Didn’t manage to get tickets to Euro 2016? Or perhaps you just couldn’t get out of work commitments? Chances are, if you’re a football fan and not going to Paris, you’ll be having your friends over to watch the beautiful game as much as you can!

As much fun as Euro 2016 gatherings can be, all the excitement and competitive spirit tends to lead to broken glasses, spillages, crushed crisps and a whole lot of other mess.

Here’s our guide to clearing up the remnants of Euro 2016:

Tidy Away

First things first; empty packets, finished plates of food and dirty crockery need to be cleared away ASAP before any real cleaning can start. Grab yourself a plastic bin bag and collect up all empty packets/paper plates/disposable cups. Once you’ve thrown these in the bin, you can start on your crockery/cutlery/glasses and fill up the dishwasher with as much as you can. If need be, run the dishwasher in two waves – or as many times as needed until everything is washed up and sparkling clean! If you don’t have a dishwasher then get yourself some rubber gloves and wash up by hand; this is the lengthiest part of the process but once it’s done everything will begin to look a whole lot cleaner.

Hoover

Football means snacks and finger food – and often these are devoured without cutlery, plates, or much grace at all! This tends to mean crumbs a plenty will be laying around in your living room. The first step to making your floor liveable again is to sweep up the big pieces of food and get them chucked in the bin. Then you can run the vacuum around to pick up any last pesky bits of food that are more difficult to see to the naked eye – crisps trodden into the carpet come to mind!

Mop Up

When someone scores a goal cheering, throwing of hands up in the air and hugging are obligatory; unfortunately these actions are often completed spontaneously with drink still in hand. Beer and fizzy drink spillages can cause a real sticky mess, so we recommend you fill a bucket with warm soapy water and mop the entire floor – really give it some elbow grease if you want to ensure all sticky patches are taken care of!

De-stain

Food and drinks spillages during a get-together are mandatory – but some are more difficult to clean than others; although you’re able to simply mop them up off the floor or wipe the surfaces, spillages onto fabric furniture and the like aren’t as easily dealt with…

Get yourself some all-purpose cleaning spray or a spray specifically for de-staining things (Vanish usually works well) and a soft, clean, microfiber cloth. Go around the room searching for any stains and remove as you go – while you’re at it straighten up any wonky furniture or carpets and put pillows back in their correct place. This goes for any knick-knacks and ornament you have that may have gone a bit skew-whiff during party proceedings!

Finally…

Everything should be looking spick and span by now, but we’d recommend giving the room one last hoover to get any bits of dirt that have fallen down from surfaces or behind pillows whilst you were cleaning up.

Once this is all done it’s time to relax and enjoy the new clean haven that is your living room!

(Until the next game that is…)