7 Days of Free Printables: Weekly Cleaning Schedule!
So you think you could benefit from a weekly cleaning schedule? I would guess you're here because you're ready to finally figure out a weekly cleaning schedule that sticks. If you can't remember the last time you dusted, or mopped, or even cleaned the toilets, let me tell you, you're in the right place! No shame here, friend.
Setting up a weekly cleaning schedule is a simple, effective way to organize your cleaning routine so you can keep your house tidy and comfortable while eliminating the stress of keeping track of your chores in your head. I’m going to get you started by outlining a weekly cleaning schedule example below, and then you can set up your own using today’s free Weekly Cleaning Schedule printable.
Let’s get cleaning!
Before we go into the details, I want to start by answering a few basic questions about weekly cleaning schedules.
How do I do a weekly cleaning schedule?
To start using a weekly cleaning schedule, the first step is to identify what needs to be cleaned every week. It’s worth mentioning that not all chores are created equal. Focus on the ones that are important to YOU.. Maybe you don’t care about dusting. Maybe you have dark-colored carpets that don’t show a lot of dirt and don’t need to be vacuumed on a weekly schedule. Maybe you have magical toilets that clean themselves! (Just kidding about that one, but wouldn’t that be nice!)
The bottom line is, this is a guilt free zone.. Choose what you want to get done every week, then schedule each chore for a particular day of the week. Using this method, you will do the same chores every Monday, a different set of chores every Tuesday, etc. Not only does this ensure that the chores get done, it takes the stress off of you for the rest of the week. No need to worry about vacuuming on Thursday when you know that Friday is your day to vacuum! (Check out my favorite vacuum cleaner here!)
Don’t forget to schedule some days off; rest is important too! Or maybe you want to schedule a “catch-up” day to clean whatever you didn’t have time to get to earlier in the week. Don’t be too rigid about it. Make it work for you!
What cleaning should be done weekly?
Again, the cleaning that gets done each week is really up to you. Don’t worry: I won’t be coming over to check on the cleanliness of your house! (As long as you promise not to come over and check up on mine!) But the fact remains that SOME things need to get cleaned every week.
Try thinking about what areas in your home are used most frequently. Maybe a bathroom that is just off of the main living area gets used all the time, while a guest bathroom upstairs rarely gets used and doesn’t need cleaned weekly. The most used areas are probably a good place to start when adding to your weekly cleaning schedule.
Similarly, the most visible areas of your home will need to be cleaned more often. Even if you don’t have company coming over to see them, YOU will see them, and just looking at clean spaces on a regular basis will help relieve stress and give you more peace. Maybe the fireplace mantle that you see all day every day will need to be dusted on a weekly basis, while a cabinet in the basement will not. Cleaning areas that are highly used and visible will get you the most bang for your buck.
What is a good cleaning schedule?
I’m so glad you asked! If you’re not sure where to get started, here’s a sample schedule you can use for some inspiration!
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Monday
I suggest starting from the top…literally! So for Monday on our weekly cleaning schedule, we’re going to:
- Dust and wipe down the top of our surfaces. You might have to do a bit of decluttering to get to some of these surfaces, so we can do that on Monday, too.
- Declutter and wipe down kitchen counters.
- Declutter and wipe down dining room table
- Declutter and dust living room surfaces (such as TV stand, mantle, end tables, etc.)
- Declutter and dust bedroom furniture (such as dressers and nightstands)
- Dust fans and light fixtures
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Tuesday
Because I like alliteration (and it makes things easier to remember!), let’s do toilets on Tuesday of our weekly cleaning schedule. While we’re at it, we can go ahead and clean the rest of the bathroom, too.
1. Clean toilets
2. Wipe down bathroom sinks
3. Clean bathroom mirrors
4. Spray/wipe down showers
5. Mop bathroom floors (if you’re feeling ambitious!)
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Wednesday
Trash day! Even if it’s not on Wednesday for you, there’s always one day a week that you need to go around collecting trash. Schedule these weekly cleaning tasks on whatever day that happens to be for you.
1. Clean old leftovers out of refrigerator
2. Wipe down the fridge (inside and out – maybe give it a quick dusting on top, too)
3. Gather trash from around the house
4. Wipe down any particularly dirty-looking trash cans and surrounding
baseboards
5. Wipe down kitchen sink (and maybe use a garbage disposal freshener)
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Thursday
Thursday can be a kind of catch-all day in our weekly cleaning schedule. We can do
the laundry and also get a few extra cleaning tasks done while waiting to start the next load. Feel free to substitute these tasks for whichever ones are most important to you:
1. Laundry
2. Wash windows and glass doors
3. Declutter toys
4. Sort the mail
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Friday
Since we started at the top, let’s end at the bottom by doing floors on Friday of our weekly cleaning schedule:
1. Sweep hard floors
2. Mop hard floors
3. Vacuum carpet and rugs
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Saturday
Saturday is going to be our day to catch up on whatever tasks we didn’t get to in our regular weekly cleaning schedule, because let’s face it: sometimes cleaning gets pushed to the back burner throughout the week! With this built-in catch up day, we can give ourselves some grace without falling too far behind.
Weekly Cleaning Schedule: Sunday
Take the day off on Sunday for some much-needed rest! You will set yourself up for success if you make sure to take some time to rest and not get burnt out on your cleaning. Sunday is a great day to do that. Enjoy time with your family and prepare yourself mentally for the rest of your week.
Weekly Cleaning Schedule Printable
This Weekly Cleaning Schedule printable is just the thing to help you keep track of these rotating tasks for the entire year! On the left you will list your weekly cleaning tasks. If you have too many to list, then try to list them in categories, such as “floors,” “trash day,” etc. On the right, you can check off the corresponding boxes. For example, for week one of January, put a check box in the “1” column under “Jan” for each of the weekly tasks that you complete. This will help you see what is getting done and help you keep track of what needs to be done on your catch-up day.
For months where there are five weeks, then that is just a bonus! You can take the week off or use it for doing less-frequent cleaning tasks. Your cleaning chores may change throughout the year, so feel free to list different tasks for the summer months than you did for January through April, etc. Make it work for you!
And remember that no one is policing this. Use the weekly cleaning schedule as a tool to eliminate stress by getting your chores down on paper and helping you make your home a more pleasant and peaceful place.
If you are ready to not only stay on top of your weekly cleaning, but ready to get rid of the chaos and clutter in your life, you will want to check out the Sweet Life Society. We have monthly challenges in our exclusive Facebook group and the encouragement and motivation you will receive is nothing short of amazing. Starting in January, we will kick-off our year of Monthly Challenges with our Decluttering Challenge. Last year, this event was incredible. Every day, our Society members were posting photos of what they had decluttered that day and it made you WANT to jump on the bandwagon and do some of your own decluttering. Be sure and check out the Sweet Life Society here.
Happy cleaning!
Copyright 2024, Get Organized HQ.