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When you’re on vacation, the last thing you want to think about is coming home to a dirty house. Preparing your house before leaving for vacation will help minimize the stress of returning home to a messy house. Walking into your door with your house still clean will allow you to focus on other important tasks.

When doing laundry, putting everything away, cutting the grass, and grocery shopping are on the to-do list, who has the time or the energy to clean?

When preparing your house for vacation, schedule time to clean after the majority of the packing is completed. That way, you eliminate the piles of clothes, toiletries, beach accessories, etc. that can make your house feel cluttered.

In this post, I’ve outlined for you the most efficient way I have found to clean the house before leaving on vacation. I have used this method of cleaning for many years and I am always grateful that I did.

The idea that within a day or two I’ll be enjoying myself on vacation gives me enough motivation to get the job done.

There’s nothing like walking back into my house after a long road trip and climbing into bed knowing the house is still clean. The car, not so much. That’s for another post.

Looking for more house cleaning ideas? Check out my Organizing & Cleaning page where you’ll find everything from Quick Cleaning Ideas to Deep Cleaning Tips and more!

Also, if you’re interested in using eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning supplies, click here to start your order with Grove Collaborative and receive your FREE Earth Friendly Gift Set.

Before You Begin

This cleaning method is not meant to take a long time and can be easily modified based on your needs. We are a family of four with two children who are old enough to lend a hand. After all, I’m not the only one going on vacation. If you can, enlist the help of other family members to take some pressure off of you.

Also, for this cleaning method to work, you will need to have the clutter picked-up from around the house.

As mentioned before, have as much packed as you can before you begin to prepare your house for vacation. It helps to have a place in the house to put suitcases and other bags while you finish packing. For us, it’s our dining room. It keeps things out of the way while I clean but it’s near enough to put additional items in as needed.