It’s important to keep your house clean. A clean house is more hygienic and less capable of spreading diseases. It’s also more resistant to wear and tear over time, prolonging the lifespan of many of your home fixtures. Perhaps most immediately important, a clean house is more aesthetically pleasant and more comfortable to live in.
However, not all areas or fixtures need to be cleaned at the same rate. Whether you contact a professional cleaning service or do the work yourself, you’ll need to know what you should clean and when you should clean it. Ultimately, it’s most helpful to categorize these cleaning responsibilities in what you should do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Daily
Let’s start with the daily cleaning tasks that will help you keep your home organized and clean:
- Kitchen surfaces. The kitchen is where you’ll prepare your food and spend a fair share of your time, so any bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms around can be downright dangerous. Every day, you should take a few minutes to wipe down all kitchen surfaces, including your countertops, stovetop, and sink, with disinfectant.
- Dishes. Nobody truly enjoys doing dishes. If left to our own devices, most of us would leave a sink full of dirty dishes overnight with no hesitation. But this can turn into a breeding ground of bacteria, and ultimately make it harder to clean those dishes. Accordingly, you should commit to cleaning all your dishes every night.
- Bathroom surfaces. Similarly, bathrooms get dirty fast. You don’t have to spend more than a few minutes per day, but do try to wipe down bathroom surfaces with a cloth and disinfectant.
- General decluttering and organization. Commit to spending just a few minutes every day decluttering; pick up items that are strewn about and put them where they belong, or organize piles of things that need sorted. If you do this consistently enough, you’ll never end up with a mess that’s intimidatingly big.
Weekly
Some jobs are more intense, or else the dirt and dust doesn’t accumulate as frequently. These jobs you can handle weekly:
- Kitchen deep clean. The kitchen needs some extra love each week. Instead of just wiping the counters down quickly, give them a good scrub. If you use the stove and oven regularly, clean them on the inside and outside. Wipe down your microwave, and see if your cabinets need a wipe-down. You may also want to wash the sink thoroughly, and get into nooks and crannies you may overlook during daily cleaning.
- Bathroom deep clean. Your bathroom also deserves deep cleaning each week. Scrub the toilet and sink, and make sure you clean out the bathtub. If you do this consistently enough, the job will never be too hard.
- Dusting. Surfaces accumulate dust faster than you think. If anyone in your family has allergies, this can be a nightmare. Spend some time wiping down the surfaces of your home with a clean rag.
- Vacuuming. If you have carpets, vacuum them. This is especially important if you have pets, or conditions that produce more dust, dirt, and debris.
- Sweeping and mopping. If you have hardwood floors or other hard floors, sweep and mop them at least once a week.
- Sheets and/or laundry. It’s important to wash your sheets regularly, since you spend so much time sleeping on them. They get dirty quicker than most people realize. Once a week is ideal for most families.
Monthly
Your cleaning schedule may vary, but for most people and most households, these jobs are best handled monthly. If cleaning and organization is a lower priority for you, once or twice a year may be plenty.
- Major decluttering. Tend to the areas you might neglect on a regular basis, like the attic, the basement, or the garage. A once-a-month visit may be all it takes to keep things from getting out of hand.
- Ceilings and fans. You probably don’t pay much attention to the ceiling, including your ceiling fans, but they can gather a ton of dust. Wipe them down or wipe them off once a month.
- Baseboards. Similarly, the baseboards around your walls can also accumulate dirt and debris. A damp cloth and a basic wipe-down is all it takes to get them in good condition.
- Behind and under appliances. Another commonly neglected area is behind or underneath your major appliances. For example, how often do you clean underneath and around your refrigerator, or stove?
If you adhere to these basic cleaning schedules, you’ll be much more likely to enjoy a hygienic, clean, orderly, and pleasant home environment on a regular basis. Keep a list of these household cleaning activities visible and accessible, and distribute responsibilities among your family members if necessary.