My New Weekly Cleaning Schedule + A FREE Printable Checklist

I was standing there washing dishes when I noticed how disgustingly dirty and grimey my kitchen blinds were. “When was the last time I even cleaned these?!” I thought. Ew.

I am a fairly clean person. My home is pretty tidy most days, I vacuum daily and I am great at keeping the main rooms clutter-free. But when it comes to actually CLEANING my house… I suck. The baseboards are caked with dust, the photo frames rarely dusted… I get lazy. I decided to make a weekly cleaning routine for myself and I am promising to stick with it! I made two lists- one is my daily checklist of what I need to do every single day. The other is for the tasks I always forget about, and I split them up throughout the week.

My daily tasks:

1. Before leaving your room, make the bed. Don’t worry, Martha Stewart won’t be checking your hotel corners. Just throw the blanket/duvet on, fluff the pillows and call it a day.
2. Clear off your nightstand if you are like me and end up with like five glasses of water next to your bed. (I’m like the little girl in the Sixth Sense, I swear!)
3. Then you can head to the kitchen and unload the dishwasher. I know, this sucks. Who wants to do anything when they first wake up? But just do it. It will make the rest of your day SO much easier, I promise
4. After finishing off the coffee, clean and dry the coffee pot ( Nathan makes a pot before leaving for work and there’s usually a cup left for me in there)
5. Wipe down bathroom counters after getting ready for the day
6. Throw one load of laundry in each day
7. Sweep the kitchen and wipe down table after every meal (Because kids)
8. Clean the kitchen as you cook throughout the day.
9. Put the mail away right away- whether it’s filed or thrown in the recyclable. We have a tendency to have it stack up on our kitchen counters!
10. Pick up toys, socks, shoes, and whatever else throughout the day as you see it.
11. Clean the kitty litter box
12. Take the garbage out each night
13. Wipe down the kitchen sink at the end of the night
14. Vacuum the main traffic areas if needed

My weekly tasks:

The other cleaning tasks that I am not always great at, I split up throughout the week.

• Mondays are for vacuuming the stairs and basement (which is also the playroom) and to vacuum the bedrooms and hallways.
• Tuesday is bathroom cleaning day as well as washing all the whites. I have white bathroom rugs, bath towels, and bed sheets so I will wash those all together on Tuesdays.
• Wednesdays I will dust the blinds, sanitize the light switches and door knobs, and dust the light fixtures and ceiling fans.
• Thursday’s vacuum the sofa, disinfect remotes and gaming controllers, dust the living room and water the house plants.
• Fridays I will try to wash and vacuum out the car. We have a monthly subscription to our car wash so we can go an unlimited amount of times and the vacuums are free. This really saves you money if you clean your car at least once a week! Then I will focus on the kitchen and clean the microwave, wipe out the fridge, wipe down cabinets, walls and counters. Dust the shelves, sweep and steam mop the floor, and clean the kitchen chairs with a soapy rag.

My cleaning schedule may change up a little come summer time, but for now, this is what I am going to stick with! I’m going to laminate this page so I can use a fine tip dry erase marker over and over. Hang it up on your fridge or command center. Make sure it’s in a spot that you will see it everyday! If you don’t have a laminator, putting it in a binder sleeve protector would work too.

If you want a printable copy of my cleaning routine click here

Cleaning kit checklist:

• An all purpose cleaner – I like using my Young Living Thieves and [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MFAWJF9′ text=’Mrs Meyers All Purpose’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’bc5d1dd4-0dde-11e8-ab53-69823287118c’]
• [amazon_textlink asin=’B00J8QK200′ text=’Norwex ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1a679087-017b-11e8-ab33-353a580efdd9′] window cloth (I use this to clean all my mirrors)
• A mild abrasive cleaner -I like [amazon_textlink asin=’B00LSCTXCK’ text=’Borax’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d363bd45-0dde-11e8-96de-c71b2d7a9818′] + [amazon_textlink asin=’B018OT7JBG’ text=’Bon Ami’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’df63cab4-0dde-11e8-b3ba-ff4753c7be54′]
• White cloths/rags (lint-free)
• A good [amazon_textlink asin=’B006ZUW070′ text=’toilet bowl cleaner’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f4029254-0dde-11e8-b32e-0da9b1c6935c’] and brush
• [amazon_textlink asin=’B0033WT4ZO’ text=’Disinfecting wipes’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’007ead42-0ddf-11e8-9e8f-b7858eaa9102′] for cleaning the toilet ( I keep this right in the cabinet under my bathroom sink. With boys, I have to clean the toilet quite often)
• Bucket
• Rubber gloves
• [amazon_textlink asin=’B005ILL5IW’ text=’Tile scrub brush’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0b204690-0de0-11e8-9b6f-1372d541b5e8′]
• Essential oils: lemon, Thieves, Purification are what I use most. I will use either lemon or thieves oil in my steam mop, drop a couple drops of purification in the bottom of my kitchen garbage can once a week, and add a drop of lemon or thieves to my dish scrub brush. Just one drop of lemon down my garbage disposal freshens the sink. I also use three drops lemon and three drops purification on my wool dryer balls every few loads to make my laundry smelling amazing! (Lavender is another great one for the wool dryer balls)
• Baking soda (what I use to clean my very old porcelain sink that stains very easily!)
• Vinegar
• Sponges
• Don’t forget a good [amazon_textlink asin=’B0028MB3HM’ text=’steam mop’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3cb2187b-0de0-11e8-aea0-05b17d2131fe’] & vacuum

I store some cleaning supplies that I use to clean the kitchen right under the kitchen sink. For the rest of my cleaning supplies I store them in my linen closet which is in our main hallway. I use an over-the-door [amazon_textlink asin=’B018H030EM’ text=’shoe organizer’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cbd7b76c-017a-11e8-b501-371c5856c559′] to store all my cleaning products. It allows more room for the linens and everything is so easy to find. I shared my linen closet organization in this post.

To shop some of may favorite cleaning products and gadgets:

[amazon_link asins=’B01FHUJ1FC,B006ZUW070,B013BZQGG2,B00OWRAMYQ,B00T2VV6O2,B00JFC0YDM,B00J8QK200,B01GJKFKTK,B00L2SLXKA,B01M4MJ9Z9′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’Newmommasurvival’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9e1d9f22-0176-11e8-874c-614ff8114cbe’]

How to save money on cleaning supplies/household essentials:

I started using Grove Collaborative because I have heard so many great things about the service. (this is not sponsored, just sharing the love!) If you have not heard of Grove Collaborative yet, it’s basically a  auto-replenishment service for natural household and personal products. They suggest a schedule to help keep you stocked and on-budget with your home products but the scheduled shipments are completely customizable. They sell cleaning products, deodorant, baby shampoo, vitamins, hand sanitizer…

So far I really like it! My first shipment I got a LOT for my money as they often have a free gift with your first $20 purchase. I spent about $40 and was able to restock on a bunch of my favorite brands. The walnut scouring sponges that came free are a new favorite of mine. They effortlessly wipe away stuck-on food without scratching your dishes. And they are made of crushed up walnuts, which I think is just really cool. The free kitchen towel was also a great freebie because it’s a really good quality towel. Thick, absorbent and fairly large, it has become my favorite.  JOIN GROVE TODAY AND GET A FREE GIFT SET!

Another “subscription” I have to save money is my wholesale membership to Young Living. I buy my toothpastes, mouth wash, laundry detergent and all my oils from them. Besides the consistency of quality of the products, I really love that with their Essential Rewards (the monthly order) you do get rewarded! I have been doing the essential rewards program for just 8 months, but I already have over $65 of rewards to use! The new line of all-natural cosmetics is what I will be trying out next because I have yet to hear a single negative thing about the new line. If you ever have questions about becoming a wholesale member for Young Living email me at newmommasurvival@yahoo.com and I can help you get signed up. I still have yet to try even half of the products Young Living makes but I have yet to be disappointed with ANYTHING that I have tried.

If you are interested in the Young Living cleaning products, I highly recommend just getting the Thieves Home Cleaning Kit. It comes with everything you will need to make the transition to a chemical-free home. Retail price is $104.93 and only $79.95 wholesale.

What’s in the kit:

• Citrus Fresh™ Essential Oil Blend 5 ml
• Lemon Essential Oil 5 ml
• Pine Essential Oil 5 ml
• Purification® Essential Oil Blend 5 ml
• Thieves® Essential Oil Blend 5 ml
• Thieves® Household Cleaner 14.4 oz.
• Carrying Case
• Stainless Steel Bucket
• Amber Glass Spray Bottle 16 oz.
• Cleaning Cloth
• Cleaning Recipe Booklet

I hope you enjoy my checklist! What do you do differently? Anything you would add to the checklist? Spring is just around the corner (hopefully) so getting into a new cleaning schedule will help you feel more organized and motivate.

Happy cleaning!

-Nat