Most people don’t clean badly. They clean randomly. You clean the countertop on Monday, remind yourself about the bathroom on Thursday, and then spend all of Saturday cleaning the shower that has gotten really gross somewhere around week three. The house cleaning checklist solves this by giving you an order to follow, and you no longer need to think about it and just do the next thing.
This one I have divided into daily tasks, weekly tasks, and monthly tasks, along with some deep cleaning tasks.
Why You Need a House Cleaning Checklist
Without a list, you clean what you can see, and nobody sees the top of the fridge. So nobody cleans it. A written plan catches what your eyes skip, like the microwave, the baseboards, and the lid of the trash can (gross, but true).
It also keeps the work small. Ten minutes a day is easier to face than a four-hour weekend marathon, and I’d take the ten minutes every time. Plus, having a list gives you something to cross off, which feels oddly great.
Daily House Cleaning Checklist
Ten or fifteen minutes total, and that’s with a podcast on.Make your bed (yes, seriously). One spray, one rag, maybe one minute.
Notice what is not on this list? Scrubbing and rearranging furniture are not part of daily chores, since the weekly chore list will deal with that. The daily chores stop things from becoming messy.If you do only one thing on this list, it’s the kitchen. If you keep the kitchen neat, the rest of the house will also appear tidy–even if tons of laundry is scattered about in your living room.
Weekly House Cleaning Checklist by Room
Pick one day, or split the jobs across a few; whatever actually survives contact with your week. Just go room by room instead of bouncing around, or you’ll end up carrying the same spray bottle back and forth for no reason.
Start in the kitchen. It’s the biggest job, so get it out of the way first. Scrub the sink, wipe the fronts of the appliances, and steam the inside of the microwave with a bowl of water so the gunk wipes right off instead of needing to be scraped. Toss whatever’s past its date in the fridge while you’re in there. Mop last, always, or you’ll just be walking dirt back onto a wet floor.
Bathrooms come next, and nobody’s volunteering for that one. Toilet, sink, tub or shower, mirror. Fresh towels. Then mop, same rule as the kitchen.
Bedrooms are honestly the easy part by comparison. New sheets, dust, vacuum, done. Living areas get the same treatment, plus a quick fluff of the couch cushions so the room doesn’t look lived-in beyond repair. If you want more ideas, our cleaning checklist guide goes deeper into each room.
Monthly House Cleaning Checklist
Monthly jobs are the ones you can safely forget for a few weeks, which is exactly why they need their own list. Vacuum under the couch and the beds. Clean the surfaces of the cabinets, particularly those around the stove. Don’t forget to clean the trash bins as well. This area also harbors all those objects that slowly deteriorate, such as the vent and the window tracks. Test the smoke alarms while you’re up there. It takes thirty seconds.
Put these on a reminder in your phone. If a task isn’t on a reminder, it gets skipped. I’ve never met anyone who remembers the washing machine on their own.
Deep Cleaning Checklist for Twice a Year
Every six months, the house deserves something more than just a spruce. Clean the drapes. Scrub the oven. Unplug the refrigerator and the sofa and take a look in there (it’s going to be dust and maybe some sock).
This is the step that gets skipped, and I understand why. No one gets out of bed looking forward to scrubbing the oven. But do it, and while you’re there, clean the window screens and the spots behind the stove.Spring and fall are the typical choices, but you can pick any two times you like. Just make sure they’re actually ones you’ll follow through on.
How to Clean a House Fast
No time to spare? Set a timer for 20 minutes and start at the front door. Go around the house one way only. The moment you start doubling back, 20 minutes turns into an hour, and you know it. Take a basket with you, and anything sitting in the wrong room goes in it: the mug on the bookshelf, a kid’s sock, whatever. Sort it out when the timer’s done.
Company in an hour? Don’t bother with a deep clean. Clear the clutter off surfaces, wipe the bathroom sink and mirror, get the trash out, and vacuum the hallway, since that’s the part they’ll see. Nobody opens your closet. Shut the door.
In each room, work top to bottom. Ceiling fan, then shelves, then floor. Dust comes down, so if you vacuum first you’ll end up vacuuming again. Honestly, I think that matters more than which cleaner you use.And quit trying to do it all in one go. A fast clean of the busiest rooms beats a perfect clean you never start.
Cleaning Safety Basics
Quick safety tip – because how much help is a checklist if it gets you to the emergency room?
One of the most essential pieces of information is that you should always read the label prior to using any new product. You must always respect the instructions on the label, as stated by the EPA, and regularly air out the location being cleaned. You shouldn’t mix cleaning products and disinfectants. KING 5’s fact check points out that the CDC and state health departments all warn against mixing bleach with other cleaners.
Gloves on, window open, one product at a time. And cleaning isn’t the same as disinfecting. Cleaning removes the dirt from things. Disinfecting removes the germs from things, but it will do its job effectively when the things have been cleaned first. For ordinary purposes, soap and water are enough.
Final Thoughts
In all honesty, there is no need for perfection. Just go through the list of things to be done each day, choose a particular day for the weeklies, and allow your phone to remind you of the monthlies. For more ideas, check out our cleaning tips at Clean Plate Guide, and start with just today’s ten minutes. This house cleaning checklist only works if you actually open it.
FAQ
How often should I clean my house?
Little jobs daily, the bigger room-by-room clean once a week. Put the monthly stuff on a reminder, and do a deep clean a couple of times a year. That’s about it.
What goes on a house cleaning checklist?
The basics include dishes, countertops, bathrooms, floors, and laundry. After those become an easy routine, add in monthly extras like cleaning appliances and baseboards.
How much time is needed for cleaning each week?
The cleaning of smaller spaces takes around one to two hours. For those with bigger families, the time can increase. It is advisable to spread cleaning over several days instead of doing it in one day.
What order should I clean in?
Top to bottom, floors last. Dust the high spots first so the crumbs and dust land on floors you haven’t cleaned yet. Then vacuum and mop as you back out of the room.
