Can you believe Thanksgiving is already over?! I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a mighty feast followed by a tryptophan deep coma like sleep.
We are of the small, but mighty few that usually waits until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas. But, this year we are traveling the day after, so we are temporarily of the “decorate before Thanksgiving” tribe (gasp!). I’m sometimes a little embarrassed to admit how many decorations we have collected over the years (think Whoville type proportions), but it’s our FAVORITE time of year and it’s something we really enjoy doing together as a family.
I have realized we have developed quite the system for getting it done–and it often starts a few weeks(months) in advance. You may not go to the extreme limits we do with the amount of decorations, but this system will work no matter what level of insanity you may aspire to.
Phase 1 is all about the cleaning. And when I say cleaning. I mean CLEANING. I started this phase back in September (you can read about it here)This phase includes dusting, wiping down all surfaces, cleaning all the bathrooms (yuck) cleaning the windows and blinds, scrubbing the hard surface floors and….cleaning the carpet.
This is my LEAST favorite thing to do in the whole wide world (well–that is until I have to clean boy’s bathroom). Whether you pay someone or do it yourself–it’s a lot of work. I figured out a couple of years ago that renting a cleaner and doing the work myself not only saves A LOT of money–I usually do a much better job.
Step 1: Move all the furniture.
I usually move as much onto the hard floor areas as I can and then stuff things into closets and stack it on counter tops (if it doesn’t look like the leaning tower of Pisa–there’s still room for more).
Step 2: Do a very thorough vacuuming.
It sometimes seems like we have enough carpet to cover a football field. If they made riding carpet cleaners–I would buy one in a heartbeat. I just don’t trust those robot ones. I’ve heard too many horror stories (something to do with pet accidents and them not knowing until it was much, much too late)
Step 3: Rent the cleaner.
They come with pretty thorough instructions and are fairly easy to figure out. (If I can do it–you can do it). The place you rent it from will have some cleaning soap and spot cleaners you can purchase. Make sure you purchase the recommended amount for your square footage. I use the Norwex laundry detergent.
A friend that’s a sales rep recommended this a few years ago. It’s a little pricey, but it works AMAZING!
Step 4: Spot Clean. If you are using the Norwex soap–just mix a couple squirts into a medium size spray bottle and shake it up really well. Go through your entire home and spray some spot cleaner on every stain you find.
Step 5: It’s time to load the machine. Fill the water tank and add the amount of cleaner they recommend. If you are trying Norwex–I use about 6-8 squirts of the laundry soap.
Step 6: Clean the carpet. This is when things get very tedious.
Using the machine is not necessarily HARD work, but it does take a lot of repetition and time. Back and forth holding the water/soap sprayer down– and then, back and forth NOT holding it down (this is what sucks up the moisture). Do about 4′ long sections at a time and then move across the floor (overlapping–kind of like mowing your lawn). If you try to do large sections just to get it over with–it doesn’t get as clean. Also, you will have to change out the water every so often. This is NOT fun. It is very gross.
Pro Tip: Make sure you keep your eye on the solution gauge. You’ll want to know when it’s time to re-fill the tank so you don’t have to go over the areas you just did–because you weren’t paying attention and probably did half a room without using any cleaning soap. (I’ve heard this can be VERY annoying)
Step 7: If you have stairs. You’re machine should have come with “tools”. Again, the instructions are pretty easy to follow.
Depending upon how many rooms you have to do–cleaning all the carpet will take about 2-4 hours.
Step 8: Take. A. Nap. It takes a few hours to dry and it’s best to stay off it as much as possible–so you might as well get some rest or head out for some shopping.
Step 9: When the carpet is dry–it’s time for another thorough vacuuming. The carpet fibers get a little stiff from all the water and soap, so vacuuming helps soften them up a bit and gets the rest of the loose dirt that got all sucked up to the surface.
Step 10: Move everything back into place. Now, that your bones and every muscle in your body is screaming in pain from all the back and forth pushing and pulling–it’s time to put everything back.
Now you are ready for Phase 2–the decorating. Tune in next week–I’ll give you some good pro tips, as well as a peek into how we get it all done.