How to Create a House Cleaning Schedule
Cleaning your own home is so gratifying. It gives you a chance to appreciate every special nook and cranny around the house. While you’re at it, you might also dream up new ways to decorate and find lost items you thought were gone forever. Here at Pottery Barn, we can help you learn the best way to keep a house cleaning schedule. Structure your time with daily and weekly cleaning schedules. It’s a helpful way to keep your house clean and neat without breaking a sweat. Here’s how to get started.
Wipe Away the Guilt
It’s up to you how simple or complex you want to make your schedule. Some people use timers for every task. Some people clean clockwise around a room. Others put cleaning tasks on a spreadsheet with detailed directions. If you don’t want to go that far, there’s no need to feel guilty. The point of making a schedule that works for you is that it’ll be effective. There’s no right or wrong way, or a set number of hours you need to schedule your cleaning routine. However, there are some general ideas that apply to just about everyone. Considering these routines will help to make the notion of cleaning less overwhelming.
What Needs Daily Cleaning
Surfaces: Any surface or accessory on or near a bathroom or kitchen countertop will need daily wiping down. This is especially true where you cook and things might spill. You can do this with a damp cloth or an antibacterial wipe that’s safe to use on wood, tile, porcelain and natural stone.
Floors: The mop and vacuum are two of the hardest working tools in your home. From floor to carpet, they’re daily lifesavers that eliminate mud, dust bunnies, pet dander, old cereal and crumbs. They give your home that illusion of neatness, order and cleanliness. Vacuum or mop up messes as they happen. This makes weekly whole-house cleaning easier.
Laundry: Families often need laundry done daily, especially when kids and adults need uniforms cleaned. That means wiping down the laundry area and hanging or folding clothing. Hampers are a clean home’s best friend. They’re a way to get everything dirty into one stylish container that puts items out of sight until they go into the washing machine. Choosing coordinating colors and materials in bathroom containers that hold toilet paper, magazines, books and other health and beauty items can also create the illusion of a clean house where everything looks organized and put away.
What Needs Weekly Cleaning
Bedding: If you ask any house cleaner, they’ll insist you change your sheets and pillowcases once a week or every two weeks. There’s nothing like sliding into clean sheets every night. This includes wiping down your pet’s bedding or laundering their beds’ removable covers, too.
Mirrors and windows: Wipe smudges away and your house will sparkle, especially if you have little kids or pets in the house. The most important areas are the bathroom mirror and appliance glass that attracts food spatters.
Decluttering: It’s easier to do this when every item has a storage home of its own. Put weekly newspapers in the recycling bin. Go from room to room and put things back in place. Corral everything into the kitchen junk drawer (it’s there for a reason). File, file, file to get out from under the paper pile. Go through your loose papers and identify the important receipts, notices, reminders and bills. Then put them in a designated spot, such as on one or two pinboards or chalkboards. Dedicate one board for each member of the household. Boards are excellent visual cues that keep you aware of your to-do tasks.
What Needs Monthly Cleaning
Refrigerator/freezer: It’ll be more of a pleasant chore if you tend to your refrigerator and freezer on a monthly basis. Regular, relatively frequent cleanings can keep these appliances in good working order. Throw out old food on a weekly basis. Clean the fridge monthly by removing all shelving and drawers. Wash these items in warm, soapy water. Wipe down the interior before you put them back.
Cabinets: Vacuum wayward crumbs and spilled seasonings out of the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Throw out broken plastic storage containers. Sanitize your garbage area.
Dusting: Dust or wash out glass and crystal candleholders, and anything else that needs a shine. The difference will be dramatic.
It’s the deep cleaning that makes your home’s scent change from good to better, although you can always get some help from candles, sprays and fragrance beads! With these easy cleaning schedules in mind (and perhaps a few scented products you love), you’ll transform your home into a spotless space where it’s even easier to relax.