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!!
We try to stick to our chore chart. The one thing that helps me is making sure that all of the dishes are done before bed and that the counters are wiped down in the kitchen. Having a clean kitchen, for some reason, keeps me on my toes and keeps the rest of the house picked up. When my husband and I are watching tv, we use the commercials to tackle one small cleaning/organizing project.
When I really don't want to clean (most of the time), I make a deal with myself: only clean for as long as a TV show is on. Since there is a definite start and end time I dread it much less.
tbg.tbd@gmail.com
I think I need a chore chart too so I wont' feel so overwhelmed. So when do you dust? That seems to take up a lot of my time.
i'm a terribly non-habitual cleaner. this post and these comments are motivating though. mayhaps some tidying is in store!
Wow, I'm so impressed. It makes sense, but I'd love to hear tips from people with pets too. Most of my cleaning seems to concentrate on dog hair and dirty paw prints!
Great chart – thanks! I like the idea of cleaning bits and pieces all week, rather than spending large chunks of time on Saturday cleaning things like the bathroom.
Yes, we have a chore chart, also. It includes one load of laundry (which sometimes morphs into two) each day, one cleaning task, and one household business item (paying bills, etc). I homeschool our 5 children, so our chore chart also includes something every day that my kids can help with. I love having a clean house!!
I am a big fan of the basket-sweep as well. My other secret weapon is taking 15 minutes with the kids at some point during the day to make sure that their rooms are totally tidy– they sometimes get overwhelmed by where to put everything, so I direct and they tidy up. That way we never have any black holes of dirty in the house, and it makes it that much easier for me to get in there and clean without having to clean up first!
I like to spray a think coating of bleach on my porcelain sink. Let it sit for a few minutes, rinse, and it's sparkling clean. No scrubbing!
One thing I can get behind on really quickly is ironing my husband's work shirts. He is about to be an attorney and works at a firm and likes look and feel sharp at work and dry cleaning is too expensive for us. I now do a load of laundry every other day and while I am in between loads I will iron a couple of shirts. This way, I will only spend minutes behind an ironing board instead of an hours or so.
My biggest cleaning tip is get rid of stuff! De-clutter. It seems so obvious yet so many people with clutter in their houses and cars. I am on a 40 day challenge for lent( 3 Peanuts idea) I get rid of one bag of goodwill or trash everyday. I am going to post your chore chart on my fridge. Other than waiting until Saturday for laundry , I think it will work for me( 5 kids and one laundry doesn't work, lol) . Thanks for the chance!
I probably do the woodwork and windows less often but the floors and loading the dishwasher more often. I am a freak about disinfecting the kitchen counters and sink so it happens a lot.
My favorite cleaning tip is probably from Jordan Ferney, she suggested cleaning the bathroom while your kids are taking a bath. It is a nice use of time :)
My biggest "cleaning" tip is to use the "furminator" religiously… get the dog hair out of the dogs OUTSIDE so it doesn't go all over everything INSIDE!
I have a similar chore chart. My new rule is no dishes left in the sink over night!
Don't be afraid to give your counter-tops a good blasting too when you're blow-drying your hair in the AM :)
ugghhh cleaning… i generally use wipes and those handy dandy swifter sweepers. also love baskets- now have a mail basket to keep those pesky bills in.
I have a very similar schedule but I have to do a load of laundry everyday. I also keep a basket in our family room and my kids are responsible for putting their toys in there before their bedtime. Now that my kids are 6, 5, and 4 now I am hoping to give them more responsibility in the cleaning area as well!
I keep an extra bag or two at the bottom of every trash can. That way I can quickly gather up the trash when I'm in a hurry. – Jen
I love keeping a stash of cleaning supplies in every bathroom, that way I can do a quick run down of every bathroom and I dont have to take the cleaning supplies with me to every room.
like you, doing a little bit everyday helps! Especially in the bathroom where there is a quick build up of hair products over everything!.The clorox wipes also are helpful in keeping the germ factor down…(at least in my mind!)
like you, doing a little bit everyday helps! Especially in the bathroom where there is a quick build up of hair products over everything!.The clorox wipes also are helpful in keeping the germ factor down…(at least in my mind!)
My biggest thing is putting dishes away before going to bed. Sometimes that means putting dishes away and reloading the dishwasher and sometimes it's just loading the dishwasher. My son (2) helps put away his toys every night and I wipe down the kitchen counters and stove. Doing these 3 things helps keep the house looking nice even if I can't do a deep cleaning.
Jenny,love reading your blog. When the kids were little I used baby wipes to clean quick bathroom mess (2 boys). I kept wishing someone would invent wipes for cleaning… along came Clorox wipes. I missed my opportunity. I love my Clorox wipes. I also use a Magic Eraser for wall cleanup, baskets for everyone and 5 minute "Molly" clean up, even though kids are 11,18,20. Lucky me, everyone does their own laundry.
I love the idea of a chore chart – I always just wait until I have a day off & just clean the entire house! Exhausting.
I love using baskets to organize – they are everywhere: closets, under cabinets, in drawers. I love going through them about once a month and cleaning them out to organize the baskets! ha
My best advice (which I need to follow myself!) is to get my behind off the computer and actually start cleaning. So much more fun to sit here and read everyone's tips, though :) Seriously, I think better time management on my part would result in a cleaner house.
I love your chart! I need to improve my daily maintenance of the house, and this chart has really gotten me thinking! One thing my husband and I do is every 6 to 9 months we do a really big decluttering of each room – we stagger the rooms, so it's never a whole house decluttering, which makes it much more manageable and a weekend project. So, we'll basically go through our entire kitchen one weekend and re-organize and clean out the things we don't use with big trash and donate piles. Then a few months later we tackle the basment, then the garage, then the office. We both feel like it helps and keeps us organized. This way each room gets de-cluttered and organized each year. Thanks for the tips!!
the chore chart is a great idea! my cleaning tip is to get my two boys involved as much as possible. The better they are at participating in the cleaning and doing their share, the more naturally they'll keep their own worlds clean later. (Or at least I like to think!)
Kate
the chore chart is a great idea! my cleaning tip is to get my two boys involved as much as possible. The better they are at participating in the cleaning and doing their share, the more naturally they'll keep their own worlds clean later. (Or at least I like to think!)
Kate
Love it! The only thing my husband and I squabble about is chores. This is going up on the marker board TODAY.
I don't have kids yet, but I plan on doing what my mom did: When the house gets a little cluttered, everyone has to stop what they are doing and pick up and put away 10 things. I do think when I am babysitting before I put the kids to bed – You'd be surprised how quickly the mess goes!
Love it! The only thing my husband and I squabble about is chores. This is happening – TODAY.
my best cleaning tip is magic erasers, I know that is nothing new, but I think they are fascinating
I break my house into zones and each day I tackle another zone and clean it from top to bottom. And EVERY day is pick up, deal with mail, & make beds (after allowing them some time to air out!). It's worked really well for me so far!
Doing the dishes every night. It is a small thing that doesn't take very long(especially because I live alone) but it's a catalyst. If I make myself do just that one chore, I find myself wiping down the kitchen counters, sweeping the kitchen floor, and then tidying up the whole house. This works well for me because my house is small and it doesn't take very long to tidy (or to get messy, for that matter). I find that I actually like being in my kitchen hand washing the day's dishes and I love getting up in the morning to see a clean kitchen.
I love chore charts! I have a 3 year old and it is so hard to keep the house tidy sometimes. We recently started one toy at at time and that helps!
Kelly B
Mrskbj (@gmail.com)
Chore charts are the way to go for sure! Tuesday/toilets, Wednesday/wash (laundry), Friday/floors – cheesy, but it's how I remember :)
I'm one of those crazy people who LOVES cleaning a little too much, but my tip is to always have a designated place for things that can pile up (i.e., shoes, cell phones, mail). If you have a designated home for these things, you instantly recognize when they aren't in that place and know where they need to be. This definitely helps my husband know where to put everything to keep me happy and our home organized.
Your chore chart actually looks kind of fun!! Thanks for sharing. I like to make our bed every morning too. There is something so great & clean feeling about coming home from work to a made bed !
My mom always said "Making your bed will make the whole room look cleaner" which I think is true and I am going to try making it a habit so my whole studio apartment will look cleaner! :)
I find that if everything has a home it's super easy to put it away!! I'm also finding the joy of not having too many closets, forces me to really think about what I keep.
I try to do a little de-cluttering each day. For a clean surface and germ free house, I keep Clorox wipes and spray on hand right where we need them: On the back of the toilets, by the kitchen sink, etc. Oh…. and having the kids clean up their toys allows me to walk through the house!!
My tip is to do all the cleaning on Saturday. Wake up early, clean the house, do the laundry and then the grocery shopping. That way I can relax all day Sunday and not feel stressed come Monday.
I like to focus on one or two areas that seem to be a magnet for clutter and never let them get bad. Seeing a clean, empty sink or a cleared off hall table inspires me to keep the rest of the house tidy!
I love the idea of using a chore chart! I live in a house of five, and if I don't do a little every day – wipe things down, run a load of laundry, sweep, and swiffer the kitchen floor, the mess really just piles up. Saturdays are my deep cleaning days where the bigger messes get tackled. I've found that creating a place where all the backpacks and mail can be put when everyone comes home helps control the mess as well. Great blog by the way, thanks for all the inspirational posts!
Unfortunately, my cleaning strategy involves waiting until me or my boyfriend can no longer stand the sight of something, and then cleaning it. As I've gotten older, the threshold for this has gone down, but it's still not an ideal way to do things. We were going to implement a by-weekly schedule, but that never really got going.
My favorite cleaning tip is easy—make cleaning fun! Whether you put on some funky music or decide to tango with your broom, it seems like less of a chore if you're enjoying yourself, even a little bit.
Clorox wipes save my life on more than one occasion + I use them every morning to clean-up the bathroom after getting ready, and every night to clean up from making dinner. Not to mention a load of laundry each day makes it less overwhelming than a million loads on the weekend!
I love the idea of the schedule and am going to have to try this! Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks!
simplesurber.com
Thank you for the great chart!
My favorite organizer/quick clean object is a set of stackable bins. I got a set of 3 at the container store, and my kids just throw all their stuff in when they need to straighten up. I need many more of these!