5 Holiday Cleaning Tips From Matt Paxton

I am excited to bring you a list of five simple tips for keeping your house clean and organized over the holiday season.  These simple holiday cleaning tips come from Matt Paxton, who has spent the last 10 years cleaning the messiest homes in America on the show Hoarders.  Matt will be returning to Hoarders on January 3rd at 10 pm ET/PT on A&E.

5 Simple Holiday Cleaning Tips From Matt Paxton

At home, my wife and I get to tackle the everyday messes of 3 young sons. Although we know our home isn’t supposed to be perfect, during the holiday season it’s easy to get overwhelmed with stuff. Below are a few helpful holiday cleaning tips to keep your mind off of the clutter and help you enjoy your friends and family.

1. Clean out the closets and cupboards by trimming back the board games, videos and holiday books. Keep a few of the classics and 2 or 3 of the newest items, but donate the rest. Keep enough for the whole family to play. Don’t be afraid to include grandparents when playing with gaming systems, it’s pretty cool to see grandma beating your brother at Mario Cart.
2. Leave your shoes on. One of my biggest pet peeves in the world is when someone asks me to take my shoes off. First off, you don’t want my nasty feet on your carpet and we aren’t at a 5 star resort. The huge pile of shoes is in the way and germs inside the shoes are often worse than the germs on the soles of the shoes.
3. Clean up in the kitchen BEFORE and AFTER cooking. With food allergies and raw turkeys floating around, it’s important to wipe down all surfaces before and after eating. We don’t always know what people are allergic to and it never hurts to protect everyone from wet turkey bacteria.
4. Make the kids do the dishes. This is an easy one. No dessert until the KIDS have finished loading the dishwasher and hand washing and drying the pots and pans. Full sink = no pumpkin pie.
5. Don’t let the decorations sit. The day after, get out the holiday specific storage bins and put all Holiday decorations away. It usually takes less than an hour to pick up all the pumpkins or reindeer. There is nothing worse than seeing Santa in April with the Easter bunny and a pumpkin. If you are removing lights, use separate zip lock bags for each strand and store in large plastic bins.

Bonus Tip (For those who still haven’t finished their shopping!):
Gift experiences, not stuff. Another important tool to keep the volume of toys down…Learn to say NO. Encourage friends, family and children to focus on “experiences” and not more items. Telling your mother in law NO MORE GIFTS might not be as simple as it sounds, but watching your children go bowling with their grandparents is much more memorable than another toy sitting in a closet.

More about Matt Paxton:

Matt Paxton is a cleaning expert, author and star of the hugely popular A&E series Hoarders. Paxton has built his career on cleaning the dirtiest, most shocking and stomach turning messes in the world. He combines humor, honesty, and tips from his clients to create a message that will help any family cut through the clutter and remove stress from their lives. Paxton uses his “tell it like it is” approach to help others learn about the paralyzing world of hoarding. His cleaning expertise has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Forbes, Washington Post, Good Morning America, Yahoo and more. For more information visit www.iammattpaxton.com.
@iammattpaxton

There is always so much going on during the holiday season.  I hope these simple cleaning tips help you to tame the holiday chaos.  So, which holiday cleaning tip was your favorite?