Do you love cleaning your house so much that you are literally jumping out of your skin to learn how you can do a better and more thorough job? No? Shocking. Does the topic of deep house cleaning your home overwhelm you and put your body into a subtle but still very real sweat? Normal. Sometimes the idea is so overwhelming that it seems easier to just not do it. Well here are a few reasons why it’s important and worth doing, as well as a manageable way to get the job done.
Deep cleaning has the cumulative benefit of preserving the life of your home. You can better preserve your investment by keeping up with cleaning. It is worth it to maintain your home’s value and overall look by deep cleaning it periodically. By doing so, you will also keep allergens at bay; creating a healthy and happy living environment. It is important to have a solid pre-cleaning-plan in place to successfully deep clean your house without spending your whole day cleaning. We’re going to begin by creating a plan of attack, also known as a deep house cleaning checklist.
Choose your frequency
Before listing all the jobs in entirety, begin by choosing a schedule that breaks the jobs down into seasons or other segments to make the list more manageable. Maybe one Saturday a month will be devoted to deep cleaning jobs. Put them on your calendar! Get them out of your head and on your schedule. That way each job has a time set aside for it, and you only have to think about what needs to be done now.
Sounds great, right? Keep in mind that the more often you choose to deep clean, the easier the jobs will be on a regular basis. Easier said than done, but it’s still worth mentioning. Also, there are some deep cleaning jobs that need to be done more often than others.
Gather necessary items to get the job done!
Next, list necessary items to do the job. Nothing fancy or high tech is needed, just all the items to get the job done. This will be your deep house cleaning checklist of required materials.
- Rubber gloves
- All purpose cleaner
- Glass cleaner
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Dish soap
- Sponge
- Scrub brush
- Detail brush or old toothbrush
- Squeegee
- Plastic bucket
- Spray bottle
- Microfiber cloths
- Cleaning cloths (like dish towels or rags), or paper towels
- Vacuum with attachments
- Mop or steamer
- Broom or vacuum with a hard flooring setting
Declutter and dejunk your home!
Start with decluttering! If you haven’t Marie Kondo’d your life yet, now is the time. Don’t dive straight into your deep house cleaning checklist. Declutter first and you’ll have fewer things to clean! Yay! Get rid of obvious trash and out-of-place items in all the rooms of your house. A deep clean will only take longer the more items you have to clean around. So do yourself a favor and get rid of anything that doesn’t spark joy and is causing unnecessary stress in your home.
Go room by room, closet by closet, and purge. Grab a garbage bag and two baskets. Go throughout your entire home placing trash or broken items in the garbage bag. Put out of place items in one basket, and items to be donated in the other basket. Once you’ve gone through the entire house, take the garbage bag out and take the basket with misplaced items and put each item back where it belongs. Items to be donated should be donated that day.
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Create your deep house cleaning checklist
By now you should have decided on what kind of deep cleaning frequency is right for you (monthly, seasonally, every 3 months), as well as gathered all the necessary items to get the job done. Once you have rid your home of all junk and unnecessary items, then you can create your deep house cleaning checklist. The great thing about decluttering your home prior to this step is that it allows you to observe spaces in your home that may need cleaning that may have been overlooked or left off your list.
Deep cleaning approaches
There are two different approaches to clean a house. You can tackle your deep house cleaning checklist by zone or by task.
Cleaning by zone:
This is when you pick one particular area or room in your house to clean from start to finish. For example, if you choose to start with cleaning the bathrooms, this would mean you would do everything from emptying and wiping out drawers to disinfecting the countertops and scrubbing the floors (in every bathroom) before moving on to cleaning a different area of your house.
Cleaning by task:
This approach is when you pick one particular cleaning task to do around your whole house before moving on to the next. If you picked dusting to start with, you would dust every surface in every room of the house before moving on to the next task. This is a great opportunity to assign different cleaning tasks to other individuals living in the home. After all, the more individuals (think kids!) living in your home, the more helpers there should be to go through your deep house cleaning checklist!
This is not a one man job! (Unless, of course, you live alone)ather the troops, grab those kids, mom-friends, spouses, whoever, and have a cleaning party!
Follow your deep house cleaning checklist!
The key to your success is following your deep cleaning checklist. Give each person a copy of the list with their tasks assigned. Keep your younger helpers focused by assigning them a task cleaning job, and allow deeper zone cleaning to be done by older helpers.
Adding this structure and dividing up tasks into manageable chunks is a very efficient way to get the job done. Using a deep house cleaning checklist allows you to start cleaning right away while ensuring everything does indeed get done. If you get interrupted while you’re in the middle of cleaning a room, no problem! Just refer to the checklist and pick up right where you left off!
Deep house cleaning checklist:
Kitchen:
- clean out the fridge and wipe shelves and drawers
- wipe down countertops
- clean the stove and microwave
- clean the oven (use the self-cleaning option to make this super easy!)
- run the dishwasher on empty
- clear crumbs from the toaster
- wipe down cabinets, drawers and shelves
- clean the coffee maker
- sweep and mop the floors
Living Room:
- wash the curtains
- clean carpets and rugs
- dust wood furniture
- wipe down light fixtures
- wash the windows
- wipe down walls
- dust ceiling fan blades
- dust baseboards
Bathroom:
- clean the toilet
- wash hand towels
- wipe down mirrors
- declutter cabinets and drawers and wipe them out
- wash bath mat and shower curtain
- scrub the sink, tub and shower
- mop the floors
Laundry Room:
- clean the washer and dryer
- run the washer while empty
- restock any supplies
- clean floors
Garage:
- sweep floor
- organize seasonal items
- clean up oils spills
Bedrooms:
- wash sheets and pillowcases
- clean mattresses
- vacuum carpets and rugs
- dust wood furniture
- wipe down baseboards
- wash the windows
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget to clean kids gear and toys! These items easily go under the radar but are a breeding ground for bacteria. Baby gear and other kids items, such as toys, can be tricky to clean and/or require expertise. Call up a local baby gear cleaning service and have a professional clean your child’s items.
Maintenance
Some tasks are best done daily, while others only need attention once a year. The key to keeping your house clean is having a routine.
Daily cleaning:
- make beds
- wash dishes
- wipe down tables and counters
- sweep floors
- wipe down bathroom surfaces
- squeegee shower walls
- sanitize kitchen sinks
Weekly Cleaning:
- mop floors
- scrub bathrooms
- clean mirrors
- dust furniture
- wash bedding
- throw out expired food
- clean inside the microwave
- vacuum floors
- throw out kitchen sponge
Monthly Cleaning:
- dust light fixtures
- dust blinds
- clean dishwasher and washer/dryer
Every 3-6 Months:
- wipe down the inside of the fridge
- clean the kitchen range
- wash shower curtain liner
- clean behind furniture
- wash decorative pillows and comforters
- vacuum mattresses
- clean oven and freezer
Annual Cleaning:
- clean fireplace and chimney
- deep clean carpets and upholstery
- clean vents
- wash drapes and curtains
- clean out gutters
The deep house cleaning checklist above is a good place to start your planning. Like mentioned before, gather some helpers and divide and conquer! Create a plan of attack that best suits your family and be sure to celebrate afterwards! Treat yourselves with some kind of reward for doing the things that no one really wants to do. This may be in the form of an ice cream party, or going out to dinner, or movie marathon night! Get creative!
What motivates you to tackle your deep house cleaning checklist? Let us know in the comments.
Juliana is a BabyQuip Quality Provider in Truckee, CA. and is excited to provide quality service to families visiting Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas! Pack light and rent all the baby’s necessities and more while you travel. She is a homeschooling mother of 3 and enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, and coffee!
Ok, this Is perfect. Keep up the good work. Appreciate all the efforts you put in here. Stay safe!
I love this!
I am a total check list person. I absolutely love this article for that particular reason i know the exact tasks, where they need to be done and how often
I wish I could snap my fingers and this would all be done! Or I wish I was Cinderella and I had a bunch of adorable animals to help me do this. LOL.