This set of free cleaning schedule printable templates is the easiest way to keep your home clean in an hour a day! Realistic list tasks are broken down by house zone for an organized daily & weekly routine.
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I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say that these two printables changed my life.
In the summer of 2015, I was totally overwhelmed. I had a very active preschooler, was trying to run an at-home blogging business, and was beginning a pregnancy that left me either exhausted or nauseous 95% of the time. It was a lot for one person to handle.
Needless to say, cleaning was way, way down my list of priorities. I was aiming more for survival at that point. ๐ But, whether you like it or not, you have to clean your house every now and then, right? So, I whipped up a monthly cleaning schedule that changed the game.
With this schedule, I was able to keep my home neat and tidy with just around an hour of work a day. I set aside about 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening to dedicate to this plan. Within weeks, I could tell a difference in my home with a very minimal amount of work.
Why This Realistic Cleaning Schedule Works
This system is simple. It consists of just two blocks; a morning routine and an evening routine. The morning routine never changes, and the evening routine ties in some of the tasks you'll need to rotate by the day or by the week.
This cleaning printable is clear. The two printable schedules clearly lay out the routine. I am naturally a very forgetful person. I need something like this to take on bigger tasks like home cleaning. There are so many moving parts that can be daunting to keep up with if you don't have a plan.
This cleaning list is comprehensive. It covers it all, from baseboards to vents. No need to constantly second-guess whether you've cleaned everything needed - it's all there!
The Basic Daily Cleaning Schedule Routine
Let's start with the basics. There are two parts to my cleaning system; the morning routine and the evening routine.
Morning Cleaning Routine
The morning routine is consistent; it never changes, no matter the day or the week. In the morning cleaning routine, you'll...
- Declutter for 10 minutes
- Unload dishwasher
- Make beds
Evening Cleaning Routine
The evening routine is similar to the morning routine. You'll need to add the daily chore in the right column and a few items on the "Room of the Week Chores" checklist. In the evenings, you'll...
- Declutter for 10 minutes
- Do dishes; load & start the dishwasher
- Clean kitchen (wipe down counters, spot clean floor, organize food)
- Do the daily chore
- Monday: Outside areas
- Tuesday: Dust surfaces
- Wednesday: Clean fridge and pantry
- Thursday: Vacuum & mop floors
- Friday: Clean bathrooms (toilets & sinks)
- Saturday: Laundry
- Sunday: Rest day
- Two or three chores on the "room of the week" list (see section below)
Weekly Cleaning Schedule Tasks
In my monthly cleaning schedule, I include a few "Room of the Week" tasks each day. For this list, I divide the rooms into the following zones:
- Week 1: Kitchen
- Week 2: Living areas (living room, laundry room, foyer, playroom, etc.)
- Week 3: Bedrooms & outside
- Week 4: Bathrooms & closets
- Odd weeks: This is a section for those months that have 5 almost full weeks. This will happen 4 times a year typically. These are tasks that rarely need to be done but still need occasional attention.
So, for example, the first full (or almost full) week of the month will be kitchen week. The second will be living areas week, the third bedrooms & outside, and so on.
By dividing the house into zones and tackling each zone weekly, I find that you can consistently maintain your whole house with the least amount of attention and effort!
Below, you'll find all of the tasks for the room of the week chores. This shows how I break my home down to tackle an area each week.
Week 1: Kitchen & Dining Room
- Organize cabinets/clean cabinet doors
- Polish furniture & china
- BWDW (This stands for baseboards, walls, doors, and windows. I find it more efficient to tackle all of these at once in each room.)
- Organize command center (throw out old mail/paper, file other paper as needed)
- Wash kitchen linens
- Wash pet bowls
- Take things off of counters & wipe clean (including the backsplash)
- Clean oven, stove, & microwave
- Clean all small appliances
- Clean fronts of large appliances
- Deep clean sink
- Clean trash cans
- Deep clean refrigerator
- Clean light fixtures
- Clean light switches/outlet covers
Week 2: Living Room, Playroom, Hall, Laundry
- Clean washer/dryer/deep freezer
- Organize cleaning supplies
- Bwdw (baseboards, walls, doors, and windows)
- Dust/spot clean curtains
- Dust picture frames
- Back up electronics/clean out files
- Clean & organize mudroom lockers
- Wash living linens
- Spot clean carpets
- Vacuum & spot clean furniture
- Vacuum stairs, clean banister/rails
- Clean light switches/outlet covers
- Organize all playroom toys
- Organize tv areas
- Dust tops of ceiling fans
Week 3: Bedrooms & Outside Areas
- Clean & organize end tables
- Clean light switch/outlet covers
- Maintain flower beds (pull weeds, fertilize if needed, trim bushes)
- Dust tops of furniture
- Organize backyard & porch
- Organize & wash cars (wash outside, spot clean inside, remove trash)
- Dust tops of fans
- Organize & sweep garage
- Wash comforters
- Bwdw (baseboards, walls, doors, and windows)
Week 4: Bathrooms & Closets
- Hang up & refold clothes
- Organize shoes
- Clean showers & tubs
- Wipe down surfaces (back of toilet, shelves, counter)
- Clean trash cans
- Clean light fixtures
- Clean bathroom mirrors
- Organize under bathroom sinks
- Wash toothbrush holders
- Bwdw (baseboards, walls, doors, and windows)
- Clean light switch/outlet covers
- Clean base of toilets & sinks
- Wash bath linens (show towels, mats, etc.)
Week 5: Odd Weeks
(This is a list for those months that have 5 weeks. This should be completed around 4 times per year.)
- Clean vents
- Clean the outside of windows
- Clean out the vacuum & filter
- Wash seldom-used blankets
- Clean elevated surfaces
- Clean out & organize closets
- Deep clean furniture & carpets
- Organize junk drawers
- Wash/purge bath toys
- Clean under furniture
- Deep detail cars (inside & out)
- Pressure wash house & driveway
Printable Pages of the Cleaning Schedule
Don't worry, you won't have to remember all of that - these free printable pages organize everything for you! You will use the following two pages to check off your morning and evening routine daily. There are two pages that are crucial to this cleaning routine.
Daily Routine Page
On the daily routine page, I follow the morning routine each morning (usually right after I drop my kids off at school) and the evening routine (usually right after we put our children to bed). Each one takes about 30 minutes.
The top part of the page will show you what to do each day. The bottom part is a checklist that lets you mark off each task as you complete it daily. This is a chart you'll fill in completely once a week.
Printable Tip
I recommend using a laminator to preserve the page and marking off your page weekly with a wet-erase marker. This way, you don't have to print a copy weekly!
Room of the Week Chores Page
That room of the week chore checklist can be found on the next page. This is a collection of the tasks you'll do during the room of the week time in that evening routine.
Each week has 10-15 tasks that need to be done in certain zones of the house. This list is to be completed as much as possible once monthly (with the exception of odd weeks).
This routine has worked for me for years, even though we've lived in a few very different homes (a garden home, an apartment, a ranch-style house, and now a two-story home). If you're consistent with tackling these cleaning tasks, it works!
Get the whole family involved! I have a set of free printable chore charts for kids that's perfect for assigning those daily tasks.
How to Download These Free Printable Pages
You will find both of these downloads in my printable collection - it's a section of my blog just for newsletter subscribers. It's free to join the newsletter and get access to these and hundreds of other coordinating printables!
(FYI - The printable pictured here is from an older version of this post. You might have found your way here because of that version. Just in case you also wanted this older printable, it is still available in the printable collection! Just sign up for the newsletter to access that.)
The files you'll download are in a pdf format. Once you sign up, check your email for a link to the printable collection, click the download link, and either download to your device by using the downward-facing arrow button or print with the printer button.
A standard printer should work perfectly for these files - they fit on standard 8.5x11" printer paper. (This is the printer I use and I love it!)
More Tips & Tricks
- Start slowly. I don't recommend starting the whole cleaning routine at once. Slowly integrate it into your daily routine. Maybe do the morning routine for a few days, then add the evening routine without the room of the week list, then add those in once you're comfortable with the rest. (Need a more guided way to start using this routine? I have a whole email series that's free to join! Sign up for the Clean Home Boot Camp.)
- Have the right tools on hand. Make sure you're armed with the right supplies before you ever start.
- Have a reset day. Once you get to a certain point in the week, you might find that there are a couple of tasks you haven't gotten to yet. That's ok. This schedule is designed for some graceโฆyou don't have to do each and every task each month! So, if you get to the weekend and find you're just not going to have time to complete some of the weekly tasks, mark off and move on. You'll get it next month.
- Actually use the printable pages to check off tasks. There's something to be said for a physical checklist. It's so helpful for keeping yourself accountable when building a habit. Doesn't it feel good to check off a to-do task? On the flip side, doesn't it make you want to complete a routine when it's not checked off? Printing these pages out and using that checklist will give you a visual reminder of your progress and what's left to do.
Journey to Clean
Finally, let's take a look at the complete guide to using this cleaning system: Journey to Clean. Once my first house cleaning schedule post really caught on, I had an overwhelming request to expand it into a full home cleaning system.
So, with every spare second I had, I got to work creating just that. In the summer of 2016 (with a 4-month-old baby), I published my first-ever ebook - Journey to Clean 2016. This ebook took the original cleaning schedule you see above and expanded it. It's now a home cleaning system that walks you through cleaning your home every single day.
As of today, thousands of readers have tried and loved this system. We're now on our ninth edition of Journey to Clean!
In the latest edition, Journey to Clean 2025, you'll get a collection of eBooks that gives you absolutely everything you could need to follow the printable pages you see above.
You will find monthly cleaning calendars for November 2024 - December 2025 that break the schedule down into easy-to-complete parts, tips on how to integrate this system into different lifestyles, and even a deep cleaning section that shows you how to really make your home shine.
I also have a light version of J2C that lets you maintain a clean home through busy months with simple, pared-down calendars.
Cleaning Schedule FAQs
I can't wait to see this cleaning schedule in action in your home! ๐ Leave a comment to let me know how it's working for you. Or, you can tag me ๐ธ on social media channels (@lambertslately) with your results!
Leslie Lambert is a lifestyle writer and content creator specializing in home organization, family recipes, and intentional living. With 16 years of experience in blogging and digital storytelling, she helps busy women create calm, purposeful homes they love.
