If there’s one thing we’re looking forward to when the pandemic restrictions are lifted, it’s having friends and family over, either for dinner or to stay the weekend. Of course, like a lot of people, your home may have doubled-up as a gym, office and classroom over the past year and a bit. So, before you welcome people back in, there might be a few things you need to do to get it looking ship-shape. With that in mind, here is our 5-step checklist of what to tackle before you start entertaining again.

Time to deep clean the spare room… with steam

H2O Steam Mops

You always want to give your guests a great first impression when you invite them into your home. So, if you haven’t done it for a while, it’s a good idea to start with a deep clean. You probably mop your kitchen floors a couple of times a month, or maybe more if you have young children or pets. But what about the spare room? Whether it’s been doing double-duty as your home office, or simply been left empty during the pandemic, there’s a good chance you’ll want to give it the once-over before you welcome your overnight guests – especially the mattress.

Though it might seem like a big job, refreshing the mattress is pretty straightforward with the right tools. Our recommendation is a H2O steam cleaner. Not only do they generate steam hot enough to kill 99% of household bacteria, each machine comes with a host of attachments designed to make light work of your chores. One attachment which is really useful for cleaning your mattress is the garment cleaning tool. With its wide-angle head, it’s perfect for running up and down the mattress, giving it a really good deep clean. You could even use it to freshen up your sofa, armchairs and curtains, too.

Sanitise your home with the H2O e3 Cleaning System

H2O e3™ Cleaning System - Cleaner, Sanitiser, Deodoriser, Disinfectant - Effective, Economical, Eco-Safe - Electrolysed S-Water™ - NaOH, HClO, HOCl - Hypochlorous Acid, Sodium Hydroxide - Electrolyzed Water - Oxidising

The pandemic has taught us to be more focused on hygiene than ever before, especially in our homes. Before you invite people round, and maybe even after they’ve left, you’ll want to clean and sanitise your home. It can be tempting to turn to harsh chemical cleaners like bleach to get the job done. However, there’s now an equally effective and much safer way to go about it.

The H2O e3 Cleaning System is a revolutionary way to keep your home hygienically clean. It requires no harsh chemicals and produces no harmful fumes. In fact, it does the job with nothing more than table salt, tap water and a little bit of electricity. You simply add the salt and water to the ‘H2O e3 eActivator’ and switch it on to create electrolysed water. This has the power to not only degrease and clean your home, but to kill 99.9% of germs, bacteria & viruses. Even better, because it uses cheap table salt and tap water, it’s the sanitiser that never runs out – saving you money, too.

Hosting a dinner party? This pan will make your life easier…

From Over & Hob to Table - FlavorStone Diamond Edition - The Pan That Can

If you’re planning a dinner party and you don’t know what to cook, sometimes your best bet is to go for a one-pan wonder. Cooking everything in one pot allows you to build up layers of flavour, creating a truly sumptuous dish that’s sure to impress your guests. And this is where your FlavorStone Pan can be really helpful.

The first thing you notice about the FlavorStone Pan is that it’s square-shaped. That’s because square pans have 25% more cooking space compared to circular pans – great news if you’re cooking for guests, or for the whole family. And because the pan has deep sides to it, you’re less likely to spill anything as you give it a stir on the stove. So, not only can you cook for more people, you’ll have less cleaning up to do! Even better, the improved non-stick coating on the FlavorStone Pan is super-easy to wipe clean, cutting down on your washing up time even further.

If you’re looking for dinner party inspiration, check out these 19 Quick & Easy recipes, each and every one can be made using your FlavorStone Pan.

Mop up splashes and spills quickly and easily

H2O Steam Mops

When you’ve a house full of people, there’s always the chance of an accident happening – a glass gets knocked over and a drink gets spilt, that kind of thing. If you have pets or young children running in and out of the house, you could end up with muddy footprints all over the floor, too. The good news is, with your H2O steam cleaner to hand, you can mop up the mess quickly and efficiently, before getting back to your guests.

Every machine in the H2O Range is designed to be both lightweight and easy to move about. They take no time to heat up, too – less than 20 seconds for super-hot ready-to-use steam. Each model comes with a range of attachments. The smaller head is great for mopping up mess you find in corners and tight spaces, while the larger head comes in handy when you need to get the job done in less time. Both attachments glide effortlessly across the carpets too, so if one of your guests knocks a drink over, there’s no need to panic.

Go for natural cleaning products

H2O e3™ Cleaning System - Cleaner, Sanitiser, Deodoriser, Disinfectant - Effective, Economical, Eco-Safe - Electrolysed S-Water™ - NaOH, HClO, HOCl - Hypochlorous Acid, Sodium Hydroxide - Electrolyzed Water - Oxidising

Do you have one particular cupboard in your home where you keep all your cleaning products? If you look inside, you’ll notice every product within is made from some kind of nasty chemical. And if you read the warnings on the back of the bottle, you’ll probably find warnings that let you know the product is harmful to children and pets. The good news is you can replace just about every bottle of chemical cleaner in your home with the H2O e3 Cleaning System’s eActivator.

It looks like a simple spray bottle – the kind you might use to keep your house plants hydrated – but it does so much more than that. Fill it with water, add about a tablespoon of salt and plug it in to create your own sanitising solution. Add a teaspoon of clear vinegar and it will even kill off viruses too. And when the electrolysed water loses its effectiveness after about 7-10 days, don’t worry, you can simply make up another bottle.

That’s one of the best things about the H2O e3 Cleaning System’s eActivator – the fact that you never need to throw the bottle away. You just refill it, charge it up and start cleaning all over again. So, not only do you cut down on the amount of chemicals you use around the home, you’ll cut down on the amount of single-use plastic, too.

You can find out more about every model in the Thane H2O family here. Or, for more tips on keeping your home clean and sanitised the natural way, go here.