If you’re looking to stay ahead with your clean home habits, one of the easiest ways to do this is to set up your own daily, weekly & monthly cleaning schedules. Whether you live alone, are a busy mom, or have a large family, having a regular cleaning schedule will help you keep track of those essential cleaning tasks. Cleaning is one of those things in life most of us would rather skip. But the stress that follows when you leave things too long is worse than taking the time to get it done. I find that cleaning really helps clear my mind as well, with my mental health being all over the place cleaning and having a clean environment to be in is very beneficial to me. With busy lives and so many things to fit into our daily lives, maintaining a basic cleaning schedule can sometimes be all we need to help simplify our lives. The key to a successful house cleaning schedule for your home is to keep it realistic. If you work long hours or if your kids have activities every day, the time you have to clean is very different from someone who is home more often. Your schedule will also look different if you have a large family as opposed to someone who lives alone. It also depends on your level of motivation. If you absolutely despise home cleaning (I do too, don't worry), committing to 15 minutes of essential daily tasks is far more likely to happen than an hour-long step-by-step morning and night routine.
So remember – REALISTIC & ACHIEVABLE!
Daily & Weekly Cleaning Schedules
When it comes to creating a daily cleaning schedule, take the time to consider what tasks you do every single day. Or at least, the things you want to be doing every day. This looks different for everyone, depending on the size of your family and the routines you have in place. While making the bed may be a priority for you, it may not be a consideration for someone else.
Daily Cleaning Tasks:
Make beds
Stack & unpack the dishwasher (or wash dishes)
Wipe down counters
Wash lunch boxes on school days (if you have children)
Tidy living spaces
Empty garbage
If you have a big family, a daily load of laundry could be an essential task for your family too. Or sweeping floors. For me, laundry is a weekly task, and I make sure to clean my floors every week as well.
Weekly Cleaning Schedule:
Not all cleaning tasks are daily tasks. Many are weekly, monthly, or even less often – quarterly or annually for certain deep cleaning tasks! Weekly tasks can be done once a week or several times a week. What differentiates them from your daily tasks is the fact that you don’t need to do them every single day.
Weekly Cleaning Tasks:
Vacuuming / Mopping
Wash bed linen, towels, and clothing
Put away clean linen
Clean bathrooms
Clean kitchen
Tidy living spaces
Empty school bags (again if you have children)
Your weekly cleaning schedule can look a few different ways. Here are some examples:
Day By Day Weekly Schedule:
Another option for weekly cleaning schedules is to have designated days for each task. This can be useful if you don’t want to spend a big chunk of a single day cleaning, or if you have time to spare each day of the week.
Your cleaning days may look something like this:
Monday – Wash bed linen & sweep floors
Tuesday – Wipe down appliances & dust surfaces
Wednesday – Vacuum & a load of laundry
Thursday- Fold clean laundry & put away
Friday – Clean bathrooms
Saturday – Vacuum & mop floors & a load of laundry
Monthly Cleaning Schedule
Maintaining a monthly cleaning schedule for the tasks that aren’t required each week is a great way to stay on top of those bigger tasks. Not only does your house stay cleaner when you remember what you need to clean. It also reduces the likelihood of things going wrong when you haven’t maintained your household appliances. Many of the monthly cleaning tasks could be pushed out to quarterly if you are low on spare time and prefer to do a big whole house deep clean a few times a year. I do a deep clean of my room and bathroom every 2-3 months, (as I live at home still I don't have to worry about the kitchen and living areas as my mom keeps them up). This is where spring cleaning comes in, or even a fall cleaning although not very much.
Either way, maintaining a monthly cleaning schedule will help you to avoid forgetting to clean some of the essential areas in your home. There are also many items in your home that need replacing every month or quarter.
Monthly (Or Quarterly) Cleaning Tasks
Wipe baseboards
Disinfect remotes, controllers & computer accessories
Wipe light switches
Dust light fittings & ceiling fans
Deep clean appliances (microwave, dishwasher, oven, washing machine, kettle)
Remove dryer lint
Clear drains
Clean or replace filters (air conditioner, water filters, etc.)
Soak hair brushes & accessories
Dust behind appliances
Vacuum under furniture
Spot clean wall marks
Wash pillows & comforters
Wash windows, screens & doors
Clean window & door tracks
Clean curtains & blinds
Wash rubbish bins
Clean shower curtain
Having the Right Tools
Making sure that you have the right tools when planning your cleaning days are very important. A tip can be to have a cleaning caddy with all the cleaning products that you need for each room, having everything in one place makes it easy to stay focused on your task rather than losing focus because you need to find another cleaning product or tool.
Eventually, I want to create a printable of a cleaning schedule for myself but I haven't done that yet. Once I figure out how that looks for me I will share the printable like always. However, if you are more electronically advanced than me ( I still use a planner for everything) then I would suggest trying the apps below.
Here are a few productivity apps to create cleaning checklists:
Trello
Airtable
Evernote
Or even just using the notes function on your phone
For something more specific, check out these cleaning schedule apps:
HomeRoutines
Unfilth Your Habit
BrightNest
Tody
Keeping your home clean does not need to be difficult! With a little planning and persistence, you can create functional cleaning habits to keep your home looking great. Not just because you’re expecting guests!
There are many other sites that have more information on Monthly, weekly, and Daily Cleaning. I used a couple when researching this post.
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