Your Home Cleaning Schedule

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for cleaning. Whatever your personal cleaning type may be and how often and how much you like to clean at once, it’s good to know which things actually need to be regularly cleaned and which ones can wait a month, a season, or a year. 

Below is a basic schedule of what tasks ought to be done in your home and how often.

Every Day:

• Make your bed. (In fact, research shows that doing this simple task every day not only makes your home look tidier, but it lowers stress, improves happiness, and leads to better productivity!)
• Wash dirty dishes. 
• Empty the dishwasher and refill it with dirty ones as you use them.
• Take out the trash. 
• Wipe down counters in the kitchen and bathroom. 
• Declutter, putting away items left on counters, tables, and floors, to keep things from piling up.
• Put away clothes in drawers and closets or toss them into the laundry hamper.

Weekly:

• Dust surfaces (tables, dressers, windowsills, bookshelves, media units, nightstands, etc.).
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Wash towels, washcloths, and bath mats in the washing machine.
• Wipe down appliances (refrigerator, oven, microwave, etc.).
• Clean up grease or food spatter from kitchen counters, the microwave, and the backsplash.
• Clean mirrors.
• Scrub kitchen and bathroom sinks.
• Clean toilets.
• Clean showers/tubs.
• Wash laundry.
• Throw away old food from the refrigerator and wash their containers (if not disposable).
• Sanitize frequently touched places such as doorknobs, drawer handles, keyboards, or remote controls.
• Change and wash sheets and pillowcases.
• Fluff pillows and comforters.

Monthly:

Because you’re more likely to forget tasks that only need to be done once a month, it might be helpful to set alarms on your phone calendars to remind you about them.

• Clean windows and picture frames.
• Dust window treatments and baseboards.
• Clean vacuum filters.
• Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, and vents.
• Mop hardwood or tile floors.
• Clean shower curtains and liners. Be sure to read washing instructions.
• Scrub stovetops, including burner grates, which can usually go in the dishwasher.
• Clean cabinet doors and kitchen drawer fronts.
• Clean garbage cans and lids.
• Dust the top of the refrigerator.
• Vacuum furniture upholstery.
• Run the self-clean cycle in the washing machine.
• Shake out area rugs.

Seasonally:

• Clean out closets, changing out clothing and shoes so that the clothing you’ll be wearing is close at hand and out of storage boxes.
• Clean your outdoor areas and prepare for the upcoming season, whether you’re getting patio chairs and grills ready for summer or putting cushions and umbrellas away and turning off hoses for the winter.
• Wash pillows in the washing machine. Check instructions on labels.
• Discard expired food items.
• Wipe the inside of the refrigerator.
• Clean pot racks. 
• Donate old clothes.
• Clean out makeup drawers/bags and throw away what’s expired. 
• Clean shower heads.

Every 6 Months to Once a Year

• Deep clean oven.
• Empty and clean cabinets and pantry, including shelving.
• Vacuum/dust refrigerator coils to keep the refrigerator from overheating.
• Vacuum mattress.
• Deep clean refrigerator and freezer.
• Clean behind appliances.
• Clean water tray and replace water filter in refrigerator.
• Clean out garage.