Diwali is almost upon us, and you want your home to be sparkling clean so you can feel the aura of positivity, spirituality, and warmth. It is that time of the year when you ward off all evil and darkness from your sweet home. You clean every corner of your home, welcoming warmth, positivity, and familial bonding, organizing spaces, and ensuring they are well-lit. This is the festival when you receive Goddess Lakshmi, along with your loved ones, friends, and relatives, with all the love and warmth in your beautifully cleaned and decorated home.
In 2025, Diwali will be celebrated on 20th October, which is just around the corner. It's high time you start refreshing your home, making it spick and span to receive the gaze and blessings of Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Ganesha, and Lord Dhanvantari. There are several professional cleaning options available on the market now. Still, here are some smart tips and Diwali cleaning hacks you can use this Diwali to keep your home clean and save some extra money in your wallet. From twinkling window panes to gleaming fan blades to hygienic bathrooms—you have to get it all this festive season.
The first and foremost step in starting house cleaning on Diwali is to declutter. Allocate three different spaces on the floor for 1. Keeping, 2. Throwing 3. Donating. Now get your hands dirty by pulling out all the material one by one from your drawers, shelves, kitchen, and wardrobes. Discard the medicines, spaces, the broken toys of your kids, newspapers, and every unused material that has simply been lying around without any usage. Once you are done with this sorting step, you will have more space for the items you want to keep and that are useful to you. You can then donate the ones that you feel are no longer needed to a local NGO and give away the broken items to a scrap dealer.
Pro tip: Keep three large boxes or bags labeled for sorting items, so it is easy for you to hand over the discarded items. Additionally, to get an extra boost of motivation, you can click on a before-and-after photo.
In the process of home cleaning for Diwali after decluttering, you can prioritize each room as you see fit. You can start with the bedrooms, then move on to the living room and dining area, the study, or the kids' playroom, followed by the kitchen, and finally the bathroom. And yes, do not leave out the balconies. For the bedrooms, after you have decluttered and organized the wardrobes, you can clean the fans, remove any cobwebs from the corners of the walls, and clean the window panes.
Pro tip: To clean glass surfaces, mix equal parts white vinegar and water, pour it into a spray bottle, and spray it onto the desired surfaces. Let the solution sit on the surface for a short time, and then wipe it clean with a microfibre cloth for a deep clean.
3. Focus on Forgotten Corners
Once you have cleaned all the rooms, run your eyes through the forgotten corners. What could they be? Let’s help you! The edges of the doors, the bottom edges of the walls, the tracks of the sliding doors and windows, and everything in between. Don’t forget the photo frames. Also, consider the floor below the beds and allow extra time for cleaning the balcony by relocating the pots and removing any dead flowers, leaves, and weeds. Run the vacuum cleaner to pull out that extra stubborn dirt.
Pro tip: To clean the window or door tracks, you can use an old toothbrush dipped in a white vinegar solution, or a butter knife wrapped in a microfibre cloth, and run it through the tracks for a deep clean.
What is Diwali without good food? What is it without even some lip-smacking sweets and savories? However, before you start preparing them, ensure your kitchen is clean and sparkling. So, roll up your sleeves and start with degreasing the kitchen cabinet, the tiles, the shelves, the sinks, and most importantly, the chimney. Use lemon, baking soda, and vinegar to remove stubborn stains. Baking soda and vinegar work wonders in removing grease and grime. Use your microfibre cloth dipped in the same solution to clean the gas stove surface.
Pro tip: After degreasing, clean the surfaces with a cloth dipped in a warm water-soap solution to remove any lingering residue. For the chimney filters, soak them in a baking soda and hot water solution for 15-20 minutes to remove all the persistent grease or oil.
Upholstery, like curtains, drapes, and sofa covers, accumulates dirt pretty soon, and it is essential to give them a thorough cleaning and a fresh look. It's best to run the curtains and drapes in the washing machine with a strong detergent, followed by a cloth conditioner for a lasting fragrance. Use a natural deodoriser like baking soda and a warm water solution, along with essential oils, for the sofa covers. In fact, you can also get a set of new curtains, especially for Diwali, that look festive and feel more welcoming for the season. If you already have a good set of curtains that you've tucked away in the almirah, all clean and fresh, you can hang them. Use the vacuum cleaner to thoroughly clean the cushions and the corners of the sofas.
Pro tip: For a quick freshness boost on the sofas and cushions, sprinkle some baking soda and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes before vacuuming. This will leave your upholstery smelling fresh and clean.
The easiest way to shine surfaces is to first dust them with a fine brush/broom or with a soft, dry cloth, and then look for any stains or persistent marks. If there is, then sprinkle some baking soda and squeeze a lemon over it, or use white vinegar. Let it sit and soak for about 15 minutes, and thereafter wipe it off with a microfibre cloth dampened in a mild soap solution. This will remove the stain, leaving the surface fresh and clean. If the surfaces do not require extensive cleaning, you can use a ready-made surface cleaner already available on the market and wipe them down to give the surfaces a quick shine.
Pro tip: For that extra sparkle on glass and mirrored surfaces, simply wipe them with a crumpled newspaper as the finishing touch. Also, wipe the surfaces in a circular motion to remove as much dirt as possible effectively.
If you don’t have them already in your home, make it sweeter, more beautiful, fresher, and more breathable by adding some green indoor plants. Why? Because indoor plants are both natural air purifiers and c. Enhances the aesthetics of the space and c. has a symbolic connection to growth, renewal, and life. If you already have plants on your balcony, you can use some of them to decorate the interiors of the house.
Pro tip: Rotate your indoor plants every few weeks to ensure all sides receive sunlight and grow evenly. For an extra festive touch, place small decorative pots or fairy lights around them; not only do they brighten up corners, but they also add a subtle Diwali vibe. Keep reading for more amazing Diwali cleaning tips.
For that fresh, aromatic feeling inside your home, you can light your favorite incense sticks, a set of essential oil diffusers, or simply use camphor with coconut oil or ghee for a festive feel. You can also slow-burn some neem leaves along with camphor, cinnamon, ghee, and sandalwood powder to remove foul odors from the house and bring a sense of purity. You can sprinkle a few drops of essential oils in cotton balls and place them in corners of walls, wardrobes and bathrooms for that fresh feel; you can boil a herbal potpourri mix (cloves, cinnamon sticks, and dried orange peels) to infuse the home with a refreshing aroma and you can also ignite some scented candles at specific spots in your home for that festive yet fresh feeling.
Pro tip: While using these fragrant tips in your home, also remember to keep it well-ventilated so the scent circulates without becoming overpowering.
Cleaning this part should be the most important. So, clean your idols, change the surface cloth, get a set of new clothes for Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh, along with some new jewelry to adorn them. You can discard items that are out of focus or no longer in use. If you have idols, diya stands, and brass puja utensils, you can clean them and restore their shine by washing with Pitambari powder or by soaking them in citric acid, such as lemon or tartaric acid. Get some fresh new incense sticks, sambrani cups, guggal, and more to ignite during the festive season and create a sense of purity.
Pro tip: After cleaning, gently polish the idols with a soft, dry cloth to maintain the shine longer. For added festivity, place a small mirror beneath the idols to reflect light and enhance the puja decor.
The entire cleaning process on Diwali does not need to harm the environment. Instead of using harsh chemicals and store-bought cleaning products, you can switch to eco-friendly, readily available home remedies like lemons, baking soda, warm water, camphor, cinnamon, neem leaves, ghee, etc, for fragrance. Additionally, when decluttering, you should discard several old pieces of clothing. If there are soft cotton cloths among them, you can use them for dusting and wiping instead of spending a lot on dusters available in stores.
Pro tip: Keep a small spray bottle of lemon and water solution handy for quick surface cleaning throughout the festival, as it’s natural, non-toxic, and leaves a refreshing scent. Also, designate a “reusable cleaning cloth” basket to store old cotton fabrics; this way, you always have eco-friendly cloths ready for dusting without generating waste.
Cleaning of the entire house on the occasion of Diwali is more than just a routine activity. It is something that Hindu families look up to throughout the year to ward off evil, along with any unnecessary or unused items in the house. Diwali is a festival where we not only clean our homes but also our souls and spirits, reminding us of the importance of wealth and health.
Hence, to maintain a healthy home, it is also necessary to look for any prevalent pests, such as cockroaches, spiders, or other insects. If they are there, it's better to hire a reputable pest control service to remove them from the house, especially the kitchen. Likewise, you will have a clean and pest-free Diwali, which will welcome the deities and your loved ones with even more warmth. With these Diwali house cleaning tips, we believe you will have an enjoyable, fulfilling, and prosperous festival this year.
You can clean your home for Diwali using soft microfibre cloths or old, discarded cotton cloth pieces. Dust off the loose dirt first, and then perform a deep clean using natural cleaners like lemon, baking soda, and warm water. You can use a vacuum cleaner to clean corners and hard-to-reach areas that are difficult to reach with your hands.
To keep the home sparkling clean, for glass surfaces, you can wipe with a crumpled newspaper, use a spray bottle filled with water and lemon peels, and continue spraying and wiping to achieve that extra shine and fresh aroma.
It is essential to clean homes during Diwali because during this festival, you welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth, and Lord Ganesh, the god of prosperity and success. Along with welcoming the gods, you also welcome your loved ones on this festival. When you do, it is crucial that your home feels clean, fresh, and warm, and that it welcomes them.
To celebrate a clean and green Diwali, you can use only lights for decorating the house and not use firecrackers, as they pollute the air. You can use natural, fresh flowers and leaves to decorate your home instead of plastic ones. For gifting, consider homemade sweets over store-bought.
During Diwali, we can help keep our environment clean by refraining from bursting firecrackers, using flowers and leaves for decoration, and using natural cleaning materials like baking soda and vinegar for cleaning, which also serve as natural deodorizers. Say no to plastic as much as possible.
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Sep 14, 2022
Sep 14, 2022
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