Halloween can sometimes turn out to bring more “tricks” than treats to your home. It can result in traces of greasy makeup, fake blood, melted candy, pieces of pumpkin, and much more left around for weeks after the holiday has come and gone. To help you form a cleanup plan for when the holiday passes, here are a few quick ideas we’ve gathered to get you started on cleaning!

Most people tend to carve pumpkins sometime during October. Pumpkin carving should be made an outdoor activity, but sometimes the weather can prevent that from happening. When getting ready to carve pumpkins inside, make sure that you create a barrier between those messy pumpkins and your beloved furniture or carpet. Luckily, if the insides of a pumpkin somehow make it to your furniture or flooring, there are a couple of tricks you can use to clean it up. Make sure you scrape up any excess pumpkin first. Next, you’ll want to create a mixture of one tablespoon of dish soap and two cups of warm water and sponge it into the stain with a clean towel. When drying, make sure you blot the stained area. If this doesn’t quite do the trick, try blotting the stain with white vinegar.

I bet you’re wondering about pumpkins that have already been carved and the messes they make. As time passes and temperatures fluctuate, the decorative Jack-O-Lanterns you have carved will soon wither away. Be sure to throw them away before they deteriorate too far! If you accidentally let your Jack-O-Lantern stick around too long, you can easily clean up a moldy stain from wood with the use of warm water and a non-gel toothpaste. Scrubbing it out with the use of a clean towel in a circular motion should do the trick. If the stain is on concrete, your best bet might be to borrow a pressure washer from a friend.

Costume makeup tends to be greasier and more prone to leaving behind stains than everyday makeup. Makeup remover is an obvious way to remove makeup from your skin, but why not try it on your clothes as well? If you’re going to give it a try, just make sure it’s an oil-free kind so that it doesn’t ruin your clothing any further. If makeup remover doesn’t quite do the trick, rubbing alcohol likely will. Rubbing alcohol is great for cleaning and removing any sort of makeup or fake blood stain from your body, clothing, and even your countertops. Using a cotton ball, dabbing a makeup stain with the rubbing alcohol will easily remove the stain from skin or fabric.

The tricky part about a chocolate stain cleanup is how long the stain has sat after it happens. Chocolate stains set with heat and time, so removing them as soon as you discover them is important. First, remove any excess pieces of chocolate left on the area. Next, try blotting some liquid laundry detergent or even dish soap mixed with cold water on the stained area. Yes, cold water. While it might seem tempting to use warm water, don’t! Warm water can set a stain… If the stain remains after doing so, try blotting white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide into the stain for easy cleanup.