Everyone wants to have a clean house but the reality of making that happen can be difficult. If you work a full-time job, have young kids, or just find that you have less time than it seems like you need you may find yourself and your family living in a messy house.
You aren’t a bad homemaker and you certainly are not alone if you are struggling to keep the entire house clean. I have spoken with many women who are struggling and they find this daily cleaning routine to be a lifesaver.
It does not take a lot of time. You will need to commit to around 20-30 minutes on a daily basis. That time can be tackled all at once or spread out during little pockets of the day. Whichever works best for you and your home. The key is to stick to this new routine so that you can really and truly see the payoff.
What Cleaning Should You Do Daily?
I have created a free printable checklist that gives you all of the information you need!
The printable is broken down by each of the main rooms in your home and tells you what are daily tasks, weekly tasks, and monthly tasks.
The cleaning guide will walk you through each room of your house and help you to keep track of what items in your home need to be cleaned and how often you should clean them.
Another free printable I have is my Homemaker Planner. The planner is created with homemaking in mind. It is a great resource to help you keep track of the daily cleaning tasks and other household chores you tackle that keep your home running smoothly.
Breaking It Down By Room
Here is a quick rundown of the cleaning tips that you will find in the printable cleaning guide. Remember that the printable version has much more information.
Daily Cleaning Checklist
- Kitchen
- Wash dirty dishes
- Wipe down counters
- Wipe down stove/oven
- Sweep/Vacuum kitchen floor
- Clean out sink
- Wipe down table
- Take out trash
- Living Room
- Tidy up any clutter
- Put any blankets/pillows where they belong
- Bathroom
- Tidy up any clutter
- Wipe down bathroom counters and bathroom sink
- Bedroom
- Tidy up any clutter
- Make the bed
- Laundry in the hamper
What Is A Good House Cleaning Routine?
In order to maintain a clean home I follow a daily cleaning schedule. This part of my daily routine has become effortless because I do it on such a regular basis. I attribute having a tidy home to these daily cleanings.
I have actually been following the same daily cleaning routine for several years now. That has spanned different homes and zero children, one child, and now two. I’ve also taught this routine to countless others and they have benefited greatly from it as well. Because the daily cleaning routine is so easy and straightforward it is easy to maintain for both full time homemakers or a stay at home mom and those who work outside of the home.
My Daily Cleaning Routine
There are just 4 simple steps I follow and the cleaning time usually runs around 20 minutes total.
- Make the bed(s)
- Do a 10 minute tidy
- One load of laundry
- Clean up the kitchen
That it! I know that even if I fall behind on my weekly cleaning schedule or have a particular rough day as long as I do those four quick and easy tasks I will be set.
You do not have to spend an entire day doing a huge deep cleaning of your home. This realistic schedule has been my life raft during pregnancies, newborn days, sickness, and just straight up busy schedules. I might go so far as to say that I do not think there is a better way. At the very least it has made a huge difference in my homemaking and I cannot imagine going without it.
You can read more in depth about my personal daily cleaning routine here.
A Few Notes On My Daily Cleaning Routine
1. Make The Bed
Making the bed every day has been shown to improve your sleep. I have definitely heard all the excuses in the world about why someone is not making their bed. And here is the thing if you really and truly feel so passionately about not making your bed then I’m not going to fight you on it. But I hope you will try it for two weeks and see what a difference it makes in your bedroom before rolling your eyes and calling me insane.
2. 10 Min Tidy
The ten minute tidy starts by setting a timer. Yes you really and truly need to set a timer. For those ten minutes move around your home at a quick pace tackling all of the flat surfaces in the home. I suggest that you start with the high-traffic areas. Your only job here is to take things that are not where they belong and move them to their proper places. You are not allowed to clean out the junk drawer, reorganize the hall closet, or start dusting the bookshelf. No. You may only focus on clutter during this ten minutes. If need be you can break it up into separate time chunks.
3. One Load Of Laundry
One load of laundry. What I am about to say does not usually make me any friends but here goes. Doing one load of laundry a day includes removing the clothes from the dryer, folding them, and putting them away. I recommend that you start with small loads of laundry. Do not try and fill the washing machine up to the tippy top. Aim for half or even a quarter of the way full if this is new to you.
4. Clean The Kitchen
Cleaning the kitchen at the end of the day is probably something you are already doing. I do not mean that you need to be wiping down cabinets or cleaning out the fridge. Instead I’m just talking about the basics. All of the information for this is outlined in the free printable.
What Should I Clean Weekly?
Making the beds and tiding up the flat surfaces in your home is great but when do you clean the windows or bust out the toilet bowl cleaner? A quick scrub or putting things in their proper place is only going to take you so far.
I have a separate weekly cleaning routine that I follow in addition to my daily cleaning routine. My daily cleaning routine are the four tasks that I do every single day. My weekly cleaning tasks however are various chores that change depending on the day of the week. So for example on Monday I might clean the bathrooms but the next day I am working on mopping the floors.
Unlike my daily cleaning routine that has stayed constant for years and all different season of life my weekly cleaning routine changes almost with the season. That’s both the season of the year and the season of life that I am in. You can read more about my weekly cleaning routine here.
In the printable cleaning checklists you have not only a list of daily tasks but also the tasks that need to be completed weekly and monthly. You can use the information in that free printable along with the resources in my weekly cleaning routine blog post to help you build a weekly cleaning routine that best suits your home and lifestyle.
How Do I Make A Daily Cleaning Schedule?
The first thing I recommend to anyone who is wanting to make a daily cleaning schedule is to follow my routine for at least two weeks.
If, after fourteen days, the routine is really and truly not working for you then you should definitely mix things up and try something new. There are a few reasons why I really suggest waiting the full fourteen days before throwing in the towel however.
First thing, forming a new habit is going to take time. If you are not used to cleaning every day then it will take some getting used to. Do not confuse frustration in the process with failure. Good things take time. Try doing your least favorite tasks first so that they are out of the way.
Let’s Talk Laundry
Some families have had more success with dedicating one specific laundry day rather than running the washing machine with one load every single day. I have never found that to be particularly effective for me however, it is a completely valid and reasonable way to run your home. If you do one load a day for the full two weeks and really feel like something needs to change then I would suggest your next step is to try doing all the laundry on one day of the week instead.
Finding What Works Best For You
At the end of the day it is what works best for you, your home, and your family that matters most. While I and many others have had success with the four step daily cleaning routine if after two weeks you find that it is just not doing the trick for you then it is time to try something else.
Use the checklist to see what tasks need to be completed daily and build your own routine from there.
You are not the same as me. Your family is different from mine. Your home is different from mine. Those are all great and wonderful things. It also means that what works beautifully for me may not work as well for you. The same is true about anyone else’s routine. What works well for your sister, best friend, mother, mother in law, or some random influencer may not be the best match for you. That doesn’t mean you are failing by any means. It just means that you are the perfectly wonderful and unique person that God created you to be and you need a solution that is also unique and wonderful.
Please do not beat yourself up or feel like you are less than as a homemaker, mother, or wife if this routine does not work for you. I really want to encourage you to give it the full two weeks before you decide that you need to make a change. But if after those two weeks you really and truly are not seeing the results that you want or you are struggling to keep up then please be kind to yourself.
Simple And Realistic Daily Cleaning Routine
It is absolutely possible for you to have a clean and easy to maintain home without breaking your back or dedicating half of your life to cleaning. As long as you stay consistent you will be so pleased with your tidy home and how welcoming it is.
Taking just a little bit of time each day, around 20-30 minutes, will make such a positive impact on your home environment. Remember also that you have the ability with this daily cleaning routine to do everything all at once or to break it down into small chunks throughout the day. That is part of what makes this routine so workable and saves so you much time.
Leave a Reply