Diwali is the one festival when people go the extra mile right from food to decor. The best part about Diwali is, everybody joins in on the festivity with a feverish excitement looming in the air for a good one week. The run-up to Diwali is when people put in all the efforts, especially when it comes to beautifying their homes. Right from the living room to the bathroom, deep cleaning methods are employed to make every corner spic and span, aiming for that reflective sheen to announce that the festival of lights is indeed here.
For Diwali this year, go up a notch and ring in the festive spirit by employing deep cleaning methods using accessories straight out of your bathroom.
Get your cleaning game plan in action:
A cleaning game plan is usually made to ensure a stress-free, seamless process. Keeping in mind the festivities, leave no corner neglected as there will be guests sauntering in and decors highlighting every inch of your home. A typical cleaning process involves the following:
- Ensure this plan goes in motion at least 3 days before the festival. Assign a day for every room. For instance, Thursday can be dedicated to cleaning the living room, Friday can be dedicated to the bedrooms, Saturday can be for the kitchen, and Sunday can be for the bathrooms.
- Draft out a checklist of all the items you require for the cleaning process. Once you make your exhaustive list, head to the market store and keep it ready in advance.
- Do an inspection of the room(s) before the deep cleaning process. Sometimes, a particular room might require some extra attention. Note these points and focus on them when you start the process.
- Ask for help. A typical deep cleaning process, spanning over a few days, can be overwhelming for one person. Get help from your maid, spouse, children, friends, siblings, etc. and make it a fun process instead of looking at it as a chore.
The art of decluttering:
Decluttering your home is the next step before embarking on a day full of deep cleaning activities. Decluttering your home is a long process, often taking up at least a few hours right from assembling goods to disposing of them. However, the results are always satisfying. Since it’s possible to feel overwhelmed, try the following tips to master the art of decluttering your home:
- Sort it room by room. Start from the smallest room if you want to make quick progress. For instance, most bathrooms are easy to declutter as they typically house fewer items. Get rid of the empty shampoo bottles, worn out toothbrushes, etc. Keep all the disposed of items assembled according to their material type. Segregate all the plastics in one bag, all the cloth materials in another, etc.thus, doing the environment a favour that trickles down to other eco-friendly processes right from preserving water to ensuring that items aren’t littered.
- The kitchen is the yet another place where clutter is common. People often hoard bottles and containers, expired products, damaged cutleries, etc. that serve little to no purpose. Segregate the items based on what can be recycled and what needs to be thrown away.
- Remove all the items from its original place and pile it up first. Once piled up, you can decide what you want to keep and what needs to be disposed. More often than not, we find ourselves attached to items for sentimental reasons. Try not to get too swayed and choose the logical way out to declutter your space. For instance, your living room might have a number of showpieces that simply take up space and not doing much to the room’s aesthetics either. Donate or give away those showpieces and focus on either bringing in something new or just having fewer pieces on display.
- Think minimalism. The lesser the number of items, the more scope to highlight the room’s cleanliness and beauty. By going minimalistic, you have more room to explore lighting decor, floral arrangements, etc. to keep up with the festival spirit. For places such as the bathroom, try to replace old accessories with premium ones and upgrade to a better level of comfort. Similarly for your room, donate or remove extra chairs or tables simply lying around. The key is to have a room that sparks joy with enough breathing space and potential to keep it clean easily.
The ultimate cleaning process:
After decluttering your home, you begin the actual cleaning process. With all the accessories at your disposal, start the process right from wiping, washing, drying to decorating. Here are a few deep cleaning process tips you can make use of:
- A vacuum cleaner helps in keeping floors and furniture clean. However, manually doing it with a piece of cloth helps clean crevices and cracks better. Use a dusting cloth or brush and dust off the walls and floors before you bring in water and cleaning solution. For furniture, especially sofas, try to put the pillows and cushions under the sun for a few hours as the sun is considered to be a natural disinfectant.
- An efficient shower pipe can make the whole cleaning process an easy one. Install a shower pipe that enables you to control the water pressure and clean. With the help of flexible tubes, you can make your shower pipe longer and use it to wash the floors of your balcony and kitchen.
- Cleaning hard stains is a task in itself. However, using hot water and the right scrub can help remove stubborn stains. Use a water heater with a thermostatic mixer for the hot water. The perfect temperature offered by the mixer sets the wheels in motion and helps you save enough time for decorating your home, while also saving water.
- Make use of washbasins to help quicken the cleaning process. Get rid of the good ol’ bucket and fill up water in your basin by blocking the drain with a stopper. Once the cleaning process is done, you can drain out the dirty water and clean your basin in the process. This cleaning process is efficient for balconies, bathrooms and the kitchen area. Learn more from our sink faucet buying guide for a lifetime of satisfaction.
- Out of all the bathroom cleaning hacks, making use of steam to give your tiles a clean finish is a common one. Make use of shower enclosures to trap in steam and wipe it down with a cloth. In the bargain, you can use the water you’ve saved from the running hot shower to clean up other rooms.
- The key behind cleaning is to efficiently scrub and wipe, using natural cleaning agents such as baking soda, vinegar, and lemon – items that typically help get rid of rust and clogged holes.
Post cleaning set-up and decor:
Now that the arduous task of cleaning and sorting is over, you can focus on the final step – exploring Diwali lighting ideas and decor. Explore lighting solutions that reveal the efforts you’ve taken in beautifying your home for the festival. With LED lights being a popular favourite, opt for lightings that are in line with your Diwali house decoration – bright and colourful. With DIY Diwali light decoration ideas occupying our social media feed, get creative and try out a version of your own that suits your home’s overall decor and the festive spirit.
This Diwali, opt for nothing but the best. To make your home cleaning process a lot easier and effective, visit Jaquar and opt for products that help bring out the best out of your home!