Thanksgiving is almost here! It is one of the most rewarding and exhausting holidays in the year. The gathering of family and friends is fun, but the preparations leading up to the big day are hard. Everything from figuring out the menu, seating arrangements, and how to keep everyone happy is overwhelming until you are in the moment. However, when it comes to the post-meal clean up, the sleepiness sets in. All you want to do is leave everything where it is, climb into bed, and let future you deal with it. Never fear – help is here. Follow these quick & simple tips to minimize the extra work and get the mess cleaned up easily.

1. Clear off the Table

Putting dishes, silverware, and plates in the sink or dishwasher is the simplest first step to tidying up the meal. It’s so easy that everyone who came over can help (as long as it isn’t your hand-wash-only dishes). Hopefully, everyone cleared their plates so all you need to do is rinse and place in the dishwasher. For the grimier dishes, you can just use a scrub brush or the rough side of a sponge. Then you can fill up the dishwasher and call it a night. If your dishwasher isn’t too loud, you can even run it once it’s full. That way, in the morning, you can unload it and be done!

2. Store the Leftovers

You don’t want your Thanksgiving leftovers to rot in the night. The smell of room temperature stuffing isn’t the most appealing smell. So grab some Tupperware, scrape the food off the plate and place them in the fridge. If you hadn’t prepped room in there before, make sure to set aside a shelf or two for the food. If you have a whole turkey left, you might be better served taking the meat off rather than stuffing the whole bird in the fridge. For whatever food you don’t want to keep, use your garbage disposal and trash bins. Take your trash out in the evening so the smells of the feast don’t linger.

3. Get a Soaking Station Set up

Soak your pans and pots in the sink with hot, soapy water. You can keep these overnight and either transfer them to the dishwasher, or you can hand clean them. It could be a good chore for your kids as well. When all else fails, use a scrubber! That will remove the food grime and get your pots & pans ready for the dishwasher.

4. Clean Those Linens

Thanksgiving is a messy holiday, what with the cranberries, pumpkin pie, little ones, and so on. To avoid some set-in stains with your table cover and cloth napkins, put them immediately in the washer after guests depart. Make sure there’s soap and use warm or hot water to ensure the stain gets out. You don’t want to spend hours trying to soak or scrub a stain out of your linens. You don’t want to spend your long weekend scrubbing out yesterday’s messes.

5. Wipe Everything Down

Use a wet cloth or wipes to clear the remaining morsels from your furniture. This includes:

  • Dining room set (table & chairs)
  • Countertops
  • Sink
  • Couches & chairs if food was eaten there

You might not have the energy to vacuum or mop, but a quick sweep will hold over the rooms until tomorrow. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes and even less if the whole family participates.

Conclusion

Don’t let the work after Thanksgiving sour the whole experience. Just because you worked all day to make everything perfect doesn’t mean that it was all for nothing. If you have a plan in place beforehand, cleanup will be quick and take less than an hour. Get your family involved and it will take even less time. For whatever seems too stressful, save it for tomorrow. Enjoy that food coma – you worked hard for it and will work it off in no time.

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