15 Ways To Make Party Clean-Up Easy

Here are some simple party clean-up tips so you can clean your home faster and easier after a house party.

Everyone loves a good party. But, cleaning up afterwards is a whole different story.

If you’re planning to throw a house party any time soon, here are some simple steps you can take to make the after-party cleaning much easier to do.

15 Tips To Make After-Party Clean-Up Easy

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1. Entertain Outside

If you have a nice patio or backyard, why not throw your party outdoors?

This is a great way to avoid worrying about red wine spills on your rugs or crumbs on your furniture.

Inevitably, there will be spills but depending on what it is and how bad it is, you may not even need to clean it up. Just leave it there until the next rain comes. If you do need to clean up later, you can just hose the patio down. Quick and easy clean-up—I’m here for it!

Play music, add lighting, decorations, seating and tables for drinks and food to areas where you want guests to stay. Any areas you want to be off-limits, keep those dark. Most guests will stay in the well-lit spaces and you’ll just have to keep an eye out for anyone who doesn’t.

2. Corral Guests

Even if you do decide to throw your party outdoors, people will still venture inside your home. They’ll go to the bathroom, probably the kitchen and maybe, you’ll have a few party-poopers who just want to stay indoors.

Whether the party is outside or indoors, close doors to any rooms where you don’t want guests to go e.g. bedrooms. Turn off lights in any areas that don’t have doors to discourage guests from entering those spaces.

3. Protect Your Floors

When having a party, most hosts don’t ask guests to take their shoes off. So, place door mats at every entrance a guest might enter through so they can wipe their feet as they come in. This will help to keep your floors clean by trapping dirt before it gets tracked in.

Cleaning up spilled food or drink is a pain. What’s worse is cleaning that same spill off a rug.

If spending your night on your hands and knees frantically dabbing a rug before a stain sets in doesn’t sound appealing to you, consider moving any rugs you have until your guests are gone.

4. No Glitter or Confetti

Why is it that weeks after you’ve used glitter, you still find it everywhere?

No, seriously… I really want an answer.

Anyway, I highly recommend that unless you want to be cleaning up glitter and confetti for weeks to come, just avoid it in the first place. Stay away from decorations covered in glitter and don’t buy party poppers filled with confetti or any similarly annoying tiny particles.

5. Use LED Candles and Strung Lights

While I’m talking about decor, it might be best to avoid wax candles as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good candle, especially one with a nice scent. But, what I don’t love is the melted wax that gets stuck to the tabletop or whatever surface the candle is sitting on.

If you want to decorate with wax candles, use ones that sit inside candle holders that will trap the melted wax.

In a party atmosphere, you’ll also have to consider the danger of having lit candles around a bunch of people who may be drinking and dancing. I’m just saying…

Set a soothing ambiance by using LED candles instead of wax ones. Try hanging some fairy lights for a party in the house or string lights suitable for outdoors, if the party will be outside.

6. Use Tablecloths

Disposable or otherwise, tablecloths protect your table surfaces and simplify cleaning. When the party’s over, just collect them and pop them in the washing machine.

7. Coasters Are A Must

Set down plenty of coasters on any surfaces that don’t have tablecloths inside your home. People will put drinks anywhere—side tables, coffee tables, book shelves…

Make sure you stack up coasters on every flat surface in rooms where guests may congregate. Hopefully, they’ll be nice enough to use them.

8. Use Disposable Tableware

Unless you’re throwing a really elegant party, use disposable tableware like plates, cups and even table cloths. ‘Cause no-one really wants to wash several plates, cups, forks etc. after a party. Doing this one thing significantly cuts down on the post-party clean-up you have to do.

Worried about the environment? Just stock up on eco-friendly disposable tableware.

9. Prepare for Dishes

Even if you do decide to use disposable plates and cutlery, you might still end up using some of your own dishes for serving. That means, you’ll have some washing up to do in the kitchen.

Before the party begins, fill your kitchen sink with soapy water so that any casserole dishes, saucepans, serving utensils etc. can go in there to soak. This makes washing them really easy later.

Also, empty your dishwasher. Simply put anything that needs washing inside and run it when the party’s done.

10. Use Dishpans

A dishpan is a good way to transport items to the kitchen so they can be washed. You’ll make fewer trips, if you just fill it up and take the contents where they need to go.

11. Pick Your Menu Carefully

When deciding which foods and drinks to serve at the party, choose items that will be less messy.

If you’re hosting the party indoors, try serving white wine only, especially if you have lots of light-colored furniture and rugs.

Avoid foods with tomato-based sauces that will stain easily.

12. Have Storage Solutions for Leftovers

When hosting a holiday party or dinner party, it’s likely that you’ll have leftovers. Clear a spot in your refrigerator for food and drinks you want to keep afterwards.

Also, make sure you have foil or containers handy. Give your guests the foil or containers and let them take the food they want.

This does double duty. First, your guests clean out the serving dishes themselves and secondly, your fridge won’t be overrun with too much food. Just be sure to grab some leftovers for yourself as well.

13. Label Bins for Recycling and Trash

Place clearly labelled bins near the food and drinks station so that guests can separate the trash for you as they throw stuff away. That’s one less step you have to take later and makes for easier party clean-up.

14. Keep Cleaning Supplies Handy

Prior to the start of the party, gather some cleaning supplies so you can quickly grab them, if you need to. Place items like microfiber cloths, sponges, all-purpose cleaner and stain remover into a caddy. Put it near to a broom, dustpan, mop and bucket filled with cleaning solution.

If there are any spills that you have to clean immediately, you can get what you need without having to hunt for items.

15. Clean During the Party

Don’t leave all of the party clean-up until after your guests are gone.

Do little things during the party such as clearing the food station of empty serving dishes and soaking them in that sink full of soapy water. Periodically wipe surfaces and clear the drinks station of empty glasses, bottles or cans.

Just don’t go overboard. Don’t start major cleaning tasks while your guests are still there unless you’re cleaning up a spill.

After you’ve spent so much time making your house party-ready and then hosting, the last thing you want to do is clean for hours. These party clean-up tips will help you dramatically speed up that process.