Once a Month House Cleaning

I admit to being a bit of a neat freak, but I feel agitated when my house is in a state of disarray.  Once my first baby was born, keeping our house clean started to feel a bit overwhelming. This only increased once I had a second child and started homeschooling in earnest. I did an okay job of keeping our home clean, but a few things kept falling through the cracks, like scrubbing the bathtubs. And I always felt like I was running behind.

About a year ago, I read a blog post about once a month cleaning. I thought it was worth trying, and I am so glad I did. Once a month cleaning has revolutionized the way I clean our house.

How Once a Month Cleaning Works

The idea is that, once a month, the whole house gets cleaned. I devote a couple days to cleaning at the beginning of each month, and the rest of the month I can relax and not worry about it! Cleaning days can be a bit intense, but I relish in getting everything done in one week rather than having nagging cleaning tasks always in the back of my mind.

In between house cleaning sessions, little things are still done to maintain the neatness of the house, such as sweeping the dining room floor and doing a nightly 5-to-10-minute clutter pick-up of toys, books, etc. If guests are coming over towards the end of the month, I'll also give the guest bathroom toilet a quick scrub and wipe.

Advantages of Once a Month Cleaning

• Important cleaning tasks no longer fall through the cracks. For instance, our bathtubs now get scrubbed every month, whereas previously they sometimes weren't scrubbed for many months.

• I can stop feeling stressed about cleaning by knowing that everything will get cleaned once a month.  This has been a huge de-stressor for me.  Instead of constantly feeling like I am behind and should do more, I can relax and know that everything will get cleaned soon.

• It helps in setting the appropriate priorities.  For only one or two days a month, I focus on cleaning.  For the rest of the month, I have plenty of time to focus on homeschooling, playing with the kids,spending time with my husband, and cooking nourishing meals for my family.   

My Once a Month Cleaning List

Our home is relatively small at 1250 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  When I first started once a month cleaning, since I had a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, it took me 2-3 days to complete my cleaning.  Now that the kids are a bit older, I can easily finish before lunch on the second day.

My once a month cleaning list includes:

Living Room

• Dust

• Vacuum 

• Horizontal surface organization 

• Clean windows/glass doors (visible smudges only)

Kitchen

• Dust 

• Wipe stovetop and front

• Wipe counters 

• Clean sink 

• Clean toaster oven

• Clean window (visible smudges only)

• Wash dish drainer 

• Wash compost pail

• Clean trash can lid 

• Wash rug 

• Clean fridge water dispenser 

• Wash butter dish

• Sweep and mop floor

Bathrooms

• Dust

• Clean mirrors

• Scrub bathtub

• Scrub toilet

• Wash sink and counter

• Sweep floor

Master Bedroom

• Dust

• Vacuum

• Clean windows (visible smudges only)

• Change sheets

Study

• Dust

• Vacuum

• Clean windows (visible smudges only)

• Horizontal surface organization

 Kids' Room

• Dust

• Vacuum

• Clean windows (visible smudges only)

• Horizontal surface organization

This is part one of a series on Once a Month House Cleaning.  Click here for tips on making Once a Month Cleaning work.

Do you have a specific schedule or routine for housecleaning?