Time to take down that Xmas tree? There are 3 main elements to deconstructing your Xmas tree – Taking off the decoration and lights, taking the tree outdoors and finally, cleaning up the needles. The following is our 3 step guide to doing this job and quickly and as easily as possible.
1: Store the decorations

Throw a towel at the base of the tree to catch at falling decorations to might drop – you don’t want to be cleaning up broken glass too! Starting at the bottom of the tree, begin to take off all your decorations (starting at the bottom saves you from knocking off lower ones whilst reaching for the top) and wrap the more fragile ones as your box them away. Old newspaper or Xmas present wrapping is ideal for this. When taking down the lights, start at the end and loop them around your forearm so that they can be easily unpacked next year. It might seem like a long time away but it won’t be long coming!

2: Getting the tree outside

A large bedsheet is the trick to save yourself from coating your house in needles. Remove the towels and shake them onto the sheet that you have laid down to the side of the tree. Using a turkey baster, siphon the remaining water out of the stand before you set the tree down on the sheet. Now all you have to do is drag the whole lot out the hallway and out into the front yard.

3: Cleaning up the needles

If you’ve got a bare floor, sweep up all the loose needles. For all other types of surfaces, reach for the vacuum. A neat trick for getting stubborn needles up out of a carpet is to sprinkle them with a little bit of baking soda to coat the needles before vacuuming. That’s that job done for another year!