Here’s what I do on Friday mornings to keep this house of five in (reasonable) shape. I used to be reactive about cleaning and shopping, but proactive is easier and much less stressful. Having a routine, instead of noticing how dirty the floor is and mopping it or waiting until 5:30 to look in the fridge and figure out dinner, is actually less work in the long run. It also helps with decision fatigue and feeling overwhelmed.
My reset day is Friday to set the weekend up for success, put food in the fridge and keep up with three soccer kids tracking in dirt! I try to move fast and even think of it as a workout.
Some people do one chore a day — and you could even break up this printable that way — but I quickly get behind, so doing most of it once a week works best for me. If you work full-time, you try Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon — whenever you’re most motivated. It feels so great when it’s done!
Shout out to my amazing sister-in-law, Wendy, for giving me this Friday reset idea! 💕 The other thing she does is make something like frozen pizza for dinner for minimal mess on cleaning day as to not dirty the kitchen right after she cleans it. Genius!
Every clean routine will look a little different. For example I have a robot vacuum that I love so I start that at the beginning so it has time to complete. I also have been having my groceries delivered from Walmart, so meal planning the day before and scheduling the delivery for when I should be wrapping up cleaning has been a game changer!
I’ve never been this organized in my life, haha! Routines have never been my thing, but this one is so beneficial I’ve been doing it for months now. You can watch the YouTube video for clarification and more detail.
It’s fine if you don’t get to every single thing on the list. This is supposed to take 2 to 2.5 hours. Just focus on what needs the most attention during the time you have! Some weeks I clean the boys’ shower, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes scour both bathtubs, but if they still look clean, I don’t. Sometimes my husband does the towels during the week so I can wash all the kid linens. Other times I don’t get to them that week. The list is only a general guideline.
Prep
- Look at what food you have and make a meal plan and grocery shopping list.
Like I said, I have started doing this the day before and scheduling the delivery for the next afternoon. It’s $12 a month for the Walmart subscription, plus a tip to the driver. But by ordering the day before, I’m not impulse buying and I know how much I will be spending in advance.
Even if you don’t schedule your delivery it would probably be helpful to plan meals and list the day before because you’ve got a lot to do on cleaning day.
- Clear dining room table and clean. (I put up chairs and bar stools.)
- (Start robot vacuum.)
I clean off the dining table and chairs so any crumbs will be swept up. I also put the chairs up to clean underneath. A lot happens at this table — eating, schoolwork, my husband’s business calls — so it needs to be cleared off every day or we couldn’t use it.
I pick up any baskets or small side tables and start the robot vacuum. I love that it gets under the couches and cuts my vacuum time down considerably.
- Start load of towels or sheets. (I do clothes on Wednesdays.)
Sheets and towels get thrown in the wash. I get a couple loads done during the morning.
The only other scheduled cleaning I do is all the kids’ laundry on Wednesdays and they fold and put it away. They have a chore chart with one thing to do a day and that helps with dishes and sweeping during the week. It helps so much to have a set day so I know soccer uniforms are clean and school uniforms are ready to go. They’re old enough to put their things away now, which eliminates most of the “Mom! Where’s my …”
Kitchen
- Pull out and discard old food in refrigerator and wipe it down inside and outside.
- Wash dishes.
- Clean sink.
- Change dish towels.
The kitchen takes me the longest. Cleaning out the fridge helps from wasting food and it’s nice to put your new haul away in a clean space. I have a stainless steel sink, so a quick swipe of the Brillo pad helps with staining and discoloration.
- Clean microwave, stovetop and front of oven.
- Disinfect countertops.
- Spot clean cabinets.
Again, wiping down the microwave and spot cleaning the cabinets once a week really keeps them in good shape. When I was cleaning reactively I often forgot spots like this.
And disinfecting the counters and sink are important to me because I make a lot of meals and people set a lot of crazy things on these counters! Here is my DIY recipe using CDC guidelines.
Living room
- Walk through main living space. Tidy and put away things that don’t belong.
I have a general rule that everything we own needs a spot. Bags have a rack. Homework has a tray. School papers have a bulletin board, etc. The kids are expected to pick up after themselves and do a decent job, so this shouldn’t take but a few minutes to straighten pillows, discard trash and put away misplaced things.
Bedrooms
- Tidy bedrooms.
- Replace linens.
- Quick dust.
Put everything back in it’s spot, make the bed. If there’s something that looks dusty or that needs extra attention, I’ll spend a few minutes on it.
Bathrooms
- Clean bathrooms: Clean mirror, counter and sink, bathtub or shower and toilet. Refill soap and replace towels.
No one’s favorite part, but again, the more often you do it, the less of a chore it becomes. The kids are supposed to clean their bathrooms once week, but often they still need some attention.
Floors
- Vacuum.
I use my cordless vacuum to get in corners or places the robot cannot. Use whatever vacuum you’ve got and at least tackle the main traffic.
- Mop.
I use a spray mop with washable covers and quickly go over most of the house. I have a little Dr. Bronners soap and citrus essential oil in the sprayer. Then sometimes on weekends I go in with a regular mop.
- Shop and put away groceries.
My favorite part is putting the groceries away in a clean organized space and tacking my meal plan up on the fridge. If you need some dinner idea help, check out this printable list.
Our fridge has a drawer so I made that the kid snack drawer and it has helped immensely with the opening and shutting of the doors! The main part is for meal ingredients and they can look in the drawer for those things. I try to choose a variety of healthy things that they like and put them in containers with clear lids so they can see everything, which also reduces food waste. I try to wash and cut them on this reset day too.
- Fold laundry and replace sheets.
I fold the towels and put the clean sheets back on the bed.
Click image for high-res version.
As I’ve kept up with this it takes less and less time because dirt and random stuff has less of a chance to build up. Is this cleaning list rocket science? No. But it’s helpful and seems more manageable to see a list. It is very rewarding to have everything in order, groceries in the fridge and meals planned out for the weekend.
It is beautiful to feel calm and peaceful in your clean home and to take care of the home you have.
If you’re overwhelmed and need something deeper with more organization, I have a 1 week to a clean house printable that might do the trick.
This is the daily chore chart my kids have.
This is a PDF that is editable in Adobe Acrobat Reader! So that means you can customize it to your family’s specific needs. You can print it off each month or laminate it and use a dry erase marker. This simple design is great for older kids as well.
PDFs included:
– 4 children (5 days a week)
– 3 children (5 days a week)
– 2 children (5 days a week)
– 3 children or months (7 days a week)
– 2 children or months (7 days a week)
And finally, I have 12-page Clean House printable with my favorite DIY cleaner recipes, the best cleaning hacks, a deep clean calendar and home maintenance checklist. You can print them off and stick them in a binder to use again and again.
