• Make the beds. You don’t need to change the sheets every day, but just straightening out the bedding can transform a room almost instantly.
• Wash the dishes. Whether you hand wash your dishes or load them into a dishwasher, you should try to clean all your plates, bowls, and cutlery on the day that you use them. Unclean plates can grow mould, creating potentially hazardous particles that can cause illness. – Use washing up liquid for hand washing or dishwasher tablets for the dishwasher
• Wipe down surfaces – for the kitchen it is important to wipe down worktops with an antibacterial cleaner to prevent germs from multiplying especially after any food preparation. Good kitchen hygiene is one of the best ways to prevent picking up foodborne germs.
• Do laundry if needed. You may not need to do this every day, but for families with children who regularly stain their clothes with food and paints, it’s best to wash stains out immediately.
• Put away clean clothes. Clean clothes that sit in a laundry basket for a week are at risk of becoming dirty again due to spills, dust, and animal hair. Once your clothes are clean and dry, hang them in a wardrobe or fold and place into drawers to keep all your clothes looking their best.
• Do a quick tidy. Spend ten minutes simply cleaning up, hanging up coats, putting away shoes, and other related tasks. This will create a clean, safe floor space for the next morning.
• Give a quick vacuum. You don’t need to spend an hour taking the vacuum around the whole house/flat, but just quickly sucking up all the dust, dirt, and germs that have accumulated throughout the day will make a big difference to the cleanliness of your home.

• Wipe down cupboards. If you’ve been busy in the kitchen during the week, you may notice some spots and spills from cooking that you’d missed when clearing up. Use a damp cloth or a dedicated kitchen cleaner to wipe down cupboard doors and drawer fronts.
• Clean the cooker top. It’s so easy to spill food onto the cooker top whilst cooking, and cleaning it up is often the last thing you want to do after a big meal. Choose a time once each week to remove the burners and clean off any oily residues.
• Throw out old food. Take a look through your refrigerator once a week. Anything that is beyond its use by date, throw out! You could get ill from eating out-of-date food, particularly meat, dairy, and eggs.
• Take out the bins. When you do this should really depend on when your waste collection is. You may find it easier to have separate bins, or boxes to make it easier when it comes to sorting your rubbish and recycling.
• Clean the bathroom. Use an antibacterial wipe for basin taps and flushes, use a disinfectant in the toilet pan, and wipe down your bath and the shower cubicle or curtain.
• Vacuum thoroughly. As you should be quickly vacuuming every day, this task shouldn’t take too long. It’s simply a chance to make sure your carpets and rugs are clean and fresh.
• Mop your hard floors, ensuring you use the correct cleaning product as using the wrong product could damage your floor.

There are a few house cleaning activities that really don’t need to be done any more frequently than on a monthly basis, and some people might not do them at all! When making your house cleaning schedule, consider adding these sporadic tasks:

• Wash the windows. Using a squeegee and either some warm soapy water, a mix of vinegar and water, or a glass cleaner, wipe down your windows and mirrors to keep them crystal clear.
• Declutter your home. If you find that you haven’t used any items in the past month – and you don’t anticipate using them in the near future – consider decluttering your home. You could throw them away, sell them, or give them to charity.
• Clean the furniture. Furniture like sofas and chairs can accumulate dust and dirt over time. Vacuum them each month, and air them by opening the windows and letting the breeze work its magic.
• Get rid of odours. With cooking smells and all the other smells of general living, your house can start to smell after a while. Try sprinkling carpets and furniture with some baking soda before vacuuming. The powder is great at absorbing smells.

Putting your House Cleaning Schedule into Action

Now that you have your house cleaning schedule, don’t panic! If you feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to ask for help from anyone that lives in the same home, and give yourself some time off. If you’ve got children and they are old enough, ask them to tidy their own rooms and make their own beds to give you more spare time. And be sure to give yourself an entire day off from any chores once a week – a time to relax and to enjoy your clean and tidy home!

Tip:

Weekend Garden Tending – If you regularly need to do any tidying up in the garden, add these tasks to your weekend house cleaning schedule. This way, you can include the rest of the family in these tasks, combining necessary chores with family bonding time and outdoor activities.