Cleaning Tips from a Crappy Housewife with FREE Printables!

I’ll come out and say it: I am a terrible housewife. I HATE cleaning. I am bad at it. I don’t sleep well so I am tired and worn out and so on. But, I have made it a priority to get the house clean and keep it clean. I decided to take every cleaning task I could think of and divide them into daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly lists and just GET THEM DONE.

I have decided to take an hour a day and dedicate it to cleaning. I have to get up early anyway to get the oldest off to preschool, so I usually come home from dropping him off and spend that first hour back home cleaning while the youngest sleeps and then eats breakfast with Daddy. That way, I get it all done and out of the way so I can play with my little guy! Anything left to be done can then get finished during the boys’ nap time (if I don’t fall asleep too!). Then, I typically do the evening chores after the boys go to bed since it doesn’t take long and I absolutely love waking up to a clean kitchen.

I like to have a daily checklist and then a room by room weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly checklist that I laminate and use wet erase markers on. Then, I put the daily checklist in the very front of my tickler file and the weekly ones in the next week’s appropriate day. 

I have created two sets of printable files. The first is a separate daily checklist and a weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly checklist by room. The second is a checklist for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly chores separately. There is a LOT on here, but a lot of it is common sense and more detail than what is necessary, and some of it doesn’t even apply to me since I’m trying to make it work for YOUR house too! For instance, my laundry room and my hallway do not have a window, but maybe yours do! Also, my entry way is basically a shoe rack and some cube bin organizers I’ve modified to make a coat rack and storage area. I’ve also added blank spaces and some lines for notes on these checklists so you can customize it to your needs.

I generally clean 1-2 rooms a day after doing the morning daily chores. I do all of the weekly ones, and then choose a few from the monthly, quarterly, and yearly ones as well, making sure to write the date next to it so I know when I did it last. I also have divided the loads of laundry so I do 1 load a day, except on towel/rug day when it seems like the washer runs all day, especially when I have extra things to wash like the dog bed or curtains or extra sheets or blankets. I gave myself an easier day on Wednesday since I often have playgroup on Wednesday mornings and always have church activities all evening. I also try to get grocery shopping or doctor appointments done on Wednesdays, and those require a 30 minutes drive each way.

In general, I try to clean top to bottom and either clockwise or counterclockwise around the room (it seems to depend on where the door is in relation to the walls!) to ensure that I get it all. I have a small carrying caddy with the cleaning supplies I need inside, and I keep supplies both upstairs and downstairs so it’s easy to get to every day. I also have different scented products for certain rooms. I am a huge fan of Mrs. Meyers products. I use the multi-surface cleaner (and concentrate refills), dish soap, hand soap, surface scrub (it’s thicker and foamier and sticks better" >tub/tile cleaner, glass cleaner, toilet cleaner,  and creamy cleanser. (They also have laundry products, but I don’t like my laundry scented). In the guest/downstairs bathroom, I use lemon verbena scented products. In the family/upstairs bathroom, I use lavender. I also tend to use lavender in the bedrooms, since they’re all right there next to each other. In the kitchen, I use honeysuckle, geranium, or one of the seasonal scents. The cranberry and the peppermint are my very favorites for winter, and in the fall, I use mum or apple cider. Occasionally, I’ll grab a bottle of bluebell and use that in the office/craft room, dining room, and downstairs, including the laundry room; otherwise, I just use what I have in the kitchen. I also use disinfecting wipes, various brands, but right now I am liking Seventh Generation. I have a stash of cloth rags and towels that I clean with and then launder weekly on towel day. I even have cloth swiffer pads and cloth swiffer dusters. The other tools I use are a cobweb getter, which I also use to clean the ceiling fans), toothbrush, toilet brush & holder, a grout scrub brush, a broom & dustpan, mop & bucket, vacuum, various sponges and brushes, a scraper, and a tub and tile scrubber with an extendable handle. 

My weekly schedule is:

Sunday: Entryway (no laundry due to Church and family activities)
Monday: Kitchen, Dining Room, my laundry
Tuesday: Boys’ Room, Family Room, Oldest Boy’s laundry (I sort of designate this SONSday)
Wednesday: Family Bathroom, Hallway, husband’s laundry (but he is in charge of folding it!)
Thursday: Guest/Downstairs Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Sheets, Towels/Rags/Cloths, Rugs
Friday: Guest Bedroom, Office/Craft/Piano Room, Youngest Boy’s laundry
Saturday: Laundry Room, Outside, Misc laundry if needed

As far as what cycles I use, I have a top loading machine without an agitator. I wash all of my laundry together since I’ve had it all so long. I just do one load each for the boys too, but on the “casual” cycle. I do split my husband’s laundry into delicates and cottons. I was all of our clothes on cold. The sheets, rugs, towels, and cleaning cloths I wash on hot and a heavy duty cycle. 

I give my husband a certain chore per day of the week to help me out as well. I try to make it something that won’t take him a lot of time. He also is really good about helping with dishes and changing the youngest’s diapers.  

Sunday: Trash- Gather all trash cans, empty, and put all the trash outside for garbage pickup.
Monday: Do a quick fridge inventory/clean out and start a grocery list, assess leftovers.
Tuesday: Dust (just a quick once over in case I miss anything)
Wednesday: Clean his desk in his office
Thursday: Vacuum (I generally swiffer/sweep somewhere every day, but the house needs a good vacuum regularly)
Friday: Work outside
Saturday: Finish a project on his to-do list

I also give my oldest son some chores to do every day.
Sunday: Help Daddy get trash out to the curb
Monday: Clean the doorknobs and light switches and anything else he wants to clean
Tuesday: Help me fold his laundry (right now, he has to turn all of his clothes right side out and match his socks)
Wednesday: Take rugs outside and shake them out (with help from Daddy)
Thursday: Help me fold towels (I’m still teaching him how to do this)
Friday: Sweep the front porch and sidewalk to the driveway, doorknobs and light switches
Saturday: Help me outside (usually pick up sticks and trash)

Then, he has daily chores. He has to put his dishes in the sink, put his trash in the trash can, put his clothes in his hamper, empty the office trash can into the outside trash can, pick up toys and books in his room, and pick up the toys and books in the living room. He gets a sticker for doing all of these things and two stickers for doing them without complaining or nagging. Sometimes, he can earn an extra sticker for his sticker chart by helping me with other things or for having a REALLY good day behaviorally. We’re also working on having a dry pull-up in the morning, so he gets a sticker if he’s dry.

The youngest is still really too young to be expected to do much else other than clean up his toys and spills, put his dishes in the sink, throw things away, and help feed the dogs. He is really good about cleaning up his spills if I give him a towel. He’s learning, though, and we’re teaching him (as well as his brother) that we’re a family, and being a part of a family means that you help around the house. 

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about allowances yet, but I’m thinking we will do something along the lines of allowance for chores, with the opportunity to earn more for doing extra chores and also for doing chores without being asked or complaining. I also plan on expecting him to pay for a lot of his things himself, but I’m not sure yet. Right now, he earns stickers for his sticker chart. When he fills one sticker chart, he gets a small prize out of his prize box (glow stick, eraser, sheet of stickers, etc.). When he fills two sticker charts, he gets to pick a bigger prize, such as an Octonauts book or Gup vehicle, or a small stuffed animal, etc. He loves his sticker chart, and while I don’t want to bribe him to do his chores, I also do think he should be rewarded in a small way for doing a good job. I mean, we as adults go to work to earn money to buy the things we need and want, so why not start this when they’re young? Again, we are still figuring it out. The suspected asperger's really sort of throws a wrench in things. He needs routine and giving him a weekly chore schedule seems to be working so far.

Enjoy the printables and I hope they help you get clean! 

Daily Checklists

Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly Checklist

Room By Room Checklist (Full)

And here are the individual room by room cleaning lists.

Master Bedroom
Kids Bedroom
Spare Bedroom
Family Bathroom
Guest Bathroom
Hallway
Office/Craft Room/Etc.
Entryway/Mudroom
Dining Room
Kitchen
Living/Family Room/Den
Laundry Room

What's the hardest room for you to clean?