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Epic Speed Cleaning Checklist for Unexpected Guests!

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Welcome to the ultimate speed cleaning checklist to get your house guest-ready in no time!

So, you get that call that most moms dread — your friends or in-laws want to stop by for a quick coffee catch-up, they say they’ll be there in a 30 minutes or so!

You look around and your house is looking like a disaster zone, and you don’t know where to start. 

Panic sets in! Should you pack and move to a different state so they can’t find you?

I mean, there’s no way you get get your house clean in just a few minutes, so moving it is!

Does this sound like you?  

Believe me; it’s a scenario I’m all too familiar with too.  

That’s why I put together this speed-cleaning checklist to help you get your house close to Pinterest-perfect when last-minute guests are on their way.  

Knowing how to speed clean is a life-saver when you have company coming over and need to get your house in order FAST. I mean, no one (seriously, no one) would want their guests to walk into a home that looks like a hot mess!

The best part about this checklist is, it doesn’t focus on cleaning the entire house. You’ll only tackle the high-traffic areas —  your living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. 

How to Speed Clean Your House In Under 30 Minutes

  • Speed cleaning the bathroom (5 minutes)
  • Speed cleaning the bedroom (5 minutes)
  • Speed cleaning the kitchen (10 minutes)
  • Speed cleaning the living room (5 minutes)
  • Any other cleaning tasks that need to be done

Ready to conquer your messy home with this free printable speed cleaning checklist? Let’s dive right in!

*This post contains affiliate links

All the Cleaning Supplies You Will Need to Speed Clean: (1 minute)

  • Disinfecting Wipes 
  • Microfiber Cloth 
  • Toilet Bowl Cleaner
  • Vacuum cleaner
  • Trash bags
  • A couple of baskets 

Hopefully by now, you have put together a cleaning caddy that you can grab to get to work fast . Having a cleaning caddy is so helpful for a mom. Instead of you having tp run around to find all of your cleaning supplies, they are already in a handy bag, or ‘caddy’ that you can grab and get to work. It also helps you to see which cleaning supplies you need to replace, or you can use Amazon subscribe and save and let them do the work for you!

Oh, and before I forget, let me remind you to avoid distractions while you’re speed cleaning. 

Now wouldn’t be the right time to peep your Instagram feed every five minutes or let the next episode of your favorite TV show run in the background. All your focus should be on getting your house clean and tidy before that doorbell rings.

Instead, I suggest playing some upbeat music to get you in the speed-cleaning mood. This works for me every single time!

Speed Cleaning Tips

If you’re short on time and can’t clean the entire house, focus on the areas that your visitors are most likely to see. Walk from your front door to the living area or kitchen where you will gather, and look for clutter that shouldn’t be there. If there are any dirty clothes lying around, throw them in a laundry basket, bring dirty dishes to the kitchen, look for any cobwebs that can be easily seen, or visible smudges on the walls or windows.

One more thing…….. 

Keep the cleaning at a bare minimum. The “speed” in speed cleaning doesn’t call for deep cleaning attempts, this isn’t a true cleaning session — you’ll impress Martha Stewart some other day.

Remember, there are certain cleaning tasks you don’t want to be doing during this time, Your focus needs to be doing a very quick speed clean so your home looks presentable in time for your unexpected guests!

Let’s carry on with our speed-cleaning tips to get your house company-ready, shall we?

Following my speed cleaning tips will help you to get your home ready in very little time.

# 1 Speed Clean the Bathroom (5 minutes)

The bathroom is the one area of your home you must check when you are expecting company. 

If you had postponed your weekly cleaning only to hear that guests are coming over, you might wonder where to start to make your bathroom look clean and refreshing. 

Well, take a deep breath, and start with this speed cleaning checklist. Here’s how to make your bathroom go from “ meh” to “pristine” when you’re short of time.

Remember, we are not doing a regular cleaning routine, we are doing a quick surface clean so we don’t shock people!

I don’t know about you, but my kids seem to have a difficult time flushing toilets, so that is the first thing I will check in the guest bathroom. Can you imagine the embarassment if your mother in law walked into the bathroom and the toilet was not flushed. You’d never hear the end of it, right?

  • Squirt toilet bowl cleaner around the rim and give it a good clean.
  • Wipe the toilet handle and seat using disinfectant wipes.
  • Give your bathroon counters a good wipe, as well as the faucets and the sinks.
  • Clean the mirrors IF they need it.
  • Replace old towels with clean fresh towels.
  • Give the floors a quick vacuum if they need it (a handheld is good for this).
  • Make sure the toilet paper is stocked for your guests. I have one of these in every bathroom, it helps immensely with keeping toilet paper always stocked.

Most guests will only use the guest bathroom as opposed to your master bathroom, so I would suggest you only need to clean the one bathroom.

 

#2 Speed Clean the Bedroom (5 -10 minutes)

Unlike the bathroom, speed cleaning your bedroom will likely not take much time as there’s no scrubbing involved. 

You’ll only need to tidy up the place and do a bit of dusting and vacuuming here and there.

Normally your guests would not enter your bedroom, but I like to have it clean just in case (you just never know).

But again, I am not running around doing a deep clean in my bedroom before someone comes. All we are doing here is making sure there isn’t a terrible mess in there!

Add our free printable simple bedroom cleaning checklist to your house cleaning schedule, We share simple steps to help you get (and keep) your bedroom clean on a regular basis. Add this to your weekly cleaning routine, so you won’t have to panic when you get that call!

Here’s a quick cleaning checklist of what to do to ensure your bedroom is in tip-top shape when you have company:

  • Pick up all the loose items lying around and toss them in a basket to be taken care of later.
  • Grab any dirty laundry lying around and toss them into the laundry basket. 
  • Using a dry microfiber cloth, dust off your dresser, bedroom wall art, bedroom furniture, window sills, bed headboard, and any other spot where dust is easily noticeable. (We’re not doing a deep clean). If you can’t see any dust, ignore this step.
  • Quickly make your bed; don’t bother replacing your dirty sheets for now.
  • Remove any dirty dishes or cups on your bedside table to the kitchen.
  • If there’s trash around, take it to the bin as soon as you finish cleaning.  
  • Give your floor a quick vacuum to get rid of any visible dirt (if it needs it).  

#3 Speed Clean the Kitchen (10 minutes)

We want to make sure the kitchen is looking nice and clean. We don’t want any dirty dishes lying around, or food waste from lunch earlier. Make sure your kitchen cabinets are closed, wipe down any flat surfaces that might have some crumbs lying on them.

We want it to look like we keep a clean home, even if we don’t!

If you have an iRobot, have it start cleaning your floors while you are focused on other areas.

Concentrate on these tasks while speed-cleaning your kitchen:

  • Grab any items that don’t belong in the kitchen and place them in a basket to be moved at a later time. (Hide the basket somewhere it can’t be seen).
  • Get dirty dishes into your dishwasher, or washed and dried quickly.
  • Wipe down your kitchen counters with a damp microfiber cloth to remove visible crumbs and spills on the surfaces.
  • Clear the grease and food spills on your stovetop using a damp microfiber cloth. 
  • Use a dry microfiber cloth to dust off your coffee maker, microwave’s exterior, toaster, and any other kitchen appliance that’s noticeably dusty when one enters your kitchen. 
  • Clean the sink and get rid of any dirty dishes in there.
  • Take out the trash if full, replace it with a clean garbage bag.
  • Grab your vacuum or broom and clear dirt and obvious debris on the kitchen floor

PRO TIP: If the dishwasher needs to be emptied and you don’t have time, put the dirty dishes into a bucket and hide them where no-one will see them until after your guests leave..  

Good job! You’ve ticked off all the tasks on this kitchen speed-cleaning checklist. Time to speed clean the next area. 

#4 Speed Clean the Living Room/Hallway (5 minutes)

Now, let’s move into the heart of the home where our housekeeping and cleaning skills will definitely be judged — the living room.

Worried that your last-minute guests will find this space in a complete wreck? Don’t be. 

With this living room speed cleaning checklist, your company will feel right at home as soon as they walk in. 

Here’s what to focus on as you speed clean your living room to ensure your guests walk into a clean home:

  • Grab out-of-place items — like magazines, TV remotes, house keys, socks, reading glasses, and so on — and throw them in a basket to be removed later. Hide the basket in your room.  
  • Fold any throw blankets you have on the couch (this makes a huge difference).
  • Remove any dirty dishes and get them into the dishwasher.
  • Remove any trash from this area.
  • If you have time, do a quick dust of any hard surfaces.
  • Grab your vacuum or broom and clear dirt off the floor
  • Don’t forget to straighten all your couch pillows to give them a fluffed-up look.

PRO TIP: An ottoman is a great place to hide unwanted items in your living room, toss them in, and use a throw blanket to cover them up. Once your guests leave, do go back in and clean this mess up.

If you need help deep cleaning your living room, we have a great article to help you with that.

#5 Finish Up Your Speed Cleaning

Congrats! Your house now looks like a tidy house. If your guests are still not there, and you have a little bit of time left, do this.

If there’s visible dirt on your hard floors, do a quick clean-up with a vacuum or broom. Then, use a regular mop or steam mop to give your hard surface floors that polished look (you may not have time for this). The areas you want to focus on are the hallway, living areas, and the kitchen,

It might have been a while since you last had guests, but your windows and mirrors don’t have to confirm this. 

While speed cleaning your living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, have Windex and a microfiber cloth with you (not paper towels). Using a paper towel can leave streaks. Use this cleaner to quickly wipe down your glass surfaces and make them look spotless in seconds.

If You Have Time or More Speed Cleaning Tasks, Do This!

Sprucing up your wood furniture’s appearance fast when you’re expecting company is easier than you think. 

Whether it’s that beautiful wooden piano in your living room, wooden dining table, or credenza, you can switch their look from dull to vibrant in minutes! 

Give your wood furniture a quick wipe down using your preferred wood polish (and a microfiber cloth) for that shine your guest won’t stop admiring! I like to use lemon polish because it leaves a nice smell behind, otherwise an air freshner or diffuser works well.

You did it! You’ve ticked off all the tasks in this speed-cleaning checklist.  It’s looking like you own a nice clean house now, right?

But before you sit down to catch your breath, quickly scan all the rooms you’ve cleaned to see if there’s any misplaced items you might have missed while speed cleaning. 

Toss these items in your collection basket and place the basket somewhere guests won’t notice.

Speed Cleaning Checklist for Busy Moms: Conclusion

Phew! That was quite a read. 

If you’ve made it this far, pat yourself on the back. You now have all the speed cleaning great tips and tricks at your fingertips to get your house sparkling when you’re short of time.

Don’t forget to download our free printable speed cleaning checklist, I have also included my best tips for what cleaning tasks you need to tackle if your guests are going to be there in less than 30 minutes.

Even if your bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom look like they’ve been ransacked like a burglar, you can make these spaces guest-ready in record time — thanks to this speed cleaning checklist.  

There are no “deep-cleaning-the-entire-house” tasks here. With this checklist, panicking whenever someone says they’re stopping by your messy home will be a thing of the past. You’ll be able to clean your home faster than you imagined!

Plus, you don’t need to only use it when you’re expecting company — make this cleaning checklist part of your regular cleaning routine. It will come in handy on days you feel too lazy to deep clean but want to wake up to a clean and tidy house. 

Let me leave you with some thoughts. Whether you are a mom of 1, 2 or 4 + kids, you are never going to have a thoroughly clean home! That’s just the way it is, and people coming to your home should understand that you are a busy mom with little time to clean.

If you can, try to stick with a weekly cleaning schedule so that you don’t panic when someone calls to tell you they will be around in 15 minutes to visit!

Cleaning Schedule

Doing something every single day will help you to keep a clean home. It’s not going to be clean and sparkling, but it will be enough to where you don’t panic when someone wants to drop by.

Figure out a laundry schedule that works for you. We are a family of 4 so I do 2 loads of laundry mid week, and another one at the weekend. I run a couple of towel loads at nighttime before bed, because I don’t need to worry about folding them. I can fold them when I find myself with an extra 5 minutes, this could be when Iam watching tv.

My main tip for you is to do something every single day. Make sure you have clean dishes by filling up the dishwasher every day. I put my dishwasher on every night, and empty it every morning.

Wipe down your kitchen countertops after you make lunch or dinner. Make sure to wipe your sink down so there is never any leftover food sitting in it. Taking 5 minutes each day to vacuum your floors will keep your floors from looking dirty all the time.

You don’t need to spend 2 hours + cleaning your house every day, nobody wants to do that!

But, if you consistently do something every single day, you will start to see your home getting cleaner and cleaner.

Take 5 minutes at the end of your day, and make sure everything is off the floors. Have the kids grab a basket and toss all of their toys in it before they go to bed. This basket will fit a lot of toys, or something smaller might work better for dog toys.

Above all, remember to go easy on yourself, you’re doing your best!

Now, go forth and speed clean like a pro! 

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