The Tidy RoutineThe Monthly Deep Cleaning Checklist (One Area Per Week)
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Daily and weekly routines keep a home tidy. But some jobs - inside the oven, the range hood filter, under the sofa - only need doing once a month, and they're the ones everyone forgets until it's a big problem.
The solution: split the monthly deep clean into four sessions, one per week, of about 45 minutes each. Add it to the weekend on top of your weekly cleaning schedule and the whole home gets a deep clean every month without a single lost Saturday.
Save to PinterestWeek 1: kitchen
- Clean inside the oven
- Descale the kettle and coffee maker
- Clean the dishwasher filter and run a cleaning cycle
- Wipe the cabinet fronts and handles
- Clean inside the microwave
- Degrease the range hood filter - most metal filters can go in the dishwasher
Oven cleaning kit
For the once-a-month oven job when baking soda paste isn't enough.
Week 2: bathrooms
- Scrub the grout
- Wash the shower curtain and bath mat
- Clean the exhaust fan cover
- Descale the shower head
- Clean behind and around the base of the toilet
Electric spin scrubber
Does the hard scrubbing on grout and tiles for you.
Week 3: living spaces and bedrooms
- Vacuum under furniture and beds
- Vacuum the sofa and cushions
- Wash pillows or pillow covers
- Dust baseboards
- Wipe doors and frames
- Clean windowsills
Cordless stick vacuum
Light enough to get under beds and sofas without dragging out the big vacuum.
Week 4: whole home
- Wipe light fixtures and lamp shades
- Clean the bins inside and out
- Vacuum vents and radiators
- Wash curtains or wipe blinds
- Clean mirrors and glass doors
How to make it painless
Same time each week. For example, Saturday morning before breakfast. A fixed slot means no planning.
Work top to bottom. Dust falls, so ceilings and fixtures first, floors last.
Gather supplies first. A cleaning caddy with everything in it saves dozens of trips.
Cleaning caddy
Carry everything from room to room in one trip.
Use a podcast. Forty-five minutes is one episode.
The seasonal jobs
Twice a year - spring and fall - add the big ones: washing windows, cleaning gutters, flipping the mattress, swapping seasonal clothes and checking smoke alarms. They're on the seasonal deep-clean page of the Home Reset Planner, along with this monthly checklist ready to print.
