How to Make a Cleaning Routine Work

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Friend, there is more to life than eating off the baseboard and Martha Stewart goals. I want to live with balance in all I do, even in the small details like cleaning. However, I love a schedule as a rhythm to jump back into, get on track and to create order. This is how to make a cleaning routine work and how cleaning can be fun and efficient.

I’ve been following Fly Lady’s schedule since I was married. I know there are cuter and trendier cleaning people and schedules now, but she is the GOAT for me. Fly lady gets all the credit for my cleaning routine! I did not make this up on my own. However, I have adjusted her schedule to meet our needs and the season of life with young kids and busy schedules.

To understand my cleaning schedule, let’s break down what we refer to as “cleaning” into stages. Not all tasks occur consistently or have the same level of urgency.

The Stages of Cleaning

First, let’s acknowledge the stages of cleaning and why you spend your time picking up instead of wiping baseboards. Most importantly, understanding how to manage each stage will create balance and routine for your family.

Stage One: The Tidy

Stage one is the pickup stage. For years, I would get stuck here because who has time to clean when you can’t see the floor from all the things? The simplest way to a clean space is to keep your home tidy. Declutter your home regularly and challenge yourself to carefully consider what comes into your home. You have enough.

Tidying works best as a daily habit.

Take 21 days to challenge yourself to pick up after yourself and before dinner plan 15 minutes to train your family to do the same. The good news is, you can miss a day here or there, just don’t miss two. This first stage will set the tone for your space and will motivate you to clean your house if done often!

Stage Two: Daily Life

This level of cleaning is still in your daily living habits. Making room for these by setting alarms or habit-stacking will make life run smoothly and set the tone for your home. In this stage, these are the daily tasks, not done every day, will stack up.

As you consider giving your time to people or places, ensure you have made time to tidy and complete your daily tasks. Mostly, it’s self-care and a great way to prepare for what’s to come.

Daily To Do list

Put away clean dishes, wash all dishes, and clean out sink
Wipe counters, clean stove top, and vacuum the kitchen floor
Wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry

Make this automatic by habit-stacking and completing chores as you are in these spaces, cooking dinner or watching TV with the family. For our family, several of these things are chores that the kids help out with daily.

Stage Three: Home Blessing

Every Friday, I start the day cleaning. I make it a fun experience by listening to my favorite podcasts or music and racing the clock to get the weekly tasks done. It’s one of my favorite mornings of the week, and nothing is more satisfying than crawling into clean sheets at the end of the night.

Every home blessing starts with a great Sunday reset.

Sunday Reset

How this looks on a typical Sunday when we leave church:

Gas up the Car & run to the pet store
Kid’s clean out car while I make lunch
After lunch, the kids do chores and tidy up to avoid quiet time. I’m a genius for that.
Plan the week & sign papers and checks for kids, Also, clean out purse.
Clean out fridge & Meal plan
Pet care & Car wash if needed
Catch up on Laundry

Home Blessing: Weekly Cleaning

This is fairly simple. This looks different from week to week depending on Costco trips etc., but the goal is to have these tasks completed by Monday at carpool. If they are not, they go to the top of my to-do list for the week, and with every extra 10 minutes, I work on them.

I alternate upstairs and downstairs to make this more manageable. So, this week, I may be downstairs, but next week, I will start upstairs and just hit the floors and toilets downstairs. This keeps my cleaning tasks realistic and quick.

Sheets (I change ours weekly and the kids every other week)
Trash. Empty all trash cans and grab any trash or papers that are laying around.
Dust. I use a dish cloth with Dawn and wipe all horizontal surfaces, going from room to room.
Floors: Vacuum and mop. The first week of the month I really mop.
Glass: Mirrors and windows if needed plus vertical dusting like wall art and frames.d
Bathrooms: Toilets, tub or shower, and replenish towels, toilet paper, soaps, etc.
Zone Cleaning: These are the deep cleaning tasks I rotate through.

Stage Four: Deep Clean

I struggle with getting to this stage, so currently, it’s in my weekly routine. If I do not complete it on Monday, I pencil it in to complete it by Friday. If you are a working mom, consider doing this on a Thursday or Friday evening or even monthly.

My Deep Clean Schedule

Entry way, Stairs & Dining Room
Kitchen & Sitting
Living Room & Media Room
Master Bedroom & Closet
Master Bathroom & Guest Bath
Kid’s Rooms & Bathrooms
Office & Hall
Mudroom, Laundry, Garage

I follow a rhythm each week of setting a timer. The goal here is not perfection, just progress. Each timer is 15 minutes long, and when the time is done, I am finished with that step. If there’s more to do, I add it to my weekly wish list. How I set my timers:

Declutter: 15 Min
Organize: 15 Min
Dust lights, windows, blinds, furniture, doors, walls: 15 Min
Floors, baseboards, under furniture: 15 Min
Finish, decorate, laundry: 15 Min

Seasonal Cleaning

I also clean seasonally. To complete these, I just replace the zone cleaning for that week with the seasonal cleaning task. These do typically take longer than a hour, so I clear my schedule and plan to eat out more than usual on these weeks.

January: I declutter like a crazy lady in January. It’s the best.

April: I prepare my garden, fertilize and weed flower beds, and pressure wash the patio and patio cushions. This can take me all month, but who cares when the weather is GORG? Also a great time to tidy the garage.

May: Memory keeping and filing school papers from the last year.

August: Detail the car, wash backpacks and lunch boxes to prepare for the school year.

October: Once midway through October and it’s chilly outside, I get out the carpet shampooer. I clean furniture as well as all the carpets. This is a big to do and takes me over a week.

I probably do smaller tasks seasonally that I don’t realize, but those are my big moments.

My Cleaning Routine

Creating cleaning routines is very helpful and sets natural rhythms to your day. I’m curious about what your cleaning routines are and what you also do. Note: My kids have a family chore they do each day, so some obvious things like taking the trash out aren’t listed because I no longer do them.

Daily Checklist

Tidy
Kid’s family chores & dirty laundry down & started
Dishes & Clean Sink
Close Kitchen (Counters, stove top, new dish towel and floors)

Weekly Checklist

Sunday Reset
Change sheets (Kid’s every other week)
Trash
Dust
Floors
Glass
Bathrooms (Toilet, tub OR shower, replenish, new towels)
Zone Cleaning

Monthly checklist

Catch up on Zone Cleaning
Bathe Porter & Ears
Garden & weed flower bed
Kitchen Appliances
Clean Car
Seasonal cleaning

It is free to clean your space and the most budget-friendly way to have a refreshed space.

Home keeping is very biblical and benefits you and your family. You need a clean home more than you realize, and even in a very busy world, we have to make time for the basics. Schedule your days to be at home and commit to a life of balance.

My Cleaning Supplies

I have homework for you today! Create a cleaning caddy of your most used cleaning supplies to motivate and clean more efficiently. Keep this simple and minimal if you can.

My Cleaning Caddy

Dusting Spray
Window Cleaner
Bathroom Cleaner (Either Mr. Bubbles or Dawn Power wash)
Toilet Bowl Cleaner (I also have rubber gloves for toilet cleaning)
Cleaning Cloths: These have saved me SO much money and I have used the same ones for YEARS. Worth every penny.

My Vacuum(s)

If you don’t have a Roomba, live a little, and you won’t regret it! Hours of cleaning each week are gone! I stick to the vacuum only as the Roomba mop feature confuses me and I don’t find the need to spend the extra money on something I don’t need daily. My last Roomba (RIP Charlotte) lasted us 6 years, but wasn’t self-emptying, a feature I plan on getting with my next one.

Aside from the Roomba, I have a Tineco that I use between Roomba visits, so we are getting a regular plain heavy duty vacuum to have suction power in bedrooms.

My Mop(s)

This is my mop to spot clean with and I use it monthly. It’s great with pets because it vacuums, too! This time saver is worth the money and a great gift! Just make sure to use the right cleaner with it.

This is my monthly deep cleaning mop. I mix Dawn dish soap in the sink with hot water! That’s it. You do not need the newest, trendiest solution for a good deep cleaning.

I hope this post was motivating and helpful. I know I’m motivated! Ha! You bless others when you create a space that’s clean and inviting! Happy Cleaning, and make sure to tell me your favorite cleaning hacks below!

Until Next time,

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