There is no doubt that the last thing you want to do after throwing a hugely successful party is to face the aftermath in the morning. With any luck, some of your true friends will have stuck around to help out.

If you’re well-organised and were capable enough before falling asleep, you can undertake a few tasks before going to bed to make things easier in the morning. Cover perishable food with cling-film and store them away in your fridge, which you and your cleaning troop can polish off after you have cleaned the next day. However, if food has been left out at room temperature, or outside, for more than two hours, throw it away. Collect up and soak any pots, pans, crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils in the sink by filling with warm water and squirting generous amounts of washing up liquid in. Don’t forget the blender; fill with warm water and washing up liquid and whiz a few times; leave to soak overnight.

Now is a good time to look for any spills and stains that you will have to deal with immediately, particularly down the sides of sofas and on cushions; by morning time they will have dried and become so much harder to remove. For red wine stains, as soon as you notice them, pour salt onto the stain to absorb the colour. Leave for ten minutes, then brush off. Then, using some biological detergent dissolved in warm water, sponge the area, followed by cold water and more sponging. Repeat as necessary until the stain has gone. A general rule to follow with regards to stains, is if the stained item is washable, rinse non-greasy stains with warm water and sprinkle talcum powder on greasy stains to absorb. If you used the oven, liberally sprinkle spills with salt and leave overnight.

After a good nights sleep, first things first…take some aspirin and drink several large glasses of water. Throw open windows to air out your home. Secondly, tackle all glasses, bottles, cartons and cups room by room. Tip all liquids in the half-filled glasses and cups down the sink, and line up next to the sink. Assign someone the enviable task of washing up, or, if you’re lucky, fill up the dishwasher and start immediately. Tackle all those pots and pans that have been soaking and scrape and wipe down the oven.

Have several bin bags ready; one for glass, one for food, one for paper. Begin with the rooms furthest away, working towards the kitchen so that rubbish is centralised to this room, not forgetting the garden. Take out bin bags when they are full to prevent leaks and odour.

Thirdly, once the worst of the rubbish has been dealt with, finish by dusting and wiping sticky surfaces and vacuuming thoroughly. Again, work towards the kitchen and clean this room last. Finish with some of your favourite air freshener.

If all this simply seems like far too much hard work, you can always hire a top cleaning service who specialize in after party clean ups to sort out the mess while you can concentrate on recovering from your hangover.