking, there is enough space for them. If necessary, remember to sort out their on-street parking permits.

A bit much?

All this cleaning might seem like a bit much, especially with all the extra Christmas prep.

If you don’t feel like you have time to clean your home, find your nearest Merry Maids business to do it all for you!

We carry out all the services listed above and more, so you can focus on the stuff that matters at Christmas and not do the cleaning.

To learn more about our services and how we can help you, call 0800 021 3072 today.

Cleaning your TV Screen for Christmas telly

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Ever tried to clean your TV screen and been left with more streaks and marks than when you started? This is for you.

It’s not long now until Christmas, and one thing we can look forward to with the holidays drawing closer, is of course: Christmas telly. But it’s no good if your festive viewing is ruined by a streaky flatscreen. So how do you clean your TV screen without leaving streaks and pesky marks?

Turn the TV off at the mains

This part speaks for its self a little, as you need to see what you’re doing and don’t want to damage yourself or the TV. But beyond that, using any sort of liquid to clean the screen will leave streaks if the TV is turned on as LCD TVs produce heat when they’re on which makes them more susceptible to marking easily.

Use a dry, clean, and lint-free cloth

Be sure that any cloths you’re using to clean your screen are dry. Perhaps rather obviously, your electronics don’t mix well with water, and the screen will benefit from a lighter toucher – so preferably use a lint free cloth. You could even use a feather duster or a microfiber cloth if you have one – but definitely give the kitchen roll a miss at the dusting stage as this will only scratch up the screen. At this stage, use as light a touch as you can, and clean in a slow and circular motion to remove the dust on the screen without leaving a mark.

Get rid of existing marks

If lightly dusting your TV screen still leaves you with a lot of marks, then you probably have existing ones that you need to get rid of. These stubborn markings will likely be too strong for a microfiber cloth, so your best course of action is to get a new cloth and use some distilled water. HelloTech.com recommends that you moisten your cloth with distilled water and never apply any kind of cleaning solution directly onto the screen. This is because this can cause moisture to get into the seal around the screen and will damage the electronics. Simply dampen the cloth very slightly so you can wipe away any stubborn streaks – and then follow up with a dry cloth to get rid of excess moisture.

Worst case scenario: You’ve done everything up until now and the markings are still persisting. But remember, whatever your gut instinct might be, this is not the time to be reaching for cleaning chemicals as they, particularly those with an ammonia base (commonly found in popular brands like Dettol, Flash, and Cif) can break down the protective layers on LCD flat-screen TVs and severely damage the screen.

So what can you do instead?

Use antibacterial wipes

Something we’ve all become more accustomed to having around and using in the COVID-19 pandemic is alcohol-based cleaning wipes. These now might even be the first port of call for cleaning a grubby flat-screen – however, we recommend using a little bit of distilled water alongside it to decrease the strength of the alcohol and avoid damaging the screen with it. Do this, and use a very light touch and it should do the job nicely and safely.

Note: As you are still using water, all of our previous advice about turning off electronics and drying the screen afterwards still applies.

Try some DIY Remedies

And no, these aren’t urban myths like your Gran might’ve recommended back in the day. Our cleaning experts can recommend some effective DIY home solutions to this decidedly modern problem.

The first one you might want to try involves using the materials you should’ve already attempted, along with another food product that most will already have at home. Combine a mix of 50% white wine vinegar with 50% distilled water. The Kitchn recommends combining DIY remedies like this in a spray bottle and then spraying it onto a lint-free cloth. Again, wipe in a circular motion to avoid any more streaks, then wipe excess mixture with a dry cloth to stop the vinegar sticking on the screen or seeping behind it.

You could also try using a very small amount of dish soap – but at a very very small ratio as the bubbles could easily get out of hand. Simply follow the same process of combining distilled water in a spray bottle and spraying on a lint-free cloth and rubbing in circles, before drying off with a dry cloth.

Call in the Experts

If you would rather leave all of your domestic cleaning needs to the professionals, get in touch with us. To find your nearest Merry Maids, click here.

Planning a Stress-Free Christmas Dinner Party

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Whether you’re hosting a large group of friends and family at your house or cooking up a feast for your immediate family, it can be stressful to plan for a holiday dinner party – especially if you’re acting as head-chef, sous-chef and server throughout the event. After all, these meals most probably involve multiple courses, your best silverware and china you only get out for Christmas, and a whole lot of decorations: It’s enough to make anyone go mad!

Christmas Dinner Party

With the right planning, however, you’ll be well on your way to a more stress-free and satisfying Christmas. In some cases, your planning process may even include delegating out the cleaning chores and kitchen tasks to the rest of the family or housemates, so that you can focus on being the perfect party host for your guests.

Below, we’ve put together a few Christmas party ideas to make your planning and Christmas dinner easier.

Define your menu

Christmas dinners are always based around one thing – you guessed it – lots and lots of delicious food, it’s important to start here before you plan anything else, and see if you can cut back in any area.

If you’re cooking all the food yourself, you should first consider enlisting a few elves to help, or if you can’t find any elves, friends or family to help in the kitchen.

While it can be fun to go all out for this kind of event, make sure that your menu doesn’t put too much stress on your own plate and is simple enough to produce.

After you put together a holiday dinner menu, ask yourself these questions:

  • How many guests will I have, and what are their dietary needs and restrictions?
  • What recipes do I plan to use?
  • What’s the timescale to make this meal from beginning to end?
  • Can I make any dishes ahead of time?
  • Am I comfortable using these recipes?
  • Do I want it to be a potluck dinner and have guests bring unique side dishes? – This can give you more time for you to be the perfect host, as you won’t be in the kitchen as much.
  • Will there be young children there, and if so, will they have a separate menu?

Once you have the answers to these questions, go back to the drawing board and eliminate anything that will add unnecessary time to your meal preparations. Pretty soon, you’ll find that your menu accurately reflects the needs of your group and plays to your individual strengths as a cook, making it easier to get ready.

It’s also a good idea to create your ingredient shopping list early on, so you won’t be running to the shops to grab anything later.

Put down the cocktail shaker

For a lot of us, a seasonal cocktail is just as important as the Christmas dinner itself. However, you don’t have to practice your bartending skills all year round and play bartender to give your guests an amazing time. It’s much easier to make cocktail batches in advance, which you can include on a decorated bar cart with ice, napkins, garnishes, and other essentials. Don’t drink? There’s always some alcohol-free punches that taste heavenly as well!

Some of the best holiday cocktail recipes to make in a batch include:

  • A delicious apple mocktail, like a Caramel Apple Mocktail
  • One for the bah humbugs to get them in the Christmas mood, a Grinch Punch
  • Classic hot drinks, like Martha Stewart’s mulled wine
  • One for all the lovers out there, a Mistletoe Margarita
  • A festive winter sangria, like this one from Joyful Healthy Eats

Whatever you make, be sure you and your guests drink responsibly.

Pre dinner party cleaning

Whether you’re picking up the duster yourself or delegating the cleaning to someone else, it’s critical to include pre-party cleaning time in your schedule. Unless guests will be wandering throughout the house, focus on high-traffic areas like the kitchen, living room, and dining room. In general, the cleaning should be completed no more than two days before the guests arrive.

Get the right ambience

You don’t need to go mad with decorations to make your home feel cosy and welcoming. After all, a dinner party is primarily about one thing: food!

As long as your house is clean and your tables are ready to go, you’ll be well on your way to holiday bliss.

That being said, we’ve got a few easy tricks you can use to boost the ambience in your space:

  • Set the mood with the right holiday playlist. Just use Alexa or Google Home to put on some Christmas favourites and your home will instantly feel Christmas party-ready.
  • Make space for shoes and coats. Don’t have a coat or shoe rack? No problem: Pick out a designated closet and be sure there are enough hangers for coats. Then lay down a mat or a rug for guests to place their shoes. Alternatively, if no one is staying in the spare room, put the coats neatly labelled on the bed.
  • Open the windows before your guests show up. It may be a bit chilly outside, but it’s a good idea to give your dining area a blast of fresh air right before guests arrive. You’ll eliminate any lingering odours from all of the festive cooking, and the room will warm up again in no time.
  • Light up a few scented candles. Candles are a great way to communicate warmth and comfort to your guests. They may even think you’ve been baking for hours if you choose the right one!

Need a Helping Hand This Year?

At Merry Maids, we provide top-notch cleaning services so that you can rest a little easier before your dinner party. By delivering a detailed clean we can guarantee, our cleaning experts will let your home’s natural beauty shine through. From entryways to bathrooms to staircases, your guests will be wowed by your home!

We’re wishing you a very happy and stress-free holiday season! Find your nearest Merry Maids to get your home sparkling for your dinner party.