From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspit and polishspit and polishinformalCLEAN when something is thoroughly cleaned and polished It was Christmas, so Ellen gave the dining room a little extra spit and polish. → spit
Examples from the Corpus
spit and polish• She and Ellen between them had turned out the dining-room, giving it extra spit and polish because of Christmas.• A little spit and polish, and a pair of determined, busy hands.• After the inevitable nil-nil draw it's back to the management section for some between-match spit and polish. 