Laura de Barra on prepping your house before going on holiday
Holiday prep comes in many forms: putting on a fresh tan, a new manicure, dusting out the sunhat and maybe buying a new swimsuit.
But one step that Gaff Goddess author Laura de Barra argues should be in all of our prep is giving the house a spruce before you head off.
There's nothing worse than coming home from holiday to a house full of jobs to do, whether it's changing the bed, deep cleaning the fridge or taking out the bins.
Fresh off the plane from her own trip home for a family wedding, De Barra joined Oliver Callan to share her tips on prepping your home for holidays.
The final sweep
Getting your home holiday ready is about more than just cleaning, de Barra explains:
"First of all, I'm always thinking about security", she says. "I live in London in a flat but I'm always trying to just keep in mind where is the spare key going to go, and then I do a final sweep at the very end."
"I go room by room making sure windows are closed, but at this time of year I leave my trickle vents open", she adds, to let the house breathe while you're away.
Ensuring her plants are happy and well-maintained while she's away is key, too, and de Barra relies on self-watering practices like leaving a bottle turned upside down in a pot so the plant can sip away, or even using a shoelace in a pot of water draped into the plant.
"My aim is to have a ball while I'm away and not be afraid that I've left something on or whatever, so I think the final sweep is super important."
Let the house breathe
De Barra notes that a holiday is a great time to let your house be without you for a while, so "if you can strip the bed and leave it bare, unless you're getting in late", to let the bed breathe.
Vacuum the bed once you arrive home to remove dust. Adding a layer of bicarb to the bed before vacuuming helps get an even deeper clean, she says, freshening up the fabric and preventing smells from lingering.
While the bed is breathing, why not let the bins breathe, too? De Barra recommends rinsing them with washing up liquid and warm water and leaving them empty to air.
To get rid of smells from the dishwasher leave the door open while you're away. "If you remember, run an empty wash if you're going away for a couple of weeks and leave it open a crack, and it stops any mildew and any smells."
Deep clean, and freeze
Clearing out open or old food from your fridge is a must, but de Barra also cautions against throwing something away just because it's due to go off. "I freeze everything when it's going a bit out of date", she says.
An empty fridge typically uses more energy than a full one, but de Barra recommends turning the temperature up. "But you have to remember, it takes two days for a fridge to regulate itself to the actual temperature you set it to."
The odd jobs
If you plan to be away for a few weeks, some little steps can save you a headache when you're home, such as keeping all the toilet seats down to prevent watermarks from evaporation, de Barra says.
"Before you go run a little bit of hot water down your taps because sometimes people empty their fridge, throw spoiled milk down, put things down the sink then that's kind of rotting", she adds.
For more tips, listen back to the interview above.
