Whether you’re hosting a sophisticated dinner party or a full-blown all-night affair, ensuring a great night that everyone will remember can leave you with a satisfying, post-party glow. Unfortunately, those feel-good vibes can quickly come under fire as you close the door on your last guest and turn to face the carnage that even small get-togethers can create.

It’s a bummer and the worst party-pooper there is, but what if we were to tell you that the post-party clean-up really needn’t be that bad? In fact, it’s possible that getting on top here at last is as simple as considering these basic post-party cleaning tips.

Keep your party contained

Regardless of the size of your party, cleaning up is going to get tricky if even small piles of mess stretch across every room of your house. By comparison, keeping your party contained is a far better way to contain the mess that you face, and thus the cleaning required at the end of the day. Getting as organized as possible in advance is the best way to achieve this, allowing you to set everyone up in your living room, patio area, etc. with everything they could possibly need for the entire party. Obviously, you might also want to prep a bathroom or two, but other than that, you shouldn’t find yourself left with all that many areas to clean as a result. 

Minimize food waste

Food is a central theme at any party, meaning that food disposal also makes itself annoyingly known at the cleaning stages. In fact, if you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself with mountains of uneaten party food that you either need to find storage for or throw painstakingly in the trash. That’s a world of hassle you don’t need and it’s something you can overcome by minimizing food waste as much as possible. Of course, this isn’t to say that you should leave your guests hungry, but tools including simple mathematical equations or (more accurately in most cases) resources like this cake serving chart guide can make sure that you’re not overdoing things on the food front. As a result, you should be left with minimal waste once the party’s over, and a whole lot less cleaning to do because of that. 

Make cleaning a party-wide affair

Many hosts make the mistake of cleaning after their guests have gone home, but the reality is that a party-full of people can likely clean your home in a quarter of the time that you’d be able to manage alone. With this in mind, adding an invite to an ‘after-party’ that involves some fun group cleaning games can be a great compromise. Not only will this feel like a fun and intimate addition to your evening, but it’ll also see your home sparkling with way less energy than you’d have to use otherwise. 

Make sure you’re the host with the most by using these tips to guarantee that your post-party clean-ups need never to rain on your parade again.