How to Develop a House Cleaning Schedule That Works
Last Updated on August 21, 2024 by Alicia Michelle
Want to know how to establish a house cleaning schedule for your family… that actually works? Then you're in the right place!
Let's talk about some great tips on how to develop a cleaning routine to keep your house clean (that is flexible to your family's busy lifestyle and includes DIY natural cleaning recipes)!
This post isn't just a list of home cleaning tips that you can throw against the wall and hope one of them sticks. I want to help you develop a personalized household cleaning schedule that really will work.
That's why, before we get to the suggestions and tips, I need to tell you 5 key secrets to creating a realistic house cleaning schedule. These simple truths will set you up for success!
5 Secrets to Creating a House Cleaning Schedule (That Works)
1) Realize there is no perfect, one-size-fits-all cleaning routine.
I hate to disappoint you, but there is no perfect house cleaning schedule that will work for every family (trust me, I've looked).
My purpose is to share with you several house cleaning schedules (that other families use) so that you can experiment with different cleaning schedules and home cleaning routines to find one that works for your family this season.
2) Everyone has different opinions about the what, the where and the how often you need to clean your home.
No one but you can decide how often it's acceptable to clean your bathroom. You can determine the best method for folding and distributing laundry. It's up to you what aspects of a daily or weekly household cleaning routine are non-negotiable.
Your opinions about what constitutes an “acceptable” house cleaning schedule may vary vastly from mine. And that's OK, because I live in my house and you live in yours. Can we give each other freedom here? And on that note…
3) Consider your season and responsibilities when determining “acceptable” household cleaning routines.
s you have young kids at home, you're in the midst of a very demanding season (not that you needed me to tell you that). That's why you may need to lower your expectations of what a “clean” or an “organized” house looks like because of the extra demands on your time.
None of us have perfectly kept houses. We need to stop imagining that “other people” do (and that we just have to get it together more). Stop the comparing and define (with your spouse) what you deem acceptable for this season. Make your home cleaning routine fit your life. And be OK with it. Truly.
4) The house cleaning schedule may work for you now, but it may not work later.
Family life is an ever-changing entity. Each family member has needs, involvements and responsibilities that are in a constant state of change.
That's why your current house cleaning schedule may work for a season, but not forever. Try not to get stuck in discovering a “forever” routine because it won't happen. Instead…
5) Don't be afraid to experiment with a new home cleaning routine.
Try several home cleaning schedules until you land on one that works for you. And then if it stops working, try something else.
It really is that basic. Just pick something and give it a go! The main point I want to share here is that some routine (even if its an imperfect routine) is better than no routine.
Feel better? Good! Now it's time to discover some fantastic home cleaning tips to help you create the best daily and weekly household cleaning routine for your family!
My Family's House Cleaning Schedule
First, I want to share what my family's household cleaning routine looks like (at least right now as I type this).
We break our household cleaning chores into a daily cleaning schedule, a weekly cleaning schedule and twice-a-year cleaning tasks (spring cleaning chores).
Our Daily Cleaning Schedule:
Some cleaning tasks in our home need to be accomplished every day (and in some cases, more than once a day).
For us, these cleaning chores include dishes (in the morning and afternoon), pet care (feeding, grooming and waste disposal), and general clean-up (we have a 5-minute pickup of the downstairs in the afternoon; and the kids are responsible for cleaning their bedroom areas every morning).
Each of these cleaning tasks are built into our daily chore system (which is a whole other post) and are a daily part of our home's rhythm.
Our Weekly Cleaning Schedule:
Instead of planning to vacuum our house every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., we create open spaces in our week where cleaning activities are possible. For our family, that’s the late afternoons and right before dinner.
We purposely create open times in our schedule a few days a week for cleaning chores so that if the bathrooms really need cleaning or we need to tidy up because we’re having dinner guests, we can use that time without it impacting our family schedule too much.
However, we do make it a point every third Friday to deep clean the whole house. We start first by doing what we call a “sweep”: We work together to literally start in one corner of the house and put away what doesn't belong. We put ourselves on a timer to keep things moving along, and we follow a simple rule: Put it away, even if it's not yours.
Next, we divide into two teams: One group tackles the bathrooms and the kitchen; while the other group dusts, vacuums, sweeps and mops. It's a massive effort, but we can usually get it all done in three to four hours.
Other cleaning chores like laundry are done every single week without fail (every month our older boys switch as the main person responsible for this).
One last weekly cleaning chore: I also move any important kids school papers to their My Memory Box each week.
My Memory Box is an incredibly powerful (yet easy-to-set up) organizing system that keeps your kids precious artwork or treasured school memories neat and organized (instead of taking over your house).
I developed this product in order to deal with our own overflowing paper piles, and hundreds of families worldwide use this system! Check it out here.
Moving those papers over once a week really helps keep kids school paper clutter to a minimum.
Spring Cleaning Chores:
There's something incredibly satisfying about cleaning out the junk drawer. Or organizing that cabinet in your laundry room that's been out of control for months. Or getting rid of all those clothes in your closet that you never wear (because they're too big, too small, don't make you feel good about yourself, etc).
That's why once or twice a year we systematically go through our home and get rid of all that stuff that has just cluttered up our home (and our life). We use the principles in this incredible book to help us decide what to keep and what to toss when we do our spring cleaning chores.
Read more about our experience with tidying up (and it's life-changing power!) here.
What Do Other Families' House Cleaning Schedules Look Like?
- Miranda at Grace and Gravy shares her suggestions for staying on top of that laundry pile; plus a freebie for organizing all areas of the homestead.
- I love Becky Mansfield's Freed from Clutter! It's a great book with practical ideas on establishing and keeping a home tidy.
- Kristi at Raising Clovers shares her family's routine along with some great tips.
- Do checklists work for helping you stay on top of daily/weekly household routines? Here's a free daily to-do list from Becky at Tales of Beauty for Ashes.
Here are some other awesome home cleaning books that give great ideas too:
Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life
Cleaning Plain & Simple: A ready reference guide with hundreds of sparkling solutions to your everyday cleaning challengesOrganizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide With Hundreds Of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter ChallengesSink Reflections: (the FlyLady)What's a Disorganized Person to Do?The One-Minute Organizer Plain & Simple: 500 Tips for Getting Your Life in OrderSidetracked Home Executives(TM): From Pigpen to ParadiseThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and OrganizingSpark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
I hope you've found some inspiring ideas here to help you with your house cleaning schedule! Remember, just give one of these cleaning routines and/or cleaning tips a shot and experiment until you find something that works for you in this season.
Happy home cleaning!
Amazing works! keep sharing. Thank you. I appreciate the sincerity of this write-up of yours. Can’t wait to see more!
Agreed, Sammy. I totally support you in that! Our house is far from spotless, trust me, even though our youngest is 5. 🙂
We are right in the middle of ‘young kid season’ and have decided there are more important things than keeping the house spotlessly clean. It’s too much effort to go around picking up after a couple of toddlers all day.
Although not a homeschooling parent I can relate to #2. We babysit our grandkids through the week. I have learned to just calm down about the house. thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty
Thank you, Trena! Yes, it’s OK for us to all have our own way to getting it done, right?! Appreciate your feedback!
Excellent post. What is “right” for one family may not meet the needs of the next family when it comes to cleaning/chores. Thanks for sharing with #What to Read Wednesday. Hope to have you back next week.
Thank you! I think accepting that things need to be flexible can bring so much freedom! Thank you for sharing and stopping by!
Thank you, Susan! I agree that flexibility is the KEY to successfully running a homeschool. Our lives are constantly in flux and we need to be aware of those changes and be moving with that flow. My book “Plan to Be Flexible” and my “rhythm” course talk about that. I also like how you said that when you are flexible it “reduces the feeling that you are ‘failing.'” Absolutely true! If we can realize that, we can have the correct expectations about our daily school rhythm and understand that if things are working it doesn’t mean that we aren’t doing things “right.” Thank you for sharing your insight!
Good point about being flexible over the years. We had a system that worked great for us in our old house, but doesn’t work here.
Excellent post. I can’t tell you how many times in the last 20 years we’ve changed our schedule. And I’m not just talking changing every year, but semester to semester and month to month as kids adopt new interests and become part of different activities. Building in the flexibility is essential, and it reduces the feeling that you are ‘failing’ or falling behind because you couldn’t stick with an etched-in-stone plan.
Thank you, Amanda! I appreciate the encouragement! Have a great day!
I LOVE THIS !! I’m always interested in how other families run their days ! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kristy, great idea! Yeah, in our house, our kids have to finish all their schoolwork and chores before any free time. We’re a firm believer in everyone working together to keep the house running. 🙂
Excellent post.
We don’t homeschool, but right after homework (or before, if they want to move around first – it’s up to them), the kids have chores. One kid does the dishes daily. (I do any extra loads.) The 6 year old does a bunch of little things, like emptying trash bins, bringing all dirty clothes to one hamper, and sweeping under the table!
My kids don’t even realize that not doing chores is an option. Ha ha!
Thank you! Yes, I love to “glean and tweak” ideas too! 🙂 Appreciate your comments. 🙂
Great post! I love gleaning from what other moms are doing…then tweaking it to work for our family. Thanks for sharing this!