Avoiding Panic with Impromptu Parties

Entertaining friends at our home is something my husband and I both love to do. Last minute, thrown together dinner affairs are just such a great break from the norm. Seriously, he usually only gives me about 5 minutes notice that he’s bringing folks home for dinner.

I’ve developed a talent for throwing together a great meal in a really short amount of time. We always end up laughing and enjoying ourselves. My secret, you ask? There are three and they all involve being calm and prepared.

The first is keeping my freezer and pantry well stocked. I make big batches when I have time and freeze the rest for just such occasions.

The second is that I’ve given up stressing about whether everything is perfect. Being together with people we love is perfect. Stressing over insignificant details is not.

The third, and maybe the most important necessity, is my secret weapon cleaning tool. The one thing that used to get me riled is that I typically had only seconds to make sure our friends didn’t see anything unsightly in the bathroom.

So I bought a steam machine that tackles pretty much anything dirty all over my house so fast and easily I don’t have to stress about any mess.

I got the warning call yesterday at 5:10 that the party was on for 6:00. I hung up, grabbed a salmon fillet from the freezer, checked the contents of the veggie bin and flipped on my steamer.

I took my steam cleaner to the toilet, sink and mirror. I was almost finished when I caught a reflection of the bathroom door in the mirror. What were all those shiny speckles sparkling in the sunlight?

Upon closer inspection I determined it was hairspray overspray stuck on the bathroom door and the painted wall behind it. Bathroom doors often have those beveled edges that collect stuff and sure enough, mine was caked with industrial strength hairspray. And from the looks of it, quite a bit of it.

I’ve trusted my steam cleaner on most every surface in my home with great results so I knew steam could get that mega super hold hairspray off my door and painted walls safely with plenty of time left over for other party preparations.

I wanted to tackle the wall first because I was so excited to see the results. I attached my diamond brush, covered it with the fitted cloth and chose a low steam setting. I began moving the attachment up and down with a good consistent motion.

It worked beautifully at melting through the sticky buildup without damaging the paint. I switched to the soft brush to get into the beveled corners on the door. Same thing here. The steam melted right through it and with a quick wipe, the door looked beautiful too.

When I finished there was not one trace of hairspray anywhere to be found and the walls felt like they had actually been repainted. This cleaning tool ROCKS! It’s the biggest reason I don’t panic at last minute party plans.

Now all I had to do was throw together a yummy Greek salad to go with the grilled salmon fillet and fill up the ice bucket!

For more information on cleaning with steam, purchasing a steam cleaner, or having
Steams My Team make an appointment to go to your home and clean with steam call Michelle at 801-979-6707 or e-mail her at michellekjac@yahoo.com

I have had many years of cleaning experience. Once I became acquainted with the Sargent Steamer, I decided to become an independent business owner and started my own cleaning business as well.