The holiday season is underway and to help you navigate through all the chaos, we’ve come together with a few YouTube friends to bring you this playlist of hassle-free holiday tips.

The coolest part is that we’ve teamed with the makers of Tylenol and together we are celebrating all the “holiday heroes” out there! That’s right, It’s time to give back to all the hard working, dinner-cooking, gift-wrapping heroes who make our holidays that much more special.

Maybe you have your own Holiday Hero and if you do, here’s a chance to honor them with an opportunity to make his or her holiday season a little easier.

All you have to do is submit a photo and a quick story on the TYLENOL® Facebook page, and you could win a prize for you and your Holiday Hero.

Like a chauffeured limo for the day to help you do your shopping,  a day at the spa for some much needed rest and relaxation – OR – a cleaning crew for pre and post holiday clean-up!

Here’s the link you can use to enter this very fun contest and learn about the prizes!!

Make sure to check out Maker’s Clean line of premium products for all your cleaning needs!

My Holiday Hero

My holiday hero, and I had many to choose from, is Chad’s brother’s wife and my sister-in-law, Sandra.  She hosts Christmas at her house every year for about 20 people.  Sandra is a mom of 3 and works full time and amazingly, never fails to create a memorable, enjoyable and delicious holiday — and — she always makes it look effortless.  Sandra’s kitchen is always cleaned up after the meal, in fact, before dessert is served, there is no sign of turkey or even a potato anywhere.  By the end of the day, I’m sure she’s exhausted and probably dealing with a few extra aches and pains – but she does it all in the spirit of the holidays – and that’s why she’s my holiday hero.

So keeping Sandra in mind, and knowing that some of you out there deal with your own headaches around hosting holiday events, I wanted to share some ideas with you for a hassle-free holiday dinner cleanup.

Tip 1: Establish a team of helpers ahead of time, and clearly delegate jobs to each person.

I’d recommend a team of 2-4 helpers depending on the size of the event….. your kids and partner would be an ideal choice, or perhaps a brother or sister or close friend.  Pick people you know are happy to help; they’ll appreciate the clear direction and ability to ‘give back’ to you.  For example, one person can be on dish collection duty, one person can clear the food and box up leftovers and one person can be on pot and pan washing.

Tip 2: Set your kitchen up before eating for a quicker clean up.

Have your counter as clear as possible so that come clean up time, finding a place for everything is easier. Place a bin filled with soapy water for cutlery on the counter, ideally another bin at the ready to collect dishes and bowls, and position your garbage, recycling and compost in an easily accessible place.  Finally, leave food containers out for easy leftover pack up.

Tip 3: Clear similar items at the same time.

When someone clears the table, keep all similar items together, for example, collect all cutlery and place into the cutlery bin, then grab all small plates and stack them, leaving food scraps on the top, then bowls, pouring all liquid into the top bowl, then larger dinner plates, and bring everything in using this orderly fashion.  By doing that, you help keep the kitchen less cluttered and make cleaning up a more systematized task.

Tip 4: Pre-soak!

Pre-soak pots, pans and service pieces while clearing the table and doing the dishes. That way they will have adequate time to soak while you’re doing the other stuff.  When the dishes are done – the harder stuff will have had time to loosen.   You can even add a tablespoon of baking soda to help the process along – and yes, we here at Clean My Space can’t make a video without mentioning baking soda at LEAST once 🙂

So there you have it – my hassle-free holiday tips inspired by my very own Holiday Hero Sandra.

Good luck and happy holidays!

For more cleaning secrets check out our E-Book Bundle! It has 3 e-books (The Complete Guide to Essential Oils, My 3 Wave Cleaning System, 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes) and will get you started with all your cleaning needs!

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Melissa Maker is an entrepreneur, cleaning expert, founder of Toronto’s most popular boutique cleaning service, and star of the Clean My Space channel on YouTube (but she still hates to clean!). Every week, Melissa delivers new videos dishing expert advice on cleaning products, tools, DIY substitutes, and practical, timesaving solutions to everyday problems. Melissa has appeared on the Today Show, and has been featured in InStyle, Real Simple, and Better Homes and Gardens.