Ultimate House Cleaning Checklist: Guide to a Spotless Home

Get all the top tips from the professionals with our house cleaning checklist!

Cleaning can come with a multitude of challenges.

Having the right products, knowing how to clean particular objects, and finding enough time throughout the week to complete your never-ending to-do list.

To complete a deep clean of your house every day is a far-fetched goal, however, creating a cleaning schedule that provides you structure for tidying up and sanitising your house will make the challenge easier.

Better yet, for the corners that are out of reach or out of your expertise, hiring a professional for all the tricky spots will leave your home spotless.

This guide will take you through the best way to tackle recurring cleaning tasks and give you insight on what should be undertaken by a professional.

How to start a cleaning routine

If you’re starting from scratch, don’t try to build the perfect routine on day one. Here’s a simple way to build one up in stages:

• Start with the daily basics. Tidy up and wipe the surfaces you use most (kitchen counters, the bathroom sink, the dining table) so the house doesn’t get away from you.
• Add one weekly session. Once the daily habits feel automatic, layer in a set time each week for the deeper jobs, vacuuming, mopping and bathrooms.
  Slot in monthly tasks around it. Pick one or two monthly jobs (like the oven or skirting boards) to tackle on a set weekend each month, rather than trying to do them all at once.
• Leave annual tasks for last. These matter, but they’re not what makes or breaks a clean home day to day, so they can wait until your daily and weekly habits are solid.

The order matters less than consistency, a simple routine you actually stick to will keep your home cleaner than an ambitious one you abandon after a fortnight.

In what order should you clean a house?

A house can be cleaned in several ways and often depends on the tasks being ticked off.

For a daily tidy, cleaning from the front to the back of the house may be the most helpful because you can pick up rubbish and stray objects.

For a deep clean or weekend getting into the nitty gritty of your home, it may be best to start with the problem areas or areas that require the most attention.

For many homes, the kitchen and bathroom tend to procure the most mess and should be tackled first to ensure cleanliness and hygiene are at their best.

In terms of the types of tasks to complete and their order, take a look at the table below:

Daily cleaning tasks

Your daily cleaning checklist should focus more on tidying the house than using elbow grease to clean your bathroom tiles.

If there are pets or children in the house, it is even more important that a tidy house is a priority.

Daily cleaning tasks can include:

• Making all the beds in the house
• Empty and load the dishwasher with the day’s dirty dishes
• Take out the rubbish
• Do a morning and afternoon sweep of floors and countertops for toys, loose papers and stray objects
• Wipe down kitchen counters, tables, sinks, and any other regularly used surfaces

Bedroom cleaning checklist

Your bedroom is your safe haven from the outside world- ensuring it stays well-kept and hygienic is essential.

As the saying goes, ‘Tidy room, tidy mind’.

Although you do not have to clean your bedroom every day, making sure the bed is made and the shutters are pulled back will keep it feeling homey and organised.

Your bedroom cleaning checklist could include:

• Opening windows or shutters to let in air and light
• Clearing bedside tables, desks and vanity counters
• Making the bed
• Placing all dirty clothing and laundry into a laundry basket
• Empty any full bins

Weekly and monthly cleaning tasks

A house cleaning schedule should also cover tasks that do not need to be performed daily.

Weekly and monthly cleaning is just as necessary as your day-to-day tidying, as this is where all the sanitising, sterilising and proper ‘cleaning’ will occur.

From weekly dusting to wiping down surfaces to mopping your house monthly, here are the tasks for more regular deep cleaning:

Weekly tasks

• Dust hard surfaces, including benches, countertops, kitchen cabinets and any decor objects (e.g. picture frames)
• Vacuum carpets and floors
• Mop floors that are tiled or wooden floorboards
• Wipe down and disinfect countertops, tables, appliances, mirrors and sinks
• Clean toilets, wash down showers and scrub shower tiles
• Change and wash blankets, sheets and bath towels
• Check the fridge and pantry for expired food

Monthly cleaning checklist

• Vacuum upholstered furniture
• Disinfect bins
• Pour rinse aid into dishwasher
• Dust baseboards, ceiling fans and vents
• Scrub stovetop and clean out oven- this includes stove drip pans and stove grates
• Wipe down light fixtures and light switches
• Clean window sills, cupboard doors and less regularly used hard surfaces
• Wipe door knobs, door handles and door frames
• Scrub shower and bathtub, making sure to remove any soap scum
• Vacuum and mop floor
• Deep clean the toilet, including any toilet appliances (e.g. plunger, toilet paper holder)

Deep cleaning checklist

If you’re after a proper deep clean rather than your regular routine, here’s a quick-reference list that pulls together the toughest, least-frequent jobs from across the checklist above into one session:

• Scrub the oven inside and out, including drip pans and grates
• Steam or shampoo carpets and upholstered furniture
• Wipe down walls and remove marks, including skirting boards
• Pull out the fridge and large furniture to clean behind and underneath
• Clean window screens and tracks
• Disinfect the mop bucket, mop head and other cleaning tools
• Dust ceiling fans, vents and light fixtures
• Deep clean grout and reseal if needed

A deep clean covers everything a regular clean does, plus these less frequent, more time-consuming jobs. Most households do a full deep clean once or twice a year, or before a big event, a change of season, or moving house.

How to tackle hygiene in the bathroom and kitchen

One of the most challenging parts of a cleaning routine is ensuring hygiene is at its best in all areas. For most individuals, the bathroom and kitchen are usually problem areas for keeping sanitary.

Bathroom counters, toilets and even kitchen sinks hold a surprising amount of germs that can contribute to a lowered immune system and regular sickness.

Use the right cleaning products

The right cleaning appliances will help ensure your bathroom and kitchen stay hygienic throughout the month.

Using a microfiber cloth over a paper towel when sanitising bathroom counters and kitchen cabinets ensures that all dirt and germs are removed properly.

Conducting a check on your cleaning supplies and ensuring they are not expired or too old for use is always recommended every couple of months.

This makes sure that your cleaning supplies are still viable for properly sanitising and will not harm any surfaces they contact. Expired cleaning products can also become hazardous as many contain potent chemicals.

Prioritise sanitary over aesthetics

When choosing decor and items for your kitchen and bathroom, it’s always a good idea to consider their level of sanitary.

While having a fuzzy bathroom mat may seem like a good idea, textured rugs and mats can carry additional amounts of germs and may need to be washed more often.

Even choosing cleaning products that are more functional than aesthetic will be better in the long run- instead of choosing a bright feather duster to dust with, using scraps of old clothes will be easier to put straight into the washing machine.

Annual cleaning

It is recommended that your house cleaning checklist has a section dedicated to tasks that can be undertaken annually or on a very sporadic basis.

These tasks mainly involve cleaning that does not need to be done unless there is a specific accident or spillage occurring.

However, performing this cleaning annually ensures that every part of your house is spotless from top to bottom.

You could tick off this cleaning checklist before the new year so everything is fresh by January 1st!

Your annual house cleaning schedule could include:

• Deep clean carpets
• Clean window screens
• Replace old light bulbs
• Wipe down walls and remove marks
• Pull out fridge and large pieces of furniture to clean behind and underneath
• Disinfect mop bucket, mop head and other cleaning products

Easily forgotten spots

Even with a solid routine, a few spots tend to slip through the cracks. Worth adding these to your radar every few months:

• Underside of furniture: vacuum under the couch and bed frame roughly twice a year to catch the cobwebs, dust and bugs that build up out of sight
• Tops of doors, cabinets and picture frames: dust settles here without anyone noticing. A duster with an extendable handle makes short work of it
• Walls and baseboards: scuffs, splatters and dust build up here too, especially on textured surfaces. Wipe from top to bottom with a damp cloth so you’re not re-dirtying anything you’ve already done
• Door knobs and handles: with so many hands touching them every day, they’re one of the biggest germ hotspots in the house
• Indoor plants: dust dulls the leaves of real and faux plants alike. Wipe larger leaves with a damp cloth, or give smaller plants a quick rinse under the shower
• Air filters and vents: a build-up of dust here can circulate allergens back through the house and make your system work harder than it needs to

When to hire a professional

A clean house can be hard to come by in this day and age. Good housekeeping can require an immense amount of free time that many individuals just do not have.

From working full-time to trying to fit social events into your busy schedule, cleaning can easily be left on the back burner, especially when it comes to the more significant tasks that don’t need to be done as often.

Of course, a professional cleaning service is needed for those tasks that require specific equipment, such as deep cleaning carpets or even cleaning upholstery on furniture.

But if you’re struggling to keep up with the more regular cleaning that keeps the house sanitary and organised, hiring a cleaner is always a great option.

Whether it is for one job or a regular weekly clean, Absolute Domestics can help you stay organised and on top of your house cleaning checklist. For a full rundown of what’s typically included in a visit, see our typical house cleaning duties guide.

From dusting light fixtures to cleaning out drains and mopping footprint-covered floors, our professional cleaners will provide you with the best service possible, and you can customise it to your needs!

Frequently asked questions

What does a good cleaning schedule include?

A good cleaning schedule breaks tasks up by how often they need doing, daily tidying and surface wiping, weekly vacuuming, mopping and bathroom cleaning, monthly tasks like the oven and skirting boards, and annual jobs like carpet steam cleaning and cleaning behind furniture. Splitting tasks this way means you’re never trying to do everything in one session.

What’s the difference between regular cleaning and deep cleaning?

Regular cleaning covers the recurring daily and weekly tasks that keep a home tidy and hygienic day to day, dusting, vacuuming, mopping and wiping surfaces. Deep cleaning goes further into the tasks that build up over time, scrubbing the oven, shampooing carpets, cleaning behind furniture and washing walls, and is usually done less often, once or twice a year, or before a big event.

How often should I deep clean my house?

Most households benefit from a full deep clean once or twice a year, on top of a regular weekly or fortnightly clean. It’s also worth scheduling one around specific events, moving house, a change of season, or before hosting guests.

What order should I clean my house in?

For a quick daily tidy, working front to back through the house helps you catch stray items as you go. For a deeper clean, start with the kitchen and bathroom first, since these areas tend to accumulate the most mess and hold the most germs.

Can a professional cleaner help with my cleaning schedule?

Yes. A professional cleaner can take on the regular weekly or fortnightly tasks so you’re not starting from scratch each time, and can also handle the deep cleaning jobs that need specific equipment or expertise, like carpet cleaning or upholstery. Many households use a professional for the recurring clean and reserve the truly occasional annual tasks for themselves.

How do I know what frequency is right for me?

It depends on your home size, budget and household, see our guide on how often cleaners should come for a full breakdown, and our shower cleaning guide for bathroom-specific tips.