Easy Post-Holiday Cleanup Tips

Whether you're hosting a holiday party, Christmas dinner, NYE cocktails, or just attending events and haven't had time to clean your own apartment, take a few minutes over the next couple weeks to do a mini deep clean. If "mini deep clean" sounds like an oxymoron to you, have no fear, we have some #JUGsApproved lazy girl cleaning tricks and tips for ya!

Declutter

The key to painlessly decluttering any space is the "commercial cleanup" - or watching an hour of tv and cleaning during every commercial break. This is particularly effective during Bravo shows, since their commercial breaks are outrageously long. Plus, cleaning makes you feel better about wasting another hour of your life watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Trust us.

If you are like many smart people in Boston and have cancelled cable in favor of internet options (Netflix = JUGs kryptonite), do the "20-minute interval binge." This means inbetween each episode of your Netflix binge session, you set your timer for 20 minutes, and you clean hard in order to earn your next hour on the couch. Before you know it, your apartment will be clean and you'll be up-to-date on Peaky Blinders.

Wipe down

The key part of transitioning your space from a nasty college dorm cave into an apartment worthy of a twenty or thirty-something is the dusting/wiping. Vinegar, water, and lemon juice on a clean rag go a long way without using any toxic chemicals. If you need to use sprays (like for glass) try to use as little as possible, because in the winter, when your windows are shut, chemicals hang in the air and stay on products longer where you can become exposed to some nasty toxic stuff. Our advice - stick with hot water, and go from there.

Launder the Linens

We all have one of those sloppy friends that is constantly spilling their drink or dropping their food...in my group of friends, it's me. After a party it can be a drag to see stains on your "oh so grownup tablecloth" but one of our new JUGs secrets is to use Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaner for all linens and tablecloths - and of course party dresses. It saves money and time by letting you skip a trip to the dry cleaner and get the same cleaning at home (or at the laundromat) with a 15-30 minute dryer sesh. It is safe for dry clean only stuff and helps preserve color and shape. We tried a sample of Dryel At-Home and have already incorporated it as a new post-party lifesaver (along with Gatorade, bagels, and sunglasses). So go ahead, class up your holiday party with white cloth napkins without fear!