Complete Step by Step Checklist for Cleaning the Entire House

House Cleaning: Does a Checklist Help Make it Faster, Quicker and Easier?

House cleaning? We know, we know, it’s not exactly an enjoyable chore. But it doesn’t have to be time consuming and daunting either. An effective schedule can help you manage and follow through on all the important tasks that need to be done in a timely manner as well as ensure you don’t forget.

In this blog, we provide you with a comprehensive house cleaning checklist that will make this task so much easier and faster!

Let’s get started!

Perfect Step by Step House Cleaning Checklist Guidelines

When it comes to creating the perfect house cleaning checklist, the most important thing is maintaining a schedule. When this is done correctly, everything seems to fall into place.

The key is to create a schedule that is realistic so that it works to fit both your home and your time. This could determine whether you have to do it weekly or monthly.

• The first and foremost thing you need to do is create a routine of what exactly must occur for a thorough house cleaning.
• This starts with you grabbing a notepad and walking through every space in your home to figure out the number of rooms, number of items in the room that need cleaning, areas and other miscellaneous cleaning tasks required at least monthly for a deep cleaning.
• Next, begin by listing down your rooms that need weekly cleaning. This includes but is not limited to hallways, stairways, entryways and much more.
• For now, leave areas out that don’t need much cleaning such as a storage area and guest rooms. These can be added later on into your seasonal house cleaning checklist or whenever required.
• Then visit each room in your house individually and list the number of house cleaning tasks you need to perform and bifurcate them into weekly, monthly and seasonal.
• Ensure you go from top to bottom, that is, from the cleaning of your ceiling to your floors so that you follow a consistent and same order every time you clean.
• Now that you have what it takes to build your initial final house cleaning checklist. Here is a sample one to consider:

Daily House Cleaning Checklist for Every Room

• Wash dishes
• Dust all ceiling fans and clean them with a damp cloth
• Clean door handles and frames
• Vacuum carpet areas and dust other items in the room
• Mop or sweep floors
• Wipe down cabinets and baseboards with damp microfiber cloth and use an extendable wand/stick for hard to reach areas.
• Dust picture frames, blinds, lampshades and furniture
• Wash windows and remove window screens and rinse them
• Dust, wash and vacuum curtains

Weekly House Cleaning Checklist

Every Room

• Mop floors and vacuum them
• Empty your garbage can
• Dust all surfaces in the house along with frames, door handles, furniture and fans

Bedroom

• Declutter your closet by removing clothes and cleaning it
• Vacuum mattresses as well as your carpets
• Do laundry by washing your bed sheets or pillow covers.
• Wipe down mirrors on the dressing table or any cupboards
• Dust and clean window frames and ledges

Living Area

• Clean digital devices or electronics such as remote controls and consoles.
• Dust lamps and lampshades
• Put away unused items and empty trash
• Vacuum and sweep/mop floors
• Clean windows and window ledges
• Dust furniture
• Dust any other surfaces

Kitchen

• Wipe kitchen appliances and refrigerator shelves
• Disinfect countertops as well as cabinets
• Clean the kitchen sink and tap
• Clean the inside and outside of a microwave thoroughly
• Empty any garbage cans
• Mop and vacuum the kitchen floor
• Dust and clean windows and all other surfaces
• Clean and wipe down cabinets
• Empty out the refrigerator and throw out waste
• Remove everything from fridge and freezer and clean thoroughly
• Clean pet bowls

Bathroom

• Wash and clean towels
• Scrub toilets and disinfect
• Wipe down mirrors and window sills
• Mop bathroom floors
• Dust all other surfaces
• Disinfect the shower curtain liner to prevent mould buildup
• Clean shower area or bathtub
• Disinfect sinks and countertops

Monthly House Cleaning Checklist

Kitchen

• Thoroughly clean oven and stovetops
• Wipe cabinets and window sills with damp cloth
• Clean out the dishwasher
• Dust and scrub all surfaces in the kitchen
• Clean all steel appliances
• Clean kettle and coffee press
• Dust out all light fixtures and ceiling fans

All Rooms

• Clean outside windows
• Wash curtains or drapes
• Dust out the blinds and wipe window sills
• Wipe all light switches
• Vacuum below and in the cracks of furniture
• Replace light bulbs and damaged sockets (if any)
• Shake all carpets to remove dust
• Empty vacuum canister
• Scrub all surfaces in the bathroom and other areas as needed
• Dust and wipe ceiling fans and cabinets

Seasonal House Cleaning Checklist

• Take out or put new screens in window panes during winter months
• Clean blinds and curtains
• Dust all plant vases
• Wash all pillows
• Drain out hoses during fall
• Clean all walls
• Flip bed mattresses and vacuum
• Clean all bedding (bedsheets, comforters and covers)
• Prevent clogging in bathtub by pouring vinegar in drains
• Replace water filter every 6 months or as per manufacturer instructions

Now that you’ve got house cleaning down to a wire, ensure that you have all cleaning supplies and tools readily handy to help you perform the tasks on time,

Determine how often you want to clean each room, whether weekly or once in two weeks. This will be based on your lifestyle and the time you have. For instance, if you are away from home most days, you will require less cleaning as opposed to if you are a house with small children or pets.

You might also notice that public shared spaces such as the kitchen or bathroom require more cleaning than a private space such as a bedroom.

Deciding the time when you will clean is also crucial. For example, you can clean everything in one day, decide a time for each cleaning task say 30 minutes for wiping cabinets or decide what day you will clean which room,

For example, Monday for bedroom and bathroom, Tuesday for living room, Wednesday for kitchen and so on.

Final Takeaways

Put your house cleaning checklist to the test for the first month. What might work for others, might not be convenient for you.

Don’t become overwhelmed if it doesn’t work out according to the planned schedule. That’s what the practice run is for. Once your practice month has come to an end, reevaluate what worked, what didn’t and what could be made better by shuffling or replacing the house cleaning tasks.

Keep reminding yourself you didn’t fail the schedule, the schedule failed you. So keep trying until you find the perfect one that suits you. Lastly, form the habit of sticking to your new and improved checklist. Remember practice makes perfect!

Ali December 7, 2021 cleaning