What should a weekly cleaning schedule include?
Every chore the home needs, sorted by how often it comes round, with each one given a day. A schedule that gets used is short on any single day and has a place for everything else. A good one has:
- A short daily list. The habits that stop mess from piling up: beds, dishes, counters, a wipe of the bathroom sink and a quick tidy. Keep it to what you would do anyway on a normal day.
- One or two weekly jobs per day. Bathrooms on Monday, dusting on Tuesday, vacuuming on Wednesday and so on. Spreading the big jobs over the week means no day turns into a cleaning day.
- A monthly list split into weeks. Baseboards, the inside of the microwave, fridge shelves, ceiling fans and vents. Put a few in each week of the month and they stop being a weekend project.
- A seasonal list. The jobs you only need every three months or so, like windows, the oven and behind the fridge.
- Tick boxes, so you can see at a glance what is done this week and what is still waiting.
- A name next to each job when more than one person lives in the home. A chore with no name on it tends to belong to whoever notices it first.
For a single clean of one room, a checklist works better than a schedule. Our kitchen cleaning checklist and bathroom cleaning checklist go through each room step by step.
Daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning lists
These are the default lists in the maker above. Use them as they are, or as a starting point for your own.
Daily cleaning tasks
- Make the beds
- Wash dishes or run the dishwasher
- Wipe kitchen counters and the stovetop
- Rinse and wipe the kitchen sink
- Wipe the bathroom sink and counter
- Quick tidy: put things back where they go
- Sweep the kitchen floor if needed
Weekly cleaning tasks by day
| Day | Tasks |
|---|
| Monday | Clean toilets, sinks, tubs and showers; Wipe bathroom mirrors and fixtures; Mop the bathroom floors |
| Tuesday | Dust surfaces, shelves and electronics; Wipe light switches, door handles and remotes |
| Wednesday | Vacuum carpets, rugs and floors; Shake out or vacuum the entry mats |
| Thursday | Wipe appliance fronts and cabinet handles; Mop the kitchen and hard floors |
| Friday | Clear out old food from the fridge; Empty all trash and recycling bins |
| Saturday | Change the bed sheets; Wash, dry and put away laundry; Wash bath towels and hand towels |
| Sunday | Check cleaning supplies and restock |
Sunday is kept light on purpose. Move the jobs to suit your week: if your trash goes out on Tuesday, move “Empty all trash and recycling bins” to Monday night.
Monthly cleaning tasks by week
| Week | Tasks |
|---|
| Week 1 | Wipe baseboards and door frames; Clean inside the microwave; Test smoke alarms |
| Week 2 | Wipe fridge shelves and drawers; Clean the dishwasher filter; Wash out the trash cans |
| Week 3 | Dust ceiling fans and light fixtures; Dust blinds and window sills; Vacuum air vents and return grilles |
| Week 4 | Wash the shower curtain or liner; Vacuum upholstery and under the cushions; Clean the washer drum and door seal |
Testing smoke alarms is on the monthly list because the U.S. Fire Administration says to test them monthly, and to replace the whole alarm 10 years from the date it was made (USFA: smoke alarms). While you are on the step stool, check the date printed on the back.
Seasonal cleaning tasks, every 3 months
- Wash windows inside and out
- Clean inside the oven
- Clean behind and under the fridge and stove
- Clean the range hood filter
- Wash pillows and duvets (check the labels)
- Vacuum and rotate or flip the mattress
- Clean lint from behind the dryer
- Scrub the bathroom grout
- Spot-clean walls, doors and trim
- Clear out closets and drawers
The dryer gets two jobs. The U.S. Fire Administration says to clean the lint filter before and after each cycle, and not to forget the back of the dryer, where lint builds up (USFA: clothes dryer fire safety). The lint filter is not on the schedule because it goes with every load, not with a day of the week. The back of the dryer is on the seasonal list.
If the seasonal list keeps slipping, book it as one deep clean instead. The deep cleaning checklist covers the same ground room by room.
How do you split cleaning chores in a household?
Put every chore on the schedule first, then share them out. Sharing chores goes better when everyone can see the whole list, not just their own part of it.
- Give each job one owner. Switch on the Who column and put a name next to every task. “Sam: change the sheets, Saturday” gets done more often than “someone should change the sheets”.
- Split by job, not by room. One person on bathrooms and another on floors works better than splitting the kitchen in half. Each person learns their jobs and gets faster at them.
- Match jobs to ages. Younger children can make their bed, put away laundry and tidy toys. Older children can vacuum, empty the dishwasher and take out the trash. Keep chemical cleaners with the adults.
- Balance by effort, not by count. Cleaning a bathroom is a bigger job than wiping light switches. Look at the whole week for each person, not the number of lines next to their name.
- Rotate the jobs nobody wants. Leave them on Anyone so they print with a blank line, and write in a different name each week.
- Put it where everyone sees it. On the fridge or by the door, not in a drawer. The tick boxes let everyone see what is done without asking.
What is a realistic cleaning schedule for busy weeks and working parents?
A shorter one. When work, school runs and activities fill the week, cut the schedule down to the jobs that matter most, and let the rest move to the weekend or wait a week.
- Keep the daily list to the basics. Dishes, kitchen counters and a quick tidy before bed. Switch off the rest of the daily list for now.
- One weekly job per weeknight, or none. Move the bigger jobs, like bathrooms and floors, to the days you are home earliest. Leave the busiest night of the week empty.
- Double up where it is easy. Wipe the bathroom sink while children brush their teeth. Start a load of laundry before dinner and fold it after.
- Hide the monthly list on a hard month. Switch off the monthly and seasonal lists, print a one-page schedule, and switch them back on when things calm down. Keep testing the smoke alarms, though.
- Keep supplies where you use them. A spray and cloth under each bathroom sink makes a quick wipe much more likely. Our cleaning supplies list is written for cleaning businesses, but the basics work for any home.
- Get help with the big jobs. Many families hire a cleaner for the weekly or every-other-week jobs, then keep a short schedule for the daily habits in between.
How do you stick to a cleaning schedule?
- Start smaller than you think. A schedule you finish most weeks beats a perfect one you give up on. Switch off anything you know you won’t do, then add it back once the rest is a habit.
- Tie jobs to things you already do. Change the sheets on laundry day. Clear out the fridge the night before the grocery shop. Empty the bins the night before collection.
- Print a fresh copy each week. Fill in the “Week of” line, tick as you go, and keep last week’s sheet to see what slipped.
- Move tasks instead of skipping them. If Wednesday never works for vacuuming, move it in the maker. The schedule should fit your week, not the other way round.
Between professional cleanings: a schedule for your clients
If you run a cleaning business, a printed schedule is a simple thing to leave with your recurring clients. It shows what your visits cover and what is left for them between visits, and it keeps your name on the fridge.
- Switch off what your visits cover. If you clean every two weeks and do the bathrooms, floors and dusting, turn those off. What is left is the daily habits and the in-between jobs, like changing the sheets and clearing out the fridge.
- Add your name and phone. They print at the bottom as “Your cleaners”, so the client knows who to call when they want an extra visit or a deep clean.
- Use it to sell extras. Leave the seasonal list on and mention you can take care of the oven, windows or behind the appliances on your next visit.
- Pair it with your checklist. Your crew works from a room-by-room checklist on visit day. Make yours with the free cleaning checklist maker, and hand the client this schedule for the time in between.
Running recurring cleaning visits for clients
We make BroomBook, a scheduling and booking app for residential cleaning businesses, so take this part with that in mind. Recurring visits can repeat weekly, every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks or monthly, and each one keeps the same day and time. Clients get a reminder text and email before each visit. Your crew gets a room-by-room checklist on their phone in the crew app, and adds photos as they go. See every feature or try the live demo.
Pick something else if you are looking for a family chore app with points, rewards or shared to-do lists. BroomBook is software for cleaning businesses, not for running a household. For your own home, the printable schedule above is all you need.
Sources
- U.S. Fire Administration, Smoke alarms: test monthly, and replace 10 years from the manufacture date.
- U.S. Fire Administration, Clothes dryer fire safety (PDF): clean the lint filter before and after each cycle, and clean the back of the dryer where lint builds up.