How to use the cleaning schedule maker
- Choose how many bathrooms, bedrooms and living rooms you have, and tick the other areas in your home.
- Tick the days you can usually spend some time cleaning. Bigger jobs are spread over those days.
- Open Customise tasks to switch off jobs you don’t need or change how often they happen. Add anything that’s missing.
- Print the checklist and tick jobs off through the week, or save the plan in your browser and come back to it.
How the schedule is worked out
- Daily jobs appear every day, because little and often stops mess building up.
- Weekly jobs are shared out over the days you ticked, longest jobs first, each going to the day with the least work so far.
- Twice-weekly jobs go on two days spaced as far apart as your days allow.
- Every-two-weeks and monthly jobs follow a four-week cycle. Each goes to the lightest day in the cycle, so no single week is overloaded.
- Seasonal jobs (every three months and twice a year) are staggered across the months, starting this month.
- Times are rough guides for one average room. They are added up to show how busy each day is.
Tips for keeping a home bright and fresh
- Work from top to bottom: dust high surfaces first, then wipe, then do the floors last.
- Open windows while you clean, especially in the kitchen and bathroom, to let damp and smells out.
- Clean windows and mirrors on a dull day; strong sun dries cleaner before you can wipe it off and leaves streaks.
- Keep a small caddy of the basics for each floor of the house so quick jobs stay quick.
Assumptions and limitations
- Task times are rough estimates for planning. Your home, your tools and your standards will change them.
- The task list is general. Follow the care instructions for your surfaces, appliances and fabrics.
- The schedule repeats in a four-week cycle, so monthly jobs come round every four weeks rather than on a set date.
- Tick boxes on screen are for convenience and aren’t saved; print a copy each week if you like to tick jobs off.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I clean each room?
A common rhythm is a quick daily reset of the kitchen and a tidy of the living space, a weekly clean of bathrooms, floors and bed linen, and monthly jobs such as the oven and skirting boards. Busy households, pets, allergies and young children often need floors and surfaces done more often. Change any task’s frequency to suit your home.
How long will the cleaning take?
The times are rough guides for planning, based on an average-sized, reasonably tidy room. A large or very busy home will take longer and a small flat less. Use them to compare days and spot a day that’s overloaded, not as targets.
What if I only have time at the weekend?
Tick only Saturday or Sunday under “Days you can clean” and every weekly job is put on those days. You’ll still see the daily jobs, which take a few minutes each.
Can I share the jobs between people?
Yes. Enter everyone’s names under “Who’s cleaning” and each job gets a name, shared so that everyone spends about the same time over a year. A room’s weekly jobs stay with one person, so it’s clear who does the bathroom. The names stay in your browser.
Which cleaning products should I use?
Follow the care instructions for each surface, appliance and fabric. This planner doesn’t recommend products. Never mix cleaning products, especially bleach with ammonia-based or acidic cleaners, and keep rooms ventilated while you clean.
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