How to Clean Your Home
Cleaning your home can feel like a much bigger job when you do not have a system for doing it. You clean one room, notice something that needs to be done somewhere else, walk into another room, and suddenly you are doing five different things without actually finishing anything.
A cleaning routine does not have to involve spending your entire weekend scrubbing everything from top to bottom. The goal is to have a way to work through your home that prevents you from repeatedly cleaning the same areas or overlooking things that need attention.
You also do not need a cabinet full of specialty products. A few basic supplies can handle most routine household cleaning.
Start With the Right Supplies
Before you start cleaning, gather what you need. Walking back and forth to get supplies wastes time and makes it easier to lose track of what you were doing.
For general cleaning, you can usually get by with:
All-purpose cleaner
Disinfecting cleaner or disinfectant
Glass cleaner
Dish soap
Sponges or scrub pads
Microfiber cloths or cleaning rags
Paper towels, if you use them
A broom and dustpan
A vacuum
A mop
Trash bags
Rubber gloves
Your don't need all of these, in fact most things can be cleaned with dish soap and vinegar.
However, if you do opt for chemical cleaners, always check the label before using a cleaner on wood, stone, stainless steel, electronics, or other specialty surfaces. Some cleaners can damage finishes.
Never mix cleaning chemicals unless the product specifically says they can be combined.
In particular, never mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar, or other cleaners including dish soap. Basically, do not mix bleach with anything.
Dangerous gases can be produced.
If you are cleaning with children or pets in the home, keep cleaning products out of their reach while you work and return them to a secure storage location when you are finished.
Pick Up Before You Clean
Before the process of wiping things down begin, start by picking up items.
Remove cups from the counter. Put dirty clothes in the laundry area. Return toys to their rightful place. Aim to pick up items that will get in the way, even if you're doing a quick clean. Not only will it look cleaner nearly immediately, it will make the rest of the process easier.
If you want to get multiple things done at once, as you are picking items up:
Start the laundry wash cycle or run the dryer
Load the dishwasher and run a cycle
Spray or use cling gel inside the toilet
This allows you to get other tasks done while you clean, doubling the work done in the same amount of time.
Work from room to room, and if you are dusting, also dust ceiling fans, shelves, and decor while you are in the room.
Clean From Top to Bottom
Once the clutter is under control, work from higher surfaces toward the floor.
For example, in a bedroom you might dust shelves and furniture first, wipe down surfaces, clean mirrors, vacuum or sweep, and then mop if the floor requires it.
The reason you want to work top to bottom, is because if you start at the bottom then dust, you will have to repeat cleaning the bottom as dust or other debris fall down.
The same principle works in the kitchen and bathroom. Clean higher surfaces before cleaning the counters and work your way down. Expect crumbs, dust, left over bits and pieces to fall on the floor. This can be vacuumed or swept up after you clean the counters, and before you mop.
A useful order for many rooms is:
Pick up clutter.
Dust or wipe higher surfaces.
Clean countertops and other surfaces.
Clean mirrors and glass.
Clean sinks and other fixtures.
Vacuum or sweep.
Mop hard floors.
Having a basic sequence keeps you from bouncing between unrelated tasks.
Give the Kitchen and Bathroom Extra Attention
Some areas of the home need more frequent cleaning because they come into contact with food, moisture, body products, or a lot of hands.
In the kitchen, regularly clean countertops, the sink, stovetop, refrigerator handles, cabinet handles, and other frequently touched surfaces. A quick disinfectant can be enough to prevent illness, but you still want to wipe up crumbs and spills as they happen. Allowing them to build up can make them much harder to clean.
Do not use the same cleaning cloth for food preparation surfaces and the bathroom.
Keeping separate cloths or sponges for different areas can help prevent you from spreading dirt and bacteria around your home.
The bathroom generally needs attention around the toilet, sink, shower or tub, and frequently touched surfaces such as door handles and light switches.
Soap residue and hard-water buildup can become more difficult to remove when they are allowed to sit for long periods. If residue has been sitting for a long period of time, vinegar and Bar Keepers to make a scrubbable paste can be extremely helpful for hard water stains on glass, water marks on faucets, and built-up rust and scum.
Not all cleaners are spray and wipe either.
If the label instructs you to leave a disinfectant on the surface for a certain amount of time before wiping it away, follow those instructions rather than spraying and immediately wiping. An example of cleaners that need time to sit before being wiped are bleach, Lysol, toilet foaming spray such as Scrubbing Bubbles, and more.
Create a Routine You Can Actually Maintain
You do not have to deep clean your entire home every time you clean. It's hard to keep up with, and unrealistic to expect to always be able to clean everything.
Instead, separate routine cleaning from less frequent tasks. Dishes, trash, wiping kitchen counters, and dealing with obvious spills may need attention every day or several times a week.
Vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, changing bedding, and mopping may fit into a weekly routine depending on your household.
Less frequent tasks can be handled when they are needed, such as cleaning inside the refrigerator, washing windows, cleaning baseboards, or moving furniture to clean underneath it. Aim to do tasks like this once a month, or at least every three months.
A simple routine might look like this:
Frequency | Examples |
Daily or as needed | Dishes, spills, food preparation areas, trash, clutter |
Several times a week | Kitchen surfaces, bathroom sink and toilet, sweeping high-traffic areas |
Weekly | Vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the shower or tub, changing bedding |
Monthly or as needed | Refrigerator cleaning, dusting less-used areas, cleaning appliances |
Occasionally | Windows, baseboards, behind appliances, deep cleaning |
Your schedule may look different depending on how many people live in your home, whether you have pets, how much you cook, and how much traffic each room gets.
The most useful routine is one that you can repeat. If cleaning your entire home every Saturday takes six hours and you constantly put it off, breaking the work into smaller sessions may be easier. You could clean the bathroom one evening, vacuum another day, and handle the kitchen on another.
Cleaning also becomes easier when you deal with small messes before they become larger ones. Wiping up a spill immediately takes a few seconds. Removing dried, sticky residue later can take considerably longer.
Final Thoughts
You do not need to clean every part of your home every day. Focus on keeping frequently used areas clean, dealing with messes before they become harder to remove, and handling less frequent cleaning when it is actually needed.
Having a basic order for cleaning can also keep you from wasting time. Pick up first, clean surfaces before floors, give kitchens and bathrooms regular attention, and keep the supplies you use together.
Up Next: Laundry seems simple until a favorite shirt comes out of the washer two sizes smaller or a dark shirt turns an entire load pink. The next article covers how to sort clothes, choose the right water temperature and cycle, use detergent correctly, and read care instructions before putting something in the washer or dryer.
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