3 Best Weekly Cleaning Schedules

Click through for a walkthrough of the three most POPULAR weekly cleaning schedules, how to decide which one is for you, and tips for making it work!

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So, you’ve got a messy house and no plan of action to get it cleaned every week. You do random cleaning tasks each day. There’s no rhythm to what you are cleaning.

OR maybe you feel overwhelmed by the mess in your home and you want to know the best way to get things done. Efficiently. Maybe you also want to know WHAT should be cleaned on a weekly basis.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve googled “what should I be cleaning each week“, or “best weekly cleaning schedule“, NOT when I was creating this post. BUT for myself in the past. For my own benefit, because I had those same struggles I listed above.

I’ve learned over the years, that there are really only about three weekly cleaning schedules out there (or a variation of these three).

Knowing that has made me feel a little less intimidated! Weekly cleaning is simple and I can do my own variation of these three popular schedules, and everything will be just fine.

Of course, every home and every homemaker is different, so you’ll have to adjust ANY cleaning schedule to fit your home and your needs. That’s the fun part! Decide on something to loosely follow, and then make it your own.

Today, I am sharing with you three of the most popular weekly cleaning schedules. Over the last ten years as a homemaker, I have tried each one of these schedules at some point in time!

I’ll give you a general over view of each one, tips for making it work in your home, and some printables so you can give it a try!

Ready?! Lets get you the perfect cleaning routine for your home! But first……

Cleaning Routines

Before we get into the different cleaning routines and schedules, lets first go over WHAT should be cleaned on a daily basis and WHAT should be cleaned on a weekly basis. Remember I used to Google this?! Maybe you have too!

Depending on how often different areas of your home are used, will determine how often something needs cleaned. How important it is to you that its cleaned can also be a factor.

Again, this may be different for everyone, but there are a few cleaning tasks done on a daily and weekly basis that are pretty universal.

If you’re a cleaning junkie, here are some other posts that might be helpful for you!

How to Plan Your Week as a Homemaker

DIY All-Purpose Cleaning Spray

How to Get Some Cleaning Motivation

What Should be Cleaned Daily?

Here are some of the cleaning tasks that should be kept up on daily:

• make beds
• load and unload dishwasher
• one load of laundry
• spot sweep & vacuum floors
• wipe down countertops (possibly bathroom surfaces as well)
• quick tidy X3
• empty trashes

What Should be Cleaned Weekly?

Now, what about cleaning chores that should be done on a weekly basis?! This is what will make up the gist of your weekly cleaning schedule.

• deep cleaning bathrooms
• sweep, vacuum, and mop floors
• wash glass and mirrors
• dust and wipe down all surfaces
• catch-all areas

Okay, now that we have a general idea of what should be cleaned on a daily and weekly basis, lets get into the cleaning routines!

One Big Cleaning Day

This is the weekly cleaning routine I am currently using! For this cleaning schedule, its really simple. You just set aside one day of the week to tackle ALL of your weekly cleaning for that week.

This is more involved, and may not work for homemakers that work out of the home, or aren’t home for long periods of time, unless you want to use one of your weekend days to do it.

What I love about this cleaning routine, is that it frees up the rest of my week for other things like a project day, a baking day, etc.

I think life is all about mindset. Cleaning your whole house in one day can seem too intimidating for some, while for others, its mega satisfying!

If you’d like to give it a try, here are some tips to make it work:

• Put some thought into the day of the week that you choose for your cleaning day. Choose a day of the week where you’re usually home all day, and won’t be interrupted. If you host family on the weekends and want a clean home for them, maybe Friday would work. I love to do my cleaning day on mondays, because I’ve usually rested most of the weekend, so I am itching to get back to cleaning. Our house is usually the messiest by Mondays!
• Make a list beforehand, either that morning or the night before, of the major cleaning tasks you want to do. Put a star next to the priority tasks, get those done first. If something happens to come up and you don’t get to all of your weekly cleaning chores, at least the priority ones were done!
• If you have kiddos, plan ahead some activities and games that will keep them occupied for long periods of time. You can also only do these activities or games on your cleaning day each week, so they’re more interested! I get out a box of toys first thing in the morning
• Don’t forget your dailies! Your cleaning day can be all consuming, and I’ve had one too many full cleaning days go by where I got all of my big, weekly chores done, but I never made the beds, the sink was full of dishes, and I didn’t get to any laundry. This just makes the day discouraging because even though you tackled a bunch of things, it won’t FEEL like it. SO, don’t forget to keep up with your dailies.

If you want to give this weekly cleaning schedule, click the link HERE to download a copy!

Different Chores Each Day

The next weekly cleaning schedule, is the different chores each day method. Basically, instead of doing all of the cleaning tasks mentioned above, in one day, you do a different chore each day.

This cleaning routine works great for homemakers who work out of the home! It doesn’t take up a ton of your time each day, maybe 15-30 min every day. Its also not as overwhelming and intimidating.

At the same time, you will have to try to be diligent about making it a habit every day to get your cleaning chore done.

A cleaning routine like this might look like the following:

Monday – dust & wipe surfaces

Tuesday – vacuum & mop

Wednesday – wash glass & mirrors

Thursday – bathrooms

Friday – extra laundry

Saturday – catch-all day

Sunday – REST

Here are some tips to make the Different Chores Each Day Cleaning Routine work:

• Again, plan ahead of time what chores you’ll be doing each day. Think about the natural flow of your week. If you have more time on Fridays, maybe use this day to do the chore that will take the longest amount of time for you.
• Have one day a week be a catch-all day where you just get to anything you didn’t get to. You could also use this day to walk around your home and deep clean and organize whatever areas are bothering you the most.
• Always plan a day where you just rest! Its easy to tack chores onto every day of the week, but a full on rest day is just as important as all the other chores.

Download the printable below to get started by clicking HERE.

Different Zone Each Day

Okay, the last weekly cleaning schedule to discuss! Woohoo! In the Zone Cleaning schedule, you’ll basically be breaking your home down into different zones. Each day of the week you’ll focus on and clean a different zone.

The zones you choose is really just different rooms. For example, Monday might be bathrooms, Tuesday is kitchens, Wednesday is living room, and so on.

This cleaning routine can be really satisfying because you’re cleaning an entire room at one time. It will feel amazing to walk out of that room when you’re all done.

Its efficient because you’re staying in one room at a time, but its also NOT efficient because maybe you’re getting out the mop bucket, filling it up, getting your mop, all to clean one small floor area of a room. Does this make sense?

Of course, all of the cleaning routines have pros and cons! This one might be great for you. If you’d like to try it out, here are some tips:

• choose zones that make sense for YOUR home, not just ones you’ve picked off the internet. If you have a playroom, but you don’t have a mudroom, the playroom will be one of your zones, and not a mudroom, even though mudroom might be included on that cute Pinterest printable;)
• make your cleaning more efficient by gathering all of your cleaning supplies at one time, taking them to the area, and then putting them all away when you’re done.
• again, make it work right for your schedule.. if Mondays are your busiest day of the week, be sure to choose an area for this day that will be easy.
• keep a running list of things you’d like to clean and get to in each zone.. prioritize tasks in that zone and do the priorities first, in case you get interrupted or aren’t able to finish.

Lots of people LOVE zone cleaning. If you’d like to try it, use the printable checklist below to get you started.

You guys, that’s it! Those are the three most popular weekly cleaning schedules. Do you feel a little more confident in choosing one?! Don’t worry, you can always change it up.

Give one a try today, and try another one a few months down the road. Like I said, I have use each one of these cleaning routines at different points in time. And I plan to switch it up again in the future!

Let me know in the comments below if you use any of these and which one is your favorite! Happy homemaking.

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