Developing a Daily Cleaning Routine

For years, I have searched high and low for that perfect cleaning schedule.  The one that would magically make my life so much easier.  That would make my house sparkle and shine.  I would know exactly what needed to be done and when it needed to be done. Life would be good.

Well, I am sorry to say that that cleaning schedule just doesn’t exist for me.  My schedule changes, messes happen that weren’t planned for, and unexpected events pop up.   What I do have, however, is a daily {“bare minimum”} cleaning routine.  It takes about 15 minutes in the morning and about 40 minutes at night.  For the most part, it keeps the house tidy and relatively clean until I have more time for a more thorough cleaning.



The ideal cleaning routine will vary from person to person – what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for another.  Your needs will change depending on the size of your home, the ages of your children, your work schedule outside of the home, etc.  There are, however, a few basics that we all must get done on a daily basis.  I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination so I have kept my morning routine pretty basic and leave a little bit more to do at night.  

Morning Routine

• Make the Bed – Making your bed will instantly make your room look 10 times neater and helps to start off the day on the right foot.  Get in the habit of making it as soon as you get up.
• Put in a load of laundry – With 5 people in our household {and a dog and a cat!}, there always seems to be laundry to do.  Regularly doing one load per day {or almost one load per day} makes things more tolerable than spending a whole day trying to get caught up on the laundry.  I usually try to put everything in the washing machine the night before and I then just have to add the detergent and turn it on in the morning.
• Empty the Dishwasher – I usually put the dishwasher on at the end of the night and leave it until the morning to unload.  I have emptying the dishwasher down to a science so it usually only takes about 2-3 minutes to unload and get everything put away.
• Tidy the Kitchen – I do not like leaving the house with a dirty kitchen so the kitchen always gets a quick cleaning in the morning.  We keep our breakfast menu very basic around here so there is not much to clean up in terms of food and our lunches are always made the night before {except for those few items that need to be prepared on the same day}.  Really all that is required is putting the dishes in the dishwasher and giving the counters and table a quick wipe down.

Evening Routine

• Fold and put away the laundry – Laundry can quickly pile up if it does not get put away right away.
• Kitchen clean up – The kitchen is generally the busiest and most used room in the house so I tend to spend most of my cleaning time in here.  Try to clean up as you go while making dinner and get in the habit of cleaning the kitchen immediately after dinner.  My kitchen cleaning routine takes about 15 minutes {I’ll share this in February when we move into the kitchen for The Household Organization Diet!}
• 15 minute Family Power Clean – We try to do this at a specific time each night and put on the timer for 15 minutes.  The kids are responsible for picking up any toys around the house and cleaning their rooms {which usually requires a little supervision}.  I quickly go through each room and put away anything that is out of place.  I have one basket on the main floor that I will put random items in that need to be put away if I don’t have time to do so that day {just remember you need to empty this regularly!}   I also use this time to do any extra clean-ups that are required – a room that really needs to be vacuumed or a toilet that needs some scrubbing.
• Wipe bathroom counters – After the kids brush their teeth, the bathroom counters and sink get a quick wipe down.  I also usually give the toilet seat a quick wipe down in the boys bathroom {because boys will be boys!}
• Prepare the washing machine – All dirty towels and cloths from the day get put into the washing machine and I usually try to get a load of laundry prepared for the next day to save time in the morning.
• Start the dishwasher – I do one quick look around the house for any dirty cups or dishes and run the dishwasher.
• Review the To Do list for the next day – I have a very basic daily To Do list that I keep {you can find it HERE}.  I will usually write out my top 3-4 things that I need to do the next day {and try to do those as early in the day as possible!}

Things to Remember

• Never leave a room empty handed – I try to always look around when I am leaving a room {or going upstairs or downstairs} to see if there is anything that does not belong there.  I will then take one or two items with me and put them away as I move to my next destination.  We have three floors in our home so there is ALWAYS something that needs to be put away on another floor.  This really takes very minimal time but makes a huge difference at the end of the day.
• If it can be done in less than one minute, do it immediately –  Doing these little tasks throughout the day will make your night time routine much easier and will really cut down on that daily mess.
• Tidy as you go – get used to putting your dishes in the dishwasher immediately, putting your coats and bags away as soon as you get home, and clearing any trash or recycling as you go.  I’m still working on training the family on this but we are slowly getting there!

Your daily cleaning routine might look totally different than mine, but take a few minutes to think about what your “bare minimum” cleaning chores are around the house and come up with a doable plan to get them done. For those of you following along on The Household Organization Diet with me, we will be putting together a cleaning binder at the end of this week to use for the rest of the year.  

You can download a copy of my daily cleaning routine HERE or download a blank plan HERE to create your own.

Happy Cleaning!

I shared this post at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thirty Handmade Days, Liz Marie Blog, Design Dining and Diapers, and Tidy Mom.