This post is sponsored by the makers of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes, the quick and easy way to clean and disinfect your home!
I get a lot of emails asking about my cleaning schedule after I wrote about my typical day on Joanna’s blog. I truly do not love cleaning, but I know that I’m so much happier with life when my house is clean. Don’t you feel the same way?
A couple years ago, right after I had Claire and when Gracie was old enough to really start doing some damage, I was feeling like I would never have a clean house again. (I also thought there was a good chance I would never get to sleep through the night again. :) good times) I was picking up the house all week long it felt like, and then I would do all my laundry and deep cleaning on the weekends. That meant my Saturday was completely gone and that the house was totally dirty again by Monday morning. Stresses me out just thinking about it.
Then one time I was visiting a friend’s house who had three rambunctious toddler boys. I walked into her house for the first time and my jaw dropped. Her house was CLEAN. Like, I’m not talking about tidy – tidy is not always possible during the day with kids, but it was clean. She is one of those amazing mothers who is really active with her kids, so I knew she didn’t spend all day neglecting her boys to clean the house. I was surprised and a little jealous of her sparkly floors so I begged her to share her secret. She laughed and said she kept a chore chart, which I thought was hilarious! What grown woman has a chore chart?! Suddenly I had to have one!
I copied her chart and have been using a slightly tweaked version ever since. I can’t say that I’m always following through here, but when I do, my house is practically spotless and best of all, I don’t feel like I am cleaning all the time – which honestly was the hardest part for me of being a stay at home mom in the early years.
It looks like a lot, but I think even on the most intense days I’m only spending 30 or 40 minutes in aggregate cleaning (though we live in a 1500 sq ft apartment, so your home might require a little more time). I’ve listed the chart here below, and here’s a simple printable version.
So the basic idea is this: there are daily chores – easy things you should take care of almost habitually in the morning and in the night, and then there is a single special chore of the day. Most of these chores end up getting done once a week (for example, every Monday I do a deep vacuuming of all our rugs. I took only one interior design class in college and I only remember a handful of things from that class. One of them was a tangential comment my professor made about vacuuming. She said that you should go over the same area on a rug SEVEN times super slowly to get it clean. Isn’t that just nuts? I don’t do that, but I do try to do a slow vacuuming on Mondays.). Friday though is the swing day, where you rotate in chores that need to be done less frequently, like scrubbing the microwave.
I’ll walk you through today’s cleaning schedule. It’s Tuesday. I wake up and make our bed. It won’t get done unless I make it as soon as I get up. The girls are getting good about making their beds too. After I finish getting ready I wipe down the bathroom counters and the sink. While I’m making the kids breakfast I empty out the dishwasher.
Then life happens and the house sort of falls apart during the day.
Then at night the girls help me clear the table and load the dishwasher. Michael does the trashes. Once the kids are in bed I quickly sweep or vacuum the kitchen and dining room and I might pop into the living room too. I keep a wet rag with me and as I go I’ll spot clean the floor. My goal is fast and furious cleaning!
And here’s where my baskets come into play. I keep them everywhere. I really love this basket that I posted about yesterday because it is super sturdy and holds its shape. I zip through my house every night with this basket, throwing in every misplaced item, then going back to each room once and put the things back where they belong. It takes me just a few minutes to pick up a day’s worth of clutter this way. No more running back and forth and back and forth from room to room putting things away. Try the basket method – you’ll never go back!
Plus – another bonus of having your pretty baskets out in every room? If you have a friend coming over right away, you can just corral everything in the basket super fast and no one’s the wiser.
Once the house has been de-cluttered, I do my chore of the day (today was cleaning the mirrors and windows), and then I’m done! It might sound like a lot, but I promise it isn’t. When I’m consistent with this schedule, I never have to do one of those marathon cleaning days to get back to ground zero. The house never has a chance to get really dirty, so the cleaning never feels like a true chore. It feels easy and, dare I say it? Pleasant?
So that’s my approach to cleaning in a nutshell. I know we all have our special tricks, and I’d LOVE to hear yours!
Today’s super-sized give away is $350 to Target AND $150 to the Container Store and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment sharing your favorite cleaning or organization tip. I can’t wait to see what you guys do to keep your spaces sparkling! Any other crazies out there with a chore chart? :)
Contest ends March 22. Winner will be announced on the 23rd. Contest rules can be read in full here. Good luck!!
I am a big fan of the "set a timer" school… if you dawdle over chores they can take over your life, but knowing you are under the gun makes you really move and it is almost fun. Also: I try to keep things where they are used. Like… keep the spare garbage bags IN the trash can, under the bag currently being used. Or all the materials for salad making go together in a single bin in the fridge. Want a salad, just pull the bin from the fridge. Want to make chocolate chip cookies, just pull that bin from the pantry.
I am a big fan of the "set a timer" school… if you dawdle over chores they can take over your life, but knowing you are under the gun makes you really move and it is almost fun. Also: I try to keep things where they are used. Like… keep the spare garbage bags IN the trash can, under the bag currently being used. Or all the materials for salad making go together in a single bin in the fridge. Want a salad, just pull the bin from the fridge. Want to make chocolate chip cookies, just pull that bin from the pantry.
Hiya… my best tip: the timer. If you dawdle, chores can take all day. Set a timer and the race against the clock is almost fun!
I use a chore chart because otherwise I forget EVERYTHING! I set my timer for 20 minutes and whatever isn't done goes over to the next day.. it usually takes me less than 20 minutes to do my whole house if I actually clean every day!
This may sound crazy, but I actually love to clean. I think the secret to a clean house in consistency. I have the same quick routine in the morning that I do daily. It takes about a half an hour. In addition, like Jenny, I have a job each day of the week. I also love to use baskets for organized clutter. A clean house just makes me feel so happy!
hmpetersen@netzero.net
I think the best advice I ever received was to make your bed and do your dishes every day and then your home will never feel too messy! WOrks for me And I love the chart. I am full time mom and full time professional so I feel like I lose a lot of mOm time cleanIng…. I think this chart will help me out tremendously!
I have a chore chart for myself, very similar to yours and now that my kids are older a chore chart for them too. They also "owe" me one hour of cleaning on Saturday morning made up of whatever I think needs to be done most.
I drop a load of laundry into the washer every night, put it in the dryer as soon as I wake up, and then put it away when it's done. Everything gets washed without huge piles or an all day task.
lovelydomesticdiva (at) gmail (dot) com
I'm more of a feast or famine cleaner. I need to invite people over now and then so I'm forced to clean. I hate the idea of people popping in because usually my house is not visitor-ready. But when I do clean, I'm very thorough.
I use Murphys Oil Soap for reviving paintbrushes that have dried on paint, even if its a lot of paint. I learned this handy trick while I was student teaching. Take your paintbrush and find a container that is just a little bit bigger than it is wide. Place brush in container crusty side down and pour in enough Murphys to cover the area crusted in paint. Wait a few days to a week and then viola the hard paint turns into goo and it also clean and conditions the bristles!
I use Murphys Oil Soap for reviving paintbrushes that have dried on paint, even if its a lot of paint. I learned this handy trick while I was student teaching. Take your paintbrush and find a container that is just a little bit bigger than it is wide. Place brush in container crusty side down and pour in enough Murphys to cover the area crusted in paint. Wait a few days to a week and then viola the hard paint turns into goo and it also clean and conditions the bristles!
I clean my kitchen sink using baking soda and white vinegar. Eco friendly and cheap!
Swish the toilet clean before I jump in the shower. I never have to deep clean it…unless there is an explosion of some sort…
I love the idea of a printed chart! Thank you! I clean a little everyday but having a go-to chart would make it even easier. I love having a clean and organized house. I remember reading a comment from Miles Redd that said "decorating is pointless without proper housekeeping." I love using this quote to defend my organized ways!
Cleaning a little everyday, having a designated place for everything, and editing are key for me. Having lived in NYC with kids, I also love using vertical space and hidden spots for storage. For instance, I store some of my children's toys in multi-drawer carts on casters that I stow in walk-in closets. I also have pull-out drawers under skirted furniture and beds. Yes, I am a little happily crazy about organizing!
I focus on bathroom, kitchen, and laundry… the rest may or may not get done. With a newborn and a 2 year old boy im lucky to brush my hair!
I have a very similar chore chart and I love it! But my tip is that a bar of Ivory soap removes practically any stain. At the end of the day, I take any stained item of clothing, rub a slightly moistened bar of Ivory on it, and stick it in a sink of cold water overnight. In the morning, wring it out and throw it in the laundry (obviously, let it dry first if you don't do laundry that often so it doesn't mildew). I'm telling you, blackberry stains come out in ten minutes. It's amazing.
I'm a new stay at home mom and have spent so much of this precious time with my kids trying to keep my head above water regarding house keeping. This is great and inspirational. My tip isn't incredibly innovative, just see what you can do when you have a few extra minutes! I've also been sneaking old toys out the door once little ones sleep…
I'm a new stay at home mom and have spent so much of this precious time with my kids trying to keep my head above water regarding house keeping. This is great and inspirational. My tip isn't incredibly innovative, just see what you can do when you have a few extra minutes! I've also been sneaking old toys out the door once little ones sleep…
Love the chore chart for ME. The one thing that I have been doing that helps a lot is to give my self a time limit of how much time I need to spend on cleaning after I put my son to bed. I usual try hard to clean for at least, but no more then, 30minutes each night.
Are you kidding me!!!! I'm 60 y.o. I have never cleaned like that, I clean when the spirit moves me. My house has always been picked up, but could have used some cleaning. I enjoyed my life with my kids too much, no regrets.
The following has very nearly eliminated ironing for me: before dumping your newly washed wet clothes into the dryer, shake out each piece first and then remove clothes promptly from the dryer when it has completed it's cycle. No ironing + more free time with my baby :)
I love the chore chart! I have a set of chores that I do daily as well and one major one for that day, for which time and energy allows. I have just recently placed a small towel on our bathroom vanity to immediately wipe away water splashes on the vanity, mirror and the chrome faucet. I hated seeing water marks on everything so this has helped a great deal. Plus I don't have to scrub as hard come bathroom cleaning day!
I love this chart! I work full time, run my husbands business and have a toddler with another baby on the way and always feel like I need some sort of routine because the house always drives me nuts! I am always so jealous of my friends who seem to have it together but I really think I can make this work! My only "trick" is I try to wash dishes as I am cooking so I don't have a huge stack of dishes after dinner… I think with this chart I will start using the dishwasher!
Whoever does the dishes (which are done twice a day)also has to clean the counters, stove tops, and wipe down the table. It only adds maybe 10 minutes at most to the chore, but it keeps everything so much cleaner.
I made a chore chart with WAY too many chores per day…I couldn't keep up, and then gave up trying altogether.
I am back to square one: I do one load of laundry each day. And I make sure the kitchen sink is empty of all dishes and sparkling clean before I go to bed.
Thanks for your chart–I'm giving that a try ASAP!
thank you for the chart and tips, I love the basket clutter idea! My life saving organization tips are definitely making the bed as soon as I get up and keeping a clean kitchen sink and bar
My best cleaning tip is to keep Clorox wipes in all the bathrooms and the kitchen … just makes it soooo easy to wipe everything down right away …. because if I have to go into another room to get cleaning supplies I'll get distracted and never come back!
I had a baby in October so I had to make a list to keep me on track. It looks like this:
Monday:
Dishes
Laundry
Deep Clean Bathroom
Tuesday:
Deep Clean Kitchen
Sweep/Vacuum
Wednesday:
Dishes
Trash and Recycle
Change Bedsheets
Thursday:
Laundry
Sweep/Vacuum
Friday:
Dishes
Trash and Recycle
Make Grocery and Meal List
I also have a chore chart, but I'm guilty of wasting time and procrastinating, so sometimes things don't get done. A tip I need to put in to practice (from Emily A. Clark, above) is to just get moving and do something. Also (from Anna), having a cleaning chore and a household management chore seems like a great way to cut down on those little nagging tasks.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Thank for the advice! I absolutely must try this :) I found this on pinterest and loved the visual aspect of it. I made my own and tailored it to my own day-to-day. It's been awesome!
http://pinterest.com/pin/216524694554457525/
My clean up trick – ha ha, not sure if it is a trick or not – is to pick up my living room every night, it is our family room/living room/play room and often has toys and blankets all over the place. But if I do a quick pick up nightly, it is so nice to come into in the morning without the mess. It FEELS better! mrsmollysharp{at}gmail{dot}com
With four kids, doing 1-2 loads of laundry daily is mandatory. Matching socks was so time consuming that I bought four baskets labelled with each child's name. I keep the baskets on top of the washer and dryer. When laundry comes out of the dryer I put individual socks into the kids' baskets and they ball their own or not! I also keep Chlorox wipes and a toilet brush in each bathroom for quick clean ups.
Vinegat is my best friend. I use it for EVERYTHING. I use it to mop, I used it diluted with water and with tea tree oil as a bathroom cleaner, I use it as a fabric softener. It's just as good, if not better than store bought disinfecting cleaners, and so much healthier. I have pets who go in the bathtub and bathroom since, so I always used to worry about chemical cleaners. I'd never go back now!
I've started using my 21-month old daughter to help me pick up things off the floor. At 37 weeks pregnant, it's getting pretty hard to bend over! She also LOVES when I get out the vacuum and holds onto the cord to "help" me.
I try to do pick-up of stuff during the week for 15-30 minutes a day, then tackle all of the major cleaning on Sunday to start the week off right. Also, for laundry, I always use spray and wash on stains right when they happen to make sure that by the time I get to doing the laundry, I don't have to scrub out major stains as well. Key for kiddos that stain clothes like mine do!
The hubs and I share duties. I hate to wash dishes, so he does that. He hates changing the sheets- so I do that. We both aren't huge neat freaks, so it's funny how the house will get totally crazy and then we both snap and go- we have to clean this place up! And then go in a cleaning frenzy! somehow it all works though.
My kids 13,11, and 9 are each in charge of a room during the week: kitchen, bathrooms, living room/porch, if at anytime they see something that needs to be cleaned or put away in there room they just do it. This has been helping them to remember to pick up after themselves, they have realized that if they put that knife in the dishwasher as soon as they are done using it they have less to clean up.
I use a vinegar/water spray on my kitchen and love the way it smells, no chemicals! I just add a little baking soda if I need extra scrub strength.
I just came across your chore chart and it has been printed and hung up on my wall!!! THANK YOU!! I am currently working on making sure that my kitchen counters are wiped down every night and the dishes are loaded and running before I go to bed. Between the dishes, the garbage, and the bathroom, the house, if not looking out for those three, can get stinky REALLY fast!!
My favorite tip is just to not let the cleaning pile up. Rinse dinner's dishes before bed or hang your work dress up when you change into comfies after work. That way when Saturday finally comes around the first half of your day off isn't spent cleaning.
I have found that keeping up with the day to day stuff is easy, but the deep cleaning constantly eludes me. I have two random days off every week and I set aside two hours on one of my days off to clean, and usually get something big done, like the stove refrigerator or floors and moulding. and the feeling you get when you are done…it's worth every second.
One thing that has helped me is when I deep clean a certain room, i.e, our bedroom (which seems to be a catch all for clutter and misplaced items), I place all the items that don't belong there in one basket or box to take to the rooms they belong in. I used to take each item as I found it and I always found myself distracted, but now I am more focused on getting the job done.
I use the step method. I always somewhat neatly arrange shoes other randoms along the steps of the staircase. Every time I make a trip upstairs I grab a handful.
I have always used a chart. I also love to create new ones so I can get excited about using it. Then it fades and I have to create a new one just so my house gets clean.
With lots of little kids at home and a newborn, my best cleaning gets done when we wake up and after we have laid all the kids down for bed. Any cleaning done in between is undone within 5 minutes!
I have 2 school age kids and 1 toddler. I have the older ones help me with cleaning on the weekends. They can clean their rooms, clean their bathrooms, and even vacuum. It may not be perfect but every bit helps!
rra7@hotmail.com
I have always used a chart. I also love to create new ones so I can get excited about using it. Then it fades and I have to create a new one just so my house gets clean.
What is the solution when you live with slobs? Anybody??
If I keep the view when you first walk in my front door 'neat' thats my head above water.
I keep a thing of clorox wipes each and every room of my house so the mess can be wiped down easily. We use canister bins to keep organized. Can't have too many of those bins!
lovemesomedots10 at hotmail d0t com
I wish I had a system of some kind. My husband and I work full time, and my daughter is 4 1/2 now, but we still don't have a great cleaning routine. It drives me nuts some days, but I have learned to let some things go in order to spend more time with my family. I'm picking up a lot of great tips here!