Maintaining, organizing, and cleaning your entire home is a necessity, but when you’re not sure how frequently to clean, and what to clean, things can become tougher.
It can be sometimes hard to decide how often you should be cleaning your home. Clean homes require ongoing care and effort. Having a cleaning schedule makes it easier so you can stay ahead of the dirt. So clean on a schedule, rather than letting your home become too dirty. Now let us discuss what you need to clean every day, week, bi-weekly, or monthly and what only requires cleaning once a season or even just twice a year.
Cleaning Frequencies and Tasks
What To Clean every day
Some things in your home need to be cleaned every day because any neglect can lead to household pests or health issues. Specifically, you should clean the kitchen and bathrooms regularly. There are ways to do it easily without much hassle. The following are some of the simple daily cleaning tasks you can do to keep your house clean, tidy, and organized:
Kitchen
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Adrian Busse
Wash dishes soon after eating and load the dishwasher: Try to was the dishes every single day after each use, whether you need to run the dishwasher or just do a couple by hand, this way your dishwashing becomes a lot easier
Wipe down countertops, disinfect kitchen sink, clean tabletop, wipe dinner table: To stay sanitary, be sure to wipe down your kitchen countertops at least once a day. And if you spend a lot of time cooking, always be sure to give them a good wipe-down after every meal to eliminate any lingering bacteria.
Your kitchen sink can be very unassuming, but it too needs good cleansing on a daily basis! A quick rinse of dish soap and warm water will do the job.
Sweep the kitchen floors every day as kitchen floors become the dirtiest after cooking.
Also, wipe oven spills after use and empty the dustbins.
Bathroom Surfaces
Just like your kitchen countertops, the surfaces in your bathroom needs to be cleaned daily. Be it water stains, built-up dirt, makeup residue, loose hair, and other allergens is likely to accumulate every day, therefore bathrooms must clean every day.
- Squeegee shower walls and doors after every use
- Wash and disinfect faucet, door handle toilet handle and seat
- Wipe down sinks and vanity after use
- Quick-clean toilets
- Change towels and hand towels if required and air them
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Julia Van Arsdal
Bedrooms
Organizing your bedroom is very important. You can start your day by making your bed every day, this will give you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in the morning, even though it is a very small task. It not only helps to maintain an orderly bedroom, but it also ensures that your sheets will stay crisp and fresh while you’re away. Plus, nothing is better than climbing into a tidied bed at night, right? Other things that you can also do to keep the room you spend the most time and a relaxing time in are:
- Open the windows to let sunlight and air in
- Put dirty clothes in the hamper
- Wash laundry as needed
- Tidy up clothes and keep them in place (in the closet)
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Julia Sperling
What To Clean Every Week
The easiest way to manage weekly chores is to categorize them into parts, so you can complete one or two tasks every other day. You can make a weekly routine of cleaning certain surfaces or rooms — for example, cleaning your microwave oven on Thursdays. This schedule will make the process more efficient and a productive experience.
Wiping counters and faucets every day keeps your home tidy and keeps pests away, but it isn’t a substitute for more intensive weekly cleaning. Kitchen and bathroom surfaces require weekly cleaning to control bacteria. You should change bed linens every week to reduce dust mites and wash makeup brushes every week to get rid of dead skin cells, bacteria, and oils.
Your weekly cleaning schedule is the time to move things off surfaces before you start cleaning them.
Bathrooms
- Mop the floors
- Wipe the bathroom cabinet
- Wash or vacuum the bathroom floormats and bath mats
- Scrub the bathtubs, showers, and toilets
- Clean the mirrors, glass, countertops, and the sink
- Empty the trash cans
Kitchen
- Throw out expired or stale food
- Mop the kitchen floors
- Vacuum or wash the floor mats
- Wash and sanitize the countertops and sink
- Clean inside the microwave
- Run them through the dishwasher or microwave them
- Clean the handles on the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher
- Wipe down the fronts of all kitchen appliances and electronics
Bedrooms and Living Rooms
- Change the bedsheets
- Vacuum or sweep the floors and rugs
- Wipe the furnitures
- Clean the mirrors and other surfaces
- Dust the ceiling fans, light fixtures, and lamps
- Wipe the TV screens and other electronics, sanitize TV remote controls
Bi-Weekly Cleaning Tasks
Some tasks don’t need to be done daily, but your home will benefit if you do them more often than once a week.
- Sweep or vacuum entry mats
- Mop heavily occupied areas in the kitchen
- Change bath towels, wash them and air them
- Vacuum high-traffic areas if you have pets or kids
- Wipe dining chairs and other furniture
What To Clean Monthly or Every Few Months
Apart from the daily and weekly tasks, monthly cleaning helps maintain the overall organization and cleanliness of your home, which helps keep your appliances running smoothly, as well as dusting out-of-reach places and surfaces in your home.
- Clean the dishwasher
- Clean inside the washer and dryer
- Vacuum the vents
- Wipe down the baseboards and windowsills
- Clean the doorknobs and door handles
- Dust the tops of doors
- Vacuum or sweep inside the closets
- Empty and wipe down the pantry and refrigerator shelves
- Clean your mattress, allow sunlight exposure
What to Clean Every Six Months
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 larger jobs that aren’t done regularly.
Bathrooms
- Clean the showerheads
- Clean the faucet heads
- Wash the shower curtain liner
- Clean dirt from the bathtub and shower
- Empty, clean, and reorganize all the bathroom cabinets and shelves
Kitchen
- Clean the refrigerator an freezer thoroughly after removing shelves and drawers
- Clean the inside of the dishwasher
- Clean all cabinets and shelves
- Empty the drawers and wash silverware trays and other storage items
- Clean the drawer and cabinet liners
- Deep clean the oven
- Clean the coffeemaker and other electrical appliances
- Clean the kitchen faucet head
- Clean grout from the tiled floor
- Sterilize kitchen countertops and sink
Bedroom and Living Room
- Flip your mattress
- Clean your carpets
- Wash the mattress pad and dust ruffle
- Wash the comforter or duvet and pillows. Or take them to a laundromat if they are too big for your machine.
- Clean the inside of drawers and closets
- If possible, move the bed frame to vacuum underneath it and behind the headboard
- Move the furniture and vacuum or sweep behind and underneath it
- Run your pillows through the dryer and sunlight
- Polish the silver and dust all decorative items
According to the change in seasons, you can seasonally clean windows, patios, outdoor furnishings, gutters, walkways, and garages.
Yearly Cleaning Tasks
The list of annual tasks is short and straightforward but shouldn’t be skipped These specific tasks may require 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 professional cleaner if you need help with certain tasks.
- Clean the drapes and curtains or bring them to a dry cleaner
- Steam clean the rugs, carpets, and upholstery
- Pull all appliances away from the wall, unplug, and clean behind them
- Clean the fireplace and hire a pro to sweep the chimney
- Powerwash the exterior of your home and hard surfaces like concrete and brick
- Clean out file cabinets and shred unnecessary papers
- Purge your closets of unworn clothes and other items, and then donate to a local shelter
- Clean fireplace during spring
- Have the chimney inspected generally during fall
- Drain sediment from water heater
- Steam clean or shampoo carpets and furniture
