Staying on top of chores is incredibly time-consuming. As soon as something is clean, it's on an immediate decline back into grime (I am looking at you, kitchen sink). This begs the question, should you clean your home every day?
While cleaning daily can help keep a house pristine, it can also be an incredibly draining way to maintain your space – meaning it is vital to strike a careful balance, say experts.
Here, professional cleaners delve into the pros and cons of cleaning every day and share how to create a more balanced cleaning routine, offering cleaning tips that won't leave you chasing your own heels.
Should you clean every day?
If you are trying to clean when feeling overwhelmed, doing this daily day could make it worse, leading to further burnout and dissatisfaction. That being said, it is important to avoid cleaning your entire home all in one go which can be physically draining. So how do you strike the balance?
Cleaning pro and owner of MaidPro Tucson, Stacy Peterson, suggests cleaning your home in small ways every day, avoiding deeper ones too frequently to make the task more manageable. She says, ‘Simple, quick cleaning tasks can help you get into a routine that makes your deep cleaning days much less stressful.'
Stacy recommends preventative cleaning, adding, ‘By doing small and simple tasks each day, it lightens the load for when you do tackle the deep clean.’
Ronnie Kendrick, cleaning expert and founder of Colorado-based service, CompanyClean, adds that while it might not seem like it at face value, this approach helps to develop smart habits to spend less time cleaning overall.
‘As a parent of a toddler, I’ve learned that having a cleaning routine is crucial for keeping a clean home,' Ronnie explains. 'For us, breaking down tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks is the way to go. It's easier to keep the house tidy with regular upkeep rather than tackling a big mess all at once. Plus, cleaning up spills and messes as they occur can help prevent clutter and dirt from accumulating.'
Home size is a factor
Whether or not you clean every day will also depend on the size of your home, reminds Vanessa Terra Bossart, professional cleaner and founder of Green Terra Cleaning. Generally speaking, a larger, busier household will require more frequent cleaning than a smaller, quieter one, she explains.
‘Daily cleaning isn't strictly necessary for every household, but it can be helpful depending on your situation. If you have kids, pets, or a busy home, cleaning a little each day using smart cleaning shortcuts can help keep things under control and prevent dirt and clutter from piling up. It ensures that your home stays hygienic and orderly, making larger cleaning tasks less daunting.
‘On the other hand, if you have a smaller household or less activity in your home, daily deep cleaning might not be required. In such cases, you can focus on a few key tasks each day, like tidying up or wiping down surfaces, to keep your home looking neat without the need for a full clean.'
How much time should you spend cleaning per week?
Vanessa Terra Bossart, professional cleaner, says, ‘The amount of time you should spend cleaning each week depends on your home's size, your cleanliness standards, your established cleaning non-negotiables, and your schedule. Generally, dedicating 30 minutes to one hour each day to light cleaning or maintenance can keep your home well-maintained. This adds up to about seven hours a week.
‘For deeper cleaning tasks, such as mopping, vacuuming, or cleaning the bathroom, a few hours once a week should be sufficient,’ Vanessa continues. ‘Alternatively, you can spread these tasks throughout the week to avoid spending too much time cleaning in one go.’
I swear by color-coded cleaning to prevent cross contamination and the Method products make this super simple. For the kitchen, I keep the Citron anti-bacterial cleaner with orange cloths in the cabinet under my sink to stay on top of cleaning quickly.
For my living room and bedrooms, I keep an all-purpose spray with some green cleaning cloths to make regular dusting easier. The Method Lime and Sea Salt spray smells wonderful and makes cleaning that little bit more fun.
When color-coding cleaning, I assign the bathroom the color blue. Method's bathroom cleaners smell wonderful and, when paired with blue cleaning cloths, help me to stay on top of mold and toothpaste stains quickly throughout the week. This scent is a Walmart bestseller.
If you are looking to have a chore-free weekend, putting in a few hours more cleaning throughout the week can be beneficial. Consider cleaning similar rooms together, working with the different day, different room housekeeping schedule. For instance, tackle all the bedrooms on Mondays, all bathrooms on Tuesdays, the kitchen and dining spaces on Wednesdays, and the remaining living spaces and entries on Thursdays. This leaves Friday through Sunday to relax. You can then intersperse deeper cleaning tasks such as the garage and basement onto any free day per month.
Cleaning expert Vanessa Terra Bossart concludes that ‘The goal is to find a routine that keeps your home clean and comfortable without making it feel like a chore. By adopting small daily habits and staying on top of clutter, you can maintain a tidy home with less overall effort.’
