My Secret Weapon for a Clean House

Over the years, my cleaning schedule printable has totally taken on a life of its own. I first started publishing these schedules in 2012 – and they have most definitely changed over the years. By far the most popular one has been the one I published in the summer of 2015. That one has hundreds of thousands of views/pins and was the inspiration behind my first ebook, Journey to Clean. It continues to be the most popular post I've published in my almost 9 years of blogging!

But, it has honestly been in need of an update for some time now. I've revised it a little bit each time I've had published a new version of Journey to Clean, so there have been some additions and omissions over the years as needs have changed. Many of you long-time readers know that we have lived in quite a collection of homes over the years – everything from a garden home, to an apartment, to a ranch-style house, and now a 2-story home (that we plan to be in for a long, long time). So, as my needs have changed, I've kind of learned that there are lots of different requirements in cleaning different types of homes. I've tried to kind of integrate all of these into my cleaning schedule as I change it, just so it accommodates lots of different families.

Affiliate links used in this post. Read more about my link usage here.

Today, I'm doing something that I didn't know I would ever do; I'm giving away part of Journey to Clean for free. (Updated: this is from the 2018 version; you can grab the newer style, with updated tasks, here.)  But don't worry, if you've purchased the ebook, I'm not giving it all away; there's still lots of valuable information (currently all 12 months of 2019 broken down into daily cleaning tasks and deep cleaning schedules) that you can only get in the book. If you want more information on getting the full book, see below.

As of today, you can download the two main pages of the Journey to Clean cleaning schedule for free – all you need to do is subscribe to the Lamberts Lately email list by using the form below (or clicking here if that form isn't showing). You'll get download details in your inbox within minutes!

Once you have your list downloaded and printed, here's how my schedule works: each morning, you'll need about 30 minutes to commit to the few tasks on the morning routine. I usually am able to do this either while the kids are eating breakfast or as soon as I get home from preschool drop-off. It's not a huge time commitment and will really make your home look fresh for the day.

Each evening, follow a similar checklist that integrates the daily chores and room of the week tasks. These are things you might be doing anyway, but with this cleaning schedule, you'll ensure that they're all done each month and done at regular intervals (so nothing goes too long without being cleaned). And, to make it even easier, I've also included a checklist that can be used each day if you're a checker-offer kind of person (like me)! To make it reusable, I recommend printing one copy and using a set of sheet protectors with a wet-erase marker to check this off weekly.

It's really that simple. I can honestly say that this cleaning schedule is my secret weapon to keeping my home clean (with about an hour of effort a day). It doesn't take much work; just an ability to stick with it. I talk a lot more about how to make this part of your life in Journey to Clean, but to sum it up, I recommend really sticking with this for 3-4 weeks. Set an alarm on your phone for the same times each day and make yourself do both the morning and evening routines. After a few weeks, it will just become part of your routine without even reminding yourself!

There's no really complicated lingo to understand in the cleaning schedule (though I do get questions all the time about BWDW – that stands for baseboards, walls, doors, and windows. I clean those all at once in the room of the week each week.). Most everything else is self-explanatory, but I do go a little bit more into detail on what I do with some of the tasks in Journey to Clean.

(If you'd like to see my favorite cleaning supplies for accomplishing all of these tasks, click here!)

Now, I use all of the products linked above…HOWEVER…don't feel like you need everything on this list to make the cleaning schedule work! You can totally make it work with whatever you have in your home. As long as you have a vacuum, a mop, and a rag/duster, you can really do the same things in your home that I do to keep mine clean.

You're now armed with the basis for an effective cleaning schedule! Like I said, give it 3-4 weeks, and I promise it will transform your home.

If you want to take it to the next level by assuring that each day of this year is organized into easy-to-manage cleaning tasks, check out the full ebook – the 2022 version includes a new style of the cleaning schedule above and has over 65 pages of cleaning printables throughout the 2022 collection that break down these lists and tasks for easy completion and organization.

And, If you're looking to organize your schedule, I've also got a great (huge) set of printables for that. The 2022 Year of Intent Planner has over 100 pages of organization printables that allow you to make your own customized planner. There are resources for schedules, goals, finances, projects, and more – this is a comprehensive collection of organization resources, all in one place. (And the printables in Year of Intent even match Journey to Clean 2022!)  Click here for more information.

Happy cleaning, friends!

Images from a previous version of this post: