Preparing Your Home for Overnight Visitors

Your home is your comfort zone; a place where you can unwind at the end of a long day, but is your home ready to accept overnight visitors? Follow these easy steps and be prepared for them.

Perform a thorough cleaning of the entire house.  Vacuum every inch of carpet and rugs and sweep and mop all the other floor coverings.  Use disinfectant to clean all counter tops and bathrooms.  Change the air filter in the hallway return.  Make sure each room of the house is as clean as it can possibly be.  Adjust the thermostat temperature to the most comfortable setting for the current season.  If you have pets, find out whether your guest has any pet allergies so that you’ll know whether or not to keep them separated.

Wash and fold your best towels and leave enough stacked in the bathroom for each day that your visitor will be there.  Prepare a basket with soap, shampoo, mouthwash, toothpaste, and shaving supplies, in case they forget a few things.  Buy plenty of snacks and drinks and have them chilled well in advance.  Rent a few movies as back-up entertainment and leave them near the television.  If your visitor has given you any special gifts in the past, find them, dust them off, and leave them out on display to show how much you appreciate the gift.

Create a guest account on your computer and be sure to leave the computer logged into that account so that your visitor may check their email and use the Internet without having access to your personal files and information.  It is a good idea to create a restore point on computers running Windows operating system and back up any important files to external storage devices.  Lock all filing cabinets and search the house for documents like bank statements or personal mail and put all of it away.  Now is a good time to shred any old documents that you no longer need.

When your guest arrives, give them a short tour of the house and show them to their room.  Keep the house quiet and give them plenty of time to unpack and relax.  Offer them refreshments and tell them where to find you when they are ready.  If you will be eating out, prepare a list of restaurants in advance and allow your guest to choose their favorite type of food.  Enjoy your time together without worrying about the condition of your home and without the stress of making last-minute decisions.

How to Reduce the Amount of Dust in Your Home

The first step in reducing the amount of dust in your home is to understand what causes this problem. Dust forms due to a number of things, including pet dander, dirt particles entering from outside the home, the decomposition of upholstered furniture and clothing, insects and their waste, dead human skin cells that have been shed, and many others. Through routine cleaning practices and some preventative measures, all of these problems may be controlled to an extent.

Let's begin with the central air conditioning system if your home is equipped with one. It makes no sense to clean and dust while there is a large machine recirculating dust and spewing it all over the house. Make an appointment to have the ducts cleaned and in the meantime replace the air filter with a high quality filter that is rated for maximum filtration of dust and allergens. Regardless of the directions specified on the filter, replace it every month. Leaving an air filter in place for several months at a time in a home with a high level of dust will cause unnecessary stress on the central air system and result in costly repairs.

Now do a thorough cleaning of your entire home using furniture polish and clean cloths where applicable. Don't forget to dust ceiling fans, blinds, drawers, and cabinets. Clean every surface in the home where dust could settle. Be sure to wash all bedding materials and if possible wash your curtains. Mop all hardwood and laminate floors and vacuum all carpeted areas using a vacuum with a Hepa filter. Clean your shower and bathtubs. At least once a month, move furniture, including dressers, beds, refrigerator, clothes washer, and clothes dryer and clean behind and underneath them. As this is a time consuming and often strenuous process, it may be necessary to alternate one area of furniture a month and then another the next month. Cleaning behind these pieces of furniture just a few times a year is better than never cleaning behind them at all.

Verify that each entrance of your home is equipped with a mat for guests to wipe their feet on. If you own a pet, be sure to bathe and brush them frequently. Check for cracks and crevices in your home where air may be flowing from the outside and repair them. If your home is equipped with attic stairs, verify that the door is sealing properly when closed. Products are available now that may be installed on an attic entrance that seals the door when shut.

If the dust problem persists, invest in an air purifying machine. The ionic air purifying machines do not require replacement filters and help capture a large amount of dust from the air. Consider removing large area rugs and upholstered furniture from your home. Switching carpeted areas to hardwood or laminate flooring will also greatly reduce the level of dust in a home. Be sure to keep closets and drawers which contain clothes shut at all times when not in use.

Following these simple tips will reduce much of the dust in a home and will simplify the cleaning process in the future.