Clean up your act with this helpful cleaning guide
Cleaning tasks can be broken down into daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual schedules.
Keeping a regular cleaning schedule can help you stay on top of household dirt, grime, and clutter.
The cost to hire a professional house cleaning service is $120 to $240 per visit.
It may seem like you’re constantly cleaning your house—because you probably are. But no matter how often you wipe down your kitchen table or give your toilet a swish with a brush, your house is going to get dirty again. It’s not your fault. Dust, dirt, and messes are a part of life.
To stay on top of the minor and major cleaning jobs needed to maintain your home, use our handy daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual cleaning schedules. Follow the guidelines to know how often you should clean your house to keep it dirt-free in between regular and deep cleans.
If you can complete these tasks daily, you’ll be able to keep dirt, grime, and messes from building up and becoming a bigger problem. It’s a lot easier to clean small amounts of clutter every day than big piles less often.
Teach your children and other family members to do these tasks daily. Eventually, it will become a habit for everyone, making it much easier to manage your home.
Squeegee shower walls and doors after every use
Wipe down sinks and countertops after use
Quick-clean toilets
Change towels and hand towels (if needed)
Wash dishes and load the dishwasher
Sweep the floor
Empty trash and recycling
Wipe down countertops and sink
Clean tabletop and counters
Make beds
Put dirty clothes in the hamper
Remove clutter from nightstands and dressers
Put toys away
Wash laundry as needed
The easiest way to manage weekly chores is to break them up, so you complete one or two each day. Get in the habit of cleaning certain surfaces or rooms on a weekly rotation. For example, clean the bathroom on Tuesdays. This schedule will make the process more efficient since you only have to get out the bathroom cleaning supplies once a week.
Mop floors
Wash or vacuum bathroom rugs and bath mat
Scrub bathtubs, showers, and toilets
Clean mirrors, glass, and countertops
Wipe down medicine cabinet shelves
Empty trash cans
Mop kitchen floor
Vacuum or wash floor mat
Sanitize countertops and sink
Throw out expired or stale food
Replace sink sponges or run them through the dishwasher
Clean handles on refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher
Wipe down appliance fronts
Change sheets
Vacuum or sweep floors and rugs
Sanitize TV remote controls
Clean mirrors and other surfaces
Dry-dust TV screens and other electronics
Sort incoming mail and paperwork
Empty trash and shredder
Hand-vacuum computer keyboard
Dust all surfaces
File papers and put books and magazines away
"Monthly cleaning of the home is a great way to maintain the overall cleanliness of your home, as well as combat general wear and tear on appliances, walls, and flooring," says Asya Biddle, Expert Review Board member and manager of The Dust Busters janitorial company in Williamsport, PA.
In addition to your daily and weekly tasks, monthly cleaning includes maintenance projects to keep your appliances running smoothly, as well as dusting out-of-the-way places and surfaces in your home.
Clean the inside of the dishwasher
Clean inside the washer and dryer
Vacuum vents
Wipe down baseboards and windowsills
Clean doorknobs and door handles
Dust door tops
Vacuum or sweep inside closets
Hand-vacuum upholstered furniture
Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, and lamps
Empty and wipe down the pantry and refrigerator shelves
As the seasons change, so does the list of cleaning tasks. Prioritize the types of cleaning that you should do to prepare your home for either the cold or warm months, as well as larger jobs that aren’t done regularly.
Clean showerheads and faucet heads
Clean grout in tubs and showers
Empty, clean, and reorganize all cabinets and shelves
Deep clean refrigerator and freezer after removing shelves and drawers
Clean inside dishwasher
Clean all cabinet fronts and shelves
Empty drawers and wash silverware trays and other storage items
Replace drawers and cabinet liners
Clean oven
Clean kitchen faucet heads
Clean grout if you have tile
Flip mattresses
Wash mattress pads and dust ruffles
Wash comforters, duvets, and pillows, or take them to the laundromat if they’re too big for your machine
Run pillows through the dryer
Clean and organize inside drawers and closets
Move bed frames to vacuum underneath them and behind headboards
Move furniture and vacuum or sweep behind and underneath it
Polish silver and dust all decorative items
Other outdoor places you should clean when the seasons change include cleaning windows, patios, outdoor furnishings, gutters, walkways, and garages.
Yearly cleaning tasks are significant projects that may take more time but can make a big impact on how your home looks and feels. Some of these may be more work than you want to do, so hire a pro if you need help with certain tasks.
Clean drapes and curtains or bring them to the dry cleaner
Steam clean carpets, rugs, and upholstery
Pull all appliances away from the wall, unplug them, and clean behind them
Clean the fireplace and hire a pro to sweep the chimney
Power wash home exterior and hard surfaces like concrete and brick
Clean out file cabinets and shred unnecessary papers
Purge closets of unworn clothes and other items and donate to local shelter
A house cleaning checklist and a regular schedule will help you keep ahead of dirt, dust, and damage in your home. Here are some ways to help yourself stay on top of cleaning:
Schedule it in. It can be hard to carve out time to clean with a busy daily schedule, so allot some time for catching up with housework.
Keep it consistent. More frequent, shorter cleaning sessions can help you avoid getting overwhelmed with regular tasks. Aim to put some work in every day so you don’t fall behind.
Make it a family affair. Keeping the house clean is much easier when everyone in the household participates. Put on some music, keep the mood light, and let everyone tackle their tasks together.
Enlist outside help. Sometimes, there’s just too much going on to handle everything yourself. Hire a local cleaning pro to help lighten the load.
While hiring a professional house cleaning service can be a major timesaver and get you professional-level cleaning results, it does have a higher price tag attached to it versus cleaning your home yourself. The cost of a professional house cleaner averages anywhere from $25 to $80 per hour or an average of $120 to $240 per visit.
The cost of cleaning the home yourself is determined by whatever cleaning products and supplies you purchase.
Most people perform the bulk of their household cleaning tasks once a week. Since a whole-home, top-to-bottom weekly cleaning can take up a significant chunk of time, break weekly tasks up by day so you don’t have to lose your whole weekend to cleaning and maintaining your house. Many people also find the cost of a house cleaner to be worth it to help keep their home clean if it’s hard to find the time themselves.
Not cleaning your house on a regular basis can lead to elevated allergen levels, pest problems, mold growth, damaged belongings, and parts of your home falling into disrepair. Consistent cleaning prevents problems that can lead to illness and ensures you’re aware of the condition of everything in your home so you can maintain and repair things as needed.
Clutter and disorganization can make even a clean house seem dirty. Decluttering unused items will make your home seem cleaner, and putting storage solutions into place will give a house a more organized look and feel. Other things that can make a house feel dirty include stained or faded carpets and upholstery, dirty or dingy walls, chipped paint, and disorganized shelves.
