Basic Cleaning Schedule for Apartments

Hi everyone!  Today I'm going to be sharing my cleaning schedule with you all that I created as part of my annual goals.  In the past, I've been a pretty messy, sloppy person (I'm guessing my mom is laughing out loud, thinking that's the understatement of the century).  I like to be organized, but I tend to be lazy about actually putting stuff away and keeping things cleaned.

This year, I really wanted to change that.  I love how my apartment looks when it's all clean, and I really believe that a clean space makes you happier and feel more productive.  I decided to put together a cleaning schedule to keep myself accountable for cleaning, which I'm sharing today!  I have my tasks divided into two categories- daily tasks and weekly tasks.  I'll explain what each of those are below, and tell you (by room) what falls into each category.  I'm also linking up to some of my favorite products, and I would love to hear some of your suggestions as well!

Keep in mind that I currently have a one-bedroom apartment, so if you're using this as a guide you will have to add on additional rooms.  It'll be interesting to re-do this when I finally move into a house, so be prepared for a part two in the (hopefully) near future. 

I also want to make two announcements before I start the post.  Next Thursday will be the next "What's New With You" Linkup with Kristen and me!  Check out my post from last month to learn more :)  Also, make sure you enter my 1 year blogiversary giveaway!  There are still a few days left to enter!

Daily Schedule

Tasks that should be done every day.  I admit that I'm not great about doing these things every day, but I'm working on it!

Morning

Make bed.  This is one of those things I'm not great about, but working on!

Dishwasher.  I like to either run the dishwasher or empty the dishwasher (or dish drainer) in the mornings.  This isn't something that I run every single day, but more often than weekly.  We have a tiny little dishwasher that doesn't hold much, and we don't have many dishes, so I run this way more often than I would like!



Night

Dishes.  I do all of my dishwashing while I'm waiting for things to cook for dinner.  It's my way to multi task!  I usually put on a TV show on my laptop and wash the dishes.  It's actually kind of therapeutic after a long day!  After I'm done cooking and eating, I'll also wash any additional dishes or put them in the dishwasher.

Counters.  Every day I wipe down the counters just to make sure I get any crumbs or spills off.  I do a deeper clean weekly, which you'll see below.

Put Away.  I try to dedicate about 10 minutes a day to putting everything where it belongs.  I'll spend more time doing this on Fridays when I have a day dedicated to decluttering, but I try to stay on top of things on a daily basis.  Another area I can work on!




Weekly Schedule

Tasks that only need to be done once a week (or that I only care to do once a week).  For each room, I have a task to do each day, and when I complete that task, I put a check in the box below.  Since there are usually four weeks in a month, I have four boxes for each day.  Here's a breakdown by room:


Living Room

Monday = Furniture. This means vacuuming the sofa, chair and ottoman and spraying with a fabric spray.

Tuesday = Mail.  Go through all the mail from the past week, make sure my bills are paid (writing it down in my planner), throwing out junk mail, going through catalogs and reading magazines. 

Wednesday and Thursday = Free Day!  Just have to do my daily chores!

Friday = Declutter.  I do this in each room of my apartment.  Basically I just go through my products and see what I can get rid of.  This is mostly useful in the bathroom and kitchen so I can get rid of old products or food.  Most weeks I don't have a lot to declutter, but doing it weekly keeps things under control.

Saturday = Dust.  Self-explanatory, just dust everything!  I use an old fuzzy sock which makes things really quick and easy, then throw it in the wash when I'm done.

Sunday = Floor.  Our living room has hardwood floors and an area rug, so I vacuum everything, then Swiffer the hardwood.  We get a lot of dog hair from Selma, so vacuuming first is a must!  I've had this one for 4 years now and absolutely recommend it!  It's bagless, never loses suction, and works really well.  It's pretty cheap and lightweight too!



Kitchen

Monday = Recycling.  I gather up all of our recycling and take it outside.  Since we live in an apartment, we have dumpsters outside so we can really do this any day that we want.  Doing it on a weekly basis works, but if we ever have a lot accumulating I'll take it out more often.

Tuesday = Trash.  See above.  I also have trash cans in the bathroom and bedroom, so I'll take all of these out at once.

Wednesday =  Disinfect.  I either use Lysol wipes if I'm lazy or Method All Purpose Cleaner to really clean off the counters, sink, stove, microwave, cabinets, appliances, etc.

Thursday = Free Day!  Just have to do my daily chores!

Friday = Declutter.  See above.

Saturday = Floor.  First I'll vacuum to get up any food bits or dog food, then use a dry and wet Swiffer rag to clean the floors.  

Sunday = Meal plan.  You all know I love to meal plan, so Sundays (or sometimes Saturday nights) I'll make a plan and go grocery shopping.



Bathroom

Monday = Toilet.  Not fun, but it needs to be done!

Tuesday = Trash.  See above.

Wednesday = Brushes.  I like to deep clean my makeup brushes on a weekly basis.  I use Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap and it makes the process really quick and easy!

Thursday = Sink.  Another area that's not fun.  I also clean off the mirror and disinfect the cabinets.

Friday = Declutter.  See above.

Saturday = Floor.  See above.

Sunday = Shower.  Probably my least favorite area to clean in the house.  I'm pretty lazy about this to be honest.  I like to use Scrubbing Bubbles because the foam looks cool changing colors, and it makes the process pretty effortless. 



Bedroom

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday = Free Day!  Just have to do my daily chores!

Tuesday = Trash.  See above.

Friday = Declutter.  See above

Saturday = Dust.  I don't have a lot of furniture in my bedroom, just a dresser and sleigh bed, so this is really quick.

Sunday = Floor.  The bedroom is all carpet, so I just vacuum.  It's also really small so this is a quick process!


For more cleaning schedule resources, check out these links!
Morgan Manages Mommyhood
Molly Maid
Real Simple
Living Well Spending Less

What does your cleaning schedule look like?
What areas do you hate to clean?  What do you like to clean?
What are some products that you swear by?

post contains affiliate links.  this is not sponsored in any way- I just wanted to share some of my favorite products!  If a cleaning service wants to sponsor another post about cleaning, I would be fine with that :)

Comments

  1. There are things I have rules for, like the bed, the last one to get up has to make it... that's usually my fiancé, since I leave at 6:30 am, and he gets up at 7:00. and laundry every day, I hate leaving laundry for the weekend! I also have a rule that If I cook, he has to clean the dishes, and the opposite if he cooks. I have other silly rules, but won't bore you with the details.

    I loathe cleaning the kitchen sink and the stove!! I could just pay somebody to do it! But I don't mind cleaning the bathroom, I find it to be so easy to clean.

    I used to have a sink full of cleaning products, but in an effort to become more environmentally friendly, and get rid of nasty toxic items at home, I switched to a vinegar/water/dish detergent mix I make at home. I make 1 bottle, and use it for EVERYTHING! because it is truly multipurpose. For anything that requires harder cleaning, (like the sink) I sprinkle baking soda, spray it with the solution and come back and wipe it off. this vinegar solution has changed the way I clean!

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    1. I need to make those rules too! I usually end up cooking AND washing dishes because Dan just throws everything in the dishwasher ;) You clean my bathroom and I'll clean your kitchen!

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  2. Also, I truly admire your organization skills! you are always right on top of your scheduling for all things! I find that truly amazing!

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    1. Thank you Ana! I'm good at scheduling stuff but not as much about following through!

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  3. Ugh, I wish I had this when I lived in an apartment! it's really hard to find tips or schedules for a small apartment! This is great, Gretchen! Thanks for the shout out as well!

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    1. Of course! I didn't want to leave you out when I loved your post!

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  4. I hate dusting. It is such a pain in the ass.

    My sister told me about some cleaning tip called the one touch rule or something. Basically anything that you take out to use or bring into the house you put away while you are still touching it. So when I get home from a run I don't toss my sunglasses on the counter while I have a snack, then pile my garmin and headphones on the bathroom counter while I shower, etc. Everything gets put away when I am done using it and I don't have to spend time cleaning up after myself later that night. So easy and it really has been helping keep my home clutter free.

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    1. That's a great tip! I love little "hacks" like that!

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  5. This is such a good breakdown, just yesterday I was on Pinterest searching cleaning schedules because I was looking for something I could print off or try and create to be more on top of the things that tend to get skipped.

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  6. I don’t have class on Fridays, but pretty much all of my friends do, so I take that morning to put on a podcast and roam around my little dorm room (ah the life of an RA) and clean everything up. I kind of love having this time to really take my time with everything- I look forward to it! I don’t really have any areas I hate cleaning. I’m one of those that truly enjoys it! But only if I can take my time with it. If it’s rushed I feel kind of yucky.

    Your schedule is planned out so nicely! I'm going to take some of these tips and try to apply it to my room. :) Thank you for sharing Gretch!

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    1. It's great you have that time to dedicate to cleaning! I need to do that as well.

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  7. Gretchen.. every time I read one of your posts about cleaning, budgeting or meal planning I get all pumped up and right now all I want to do is go home and tidy up my apartment.. is that weird?! Haha. This is such a good idea to put a schedule like this together! I NEVER used to make my bed, but it's something so small and simple that just makes me feel put together.

    My favorite things to clean- wash dishes (we don't have a dishwaher :( ), clean countertops, and cleaning the bathrooms sink (no idea why haha).
    Least favorite- VACUUMING. I act like it's such a struggle when really it takes like less than 5 minutes haha.

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    1. It helps make me get my act together as well, so I'm glad I can motivate you!! I actually like vacuuming which is kind of weird!

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  8. Ugh, I hate cleaning the shower too. We live in a one bedroom apartment so it really doesn't take long to clean the whole place, but I still don't do it as often as I should. Sometimes I'll tell myself I'll clean for half an hour and just do what I can - usually it's more than I think!

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    1. Same here! Don't know what I'm going to do when I move to a house :-O

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  9. i love/hate cleaning. sometimes i want to do nothing, and then on a saturday i will clean the whole house from top to bottom. it's weird. i made it a goal last year i think to follow a cleaning schedule, and while i am certainly not perfect, it has made a world of difference. i have a few things i do daily and then i always just try and do a quick tidy up if a certain place is looking messier than it should be. i am not naturally a clean person - i mean, ew, i'm clean, but i mean i am naturally quite messy - so if i don't stay on top of it, it gets out of control. i still like to do a big clean once a month or so, but the little bit each day really helps. oh, and i make KC do the things i hate (kitty litter and vacuuming). also, we live in a 3 bedroom house, but rarely use the other 2 rooms, so basically i live in a 1 bedroom apartment as well hahaha.

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    1. Same! I can get into a cleaning frenzy and everything is perfect, then not be bothered to put anything away for a week. So weird.

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  10. We just moved into a house two months ago and I meant to start a cleaning schedule. It still hasn't happened yet. I have been good about sweeping or vacuuming every night (we have two dogs) and staying on top of the dishes. I just need to work on making and putting the rest of a schedule in place. I hate cleaning toilets. It just grosses me out. I told my husband a long time ago that I don't mind doing the rest of the cleaning, as long as he cleans the toilets!

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    1. I'm hoping when we move I can just start clean and keep it clean!

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  11. So funny, I just made myself a really similar checklist on Monday. Totally needed that. I absolutely despise cleaning the kitchen. I actually kind of like vacuuming though, it's so easy and I tend to just zone out.

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    1. I agree! It's kind of relaxing and it makes a huge difference.

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  12. I so, so need this cleaning schedule! I'm going to plug it straight into my bullet journal! I have also been a bit of a sloppy person in the past, but you make this look so easy if you just do a little bit each day! Thanks for the inspiration, as always!

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  13. I need a better cleaning schedule! I try to set aside one night a week to declutter and one day to clean bathrooms, etc, but the rest just gets cleaned throughout the week as I go.

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    1. I should do that as well :/ I need structure though or I would never do anything!

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  14. I hate washing the floor because it seems like as soon as I finish, Callum chooses to throw spaghetti, fishy crackers everywhere, and then spit his sticky juice all over it all. Kids are such sticky little dirt mongers.

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    1. Haha I know what you mean, and I don't even have kids!

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  15. I NEED this!! Seriously... organization is SO challenging for me. I def am not someone who naturally keeps things clean :/ so I need this! Well done girl!

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  16. i love the idea of playing a show on the computer while doing the dishes!! i need to try that. my least fave is folding and putting away clothes.

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    1. Makes time go by so quickly! Now I just need surround sound so I can hear it better :)

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  17. Holy moly this is organized!! I can TOTALLY see how this would be helpful...because it sure it easier to clean little by little rather than all at once!!

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  18. i just love everything you do, it's all just so quirky and makes me smile! so glad you shared :)

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