How Often Should You Clean Your House – with Printable PDF List

House Cleaning Schedule – the Ultimate Checklist

How Often Should You Clean Your House – with Printable PDF List. Let’s face it – no one likes to do housecleaning – especially me. I can straight up say I was never born to be a Susie Housekeeper. Seriously, I can think of 20 things I would rather be doing other than scrubbing bathrooms, cleaning my kitchen, dusting, or doing laundry. And I have wall to wall carpeting, yes even in my kitchen and parts of my bathrooms, so it’s a real drag to actually have to “drag” that vacuum cleaner out every day and run it through all the rooms in the house. So I don’t !!

But with that being said, if I let things go for too long then I’m actually busting my butt once a week or once every 2 weeks deep cleaning the shit out of everything – AND IT TAKES ME ALL FREAKIN’ DAY!! Probably explains why I hate housecleaning so much. Funny thing, now that the kids are out of the house and it’s just me and the old man here, my house chores are still the same – hmmm, somethings wrong with that picture right there.

Anyways – how to make things easier for me. Well it’s all in the scheduling. And “someone”, we won’t mention who, found a How Often Should You Clean Your House schedule in the newspaper and decided to hang it on the fridge. I saw it – didn’t say anything, didn’t acknowledge that it was there (no WORLD WAR III starting in my house). But I have to say … it is a damn good cleaning schedule and one that I’ve been following since the day it magically appeared on my fridge.

So here it is – the ultimate checklist for How Often Should You Clean Your House – and it’s one that I follow. And trust me – if you’re no Susie Homemaker and absolutely dread housecleaning like me – this schedule will make your life so much easier. Print it up and hang it on your fridge – and do it before someone else does it for you. HAPPY CLEANING … did I just say that 🙂

WHAT TO DO DAILY

Make Bed
Clean Coffee Maker
Clean Dirty Dishes
Wipe Down Kitchen Counters and Tables
Sweep Kitchen Floor
Wipe Down Bathroom Surfaces
Squeegee Shower Walls
Sanitize Kitchen & Bathroom Sinks

These daily tasks are not hard and are ones you should be doing anyways. Sanitizing the sinks and countertops – hello COVID !! And think about it – it’s so nice to wake up in the morning and not have a sink full of dirty dishes waiting for you, not having to walk on a kitchen floor that feels like the beach. And when the days over with and you’re tired from just life – it’s so nice to be able to jump into a cozy made bed.

Just get yourself into the habit of doing these things on a daily basis, because I have to tell you – waking up the following morning to CLEAN STUFF does wonders for your psyche’ and puts you in a great mood for the day.

WHAT TO DO WEEKLY

Do Laundry
Mop Kitchen & Bathroom Floors
Scrub Bathroom Surfaces
Clean Mirrors
Dust Furniture
Vacuum Floors & Furniture
Change Bedding
Toss Expired Food
Wipe Down Kitchen Appliances
Clean Microwave
Sanitize Sponges

I obviously can’t mop seeing I have wall to wall carpeting EVERYWHERE, so I do make it a habit to vacuum weekly. If I had pets in my home I’d probably do it more often, but having to deal with the old mans hair every where can be just as bad. Have I mentioned his bucket list was letting his hair and beard grow out? Yup – his hair’s longer than mine (thank God he wears it in a ponytail). And that beard – has to go !! OK – rant over. So if you have plain floors, then definitely get that mop out and clean them once a week.

And laundry – unless you’ve got a closet and a dresser stuffed with clothes, weekly laundry is a must. Seriously, got to keep those personal garments clean as well as the outer pieces of clothing like pants and tops. And laundry includes bathroom towels and sheets as well. I’m not going to lie – I have an abundance of towels and sheets so I put off washing them for a couple/few weeks.

Need a tip on how to clean the inside of your microwave? I learned this one years ago and it makes cleaning it a breeze – no matter how much food is gunked inside. Fill a bowl with 1 cup of water and several tablespoons of vinegar, stick it in the microwave and zap it on high for 3 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before opening the door, then remove the bowl, and wipe the inside with a sponge. Easy breezy – everything comes off. No lie !!

WHAT TO DO EVERY MONTH

Vacuum Vents and Woodwork
Dust & Clean Light Fixtures
Dust Blinds
Clean Dishwasher, Laundry Machines & Vacuum

Dusting the Blinds – this is pretty easy when your dealing with vinyl, wood, fabric, or aluminum – vertical or horizontal. Close them 3/4 of the way and run a feather duster, microfiber cloth or the brush attachment on your vacuum from top to bottom. Reverse close them another 3/4 of the way and do the same as before. Run a dryer sheet over each slat to help repel dust. Always start at the top and work your way down.

Cleaning your Machines – to clean your WASHING MACHINE use the special washer cleaner cycle on the newer models, or add a specialty cleaner and run a normal cycle with hot water. To clean your DISHWASHER you can descale it by filling a large glass measuring cup with 2 cups of vinegar and placing it on the top rack. Then run the machine without detergent or heat dry. To clean your VACUUM CLEANER just make sure you change your bag or empty the canister, when it’s three-quarters full to keep the suction strong. Replace the filter if it’s very dirty or torn. And always check the brush underneath because if the collected hairs and threads stop the brush from spinning, you can burn up the motor. So check it every month and snip all threads snarled in the brush with a scissors or a seam ripper.

WHAT TO DO EVERY 3-6 MONTHS

Wipe down inside of Fridge
Clean Range Hood
Wash Shower Curtain Liner
Clean Under & Behind Furniture
Clean Patio Surfaces and Furniture
Wash Pillows & Comforters
Vacuum Mattress
De-scale Coffee Maker
Freshen Drains & Garbage Disposal
Clean Inside of Oven
Clean Out Freezer
Wash Car

There’s a couple real important ones here, not that any of the other ones shouldn’t be done, but just don’t neglect these – your kitchen appliances, under and behind furniture, and your bedding.

For the kitchen appliances:
The refrigerator should be pretty easy if you’ve been checking for and tossing expired food every week or two. Then it’s just a matter of pulling the stuff out, wiping down the inside, and then putting everything back. It’ll take much longer if you have to check everything before cleaning the inside.

To clean the inside of your OVEN: start by wiping any loose bits of food with a damp sponge and then use the self-cleaning function on your oven to remove burnt-on grime. Wash your racks in the sink with warm, sudsy water and a heavy-duty scrub sponge. If you have an older oven, take all the grates out and wipe the inside of for loose bits of food. Put one grate back and place it on the bottom rack, and place a large metal baking dish filled with water and about 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Heat at 350° and let the water bubble and steam for a bit. Turn the oven off and spray the inside with a water and vinegar mix. Close the door and leave it be for 30 minutes. Then wipe everything down. If there are still spots you can make a paste of baking soda and lemon, or baking soda and vinegar, using some elbow grease on spots.

Your BEDDING is pretty much self explanatory. Just remember to WASH YOUR PILLOWS. Put down and fiberfill pillows in the washer and launder two at a time in warm water on a gentle cycle. Add an extra cold water rinse and spin cycle. Then tumble dry on low heat with a few rubber dryer balls. The same goes for your COMFORTERS – down and fiber filled ones can go in the washer as well. Use warm water and a gentle cycle and rinse in cold water. Just make sure to balance out the load or you’ll have a noisy situation on your hands.

WHAT TO CLEAN EVERY YEAR

EVERY YEAR
Clean Chimney & Fireplace
Deep Clean Carpet & Upholstery
Deep Clean Windows
Clean Around Dryer & Vents
Clean Drapes & Curtains
Clean Out Gutters

To CLEAN THE SHOWER CURTAIN LINER – you can launder plastic or vinyl curtains in the machine on the highest water level with a couple bath towels for extra agitation.

To DEEP CLEAN CARPETS – this one is for me for sure. If your home has a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting, rent or invest in a special cleaner to remove tracked-in dirt and stains.

To DEEP CLEAN WINDOWS – choose a dry, cloudy day to prevent streaks. Remove dirt and dust first, then spritz Invisible Glass Cleaner With EZ Grip on the panes and wipe with a microfiber cloth.

To CLEAN AROUND DRYER AND VENTS – Use the the crevice tool on your vacuum to suck up debris — a lot of excess fuzz can cause house fires!

And there you have it – your official House Cleaning Schedule, the Ultimate Checklist on How Often Should You Clean Your House. If you want to hang this schedule on your fridge for a reminder, just click the PDF LINK ABOVE and print it out. Until next time – enjoy your clean home.

What is your cleaning schedule like? Do you have any tips and tricks you can share to make cleaning life so much easier? I’d love to hear what you have 🙂