American Housekeeping Checklist for Home Cleaning – Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Clean Home
December 20, 2017
Bathroom – work top-down, bottom-up spraying and scrubbing surfaces with cleaner.
Bedroom – remove clutter, work from the outside-in dusting and vacuuming.
Kitchen – clean cabinets and countertops from top-to-bottom and outside-in, then clean appliances.
Floor and Entryway – remove furniture and rugs, then sweep, mop and vacuum.
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Think strategically before you go to town scrubbing and spraying.
Before you begin running through our full housekeeping checklist for home cleaning, think strategically. Overall, the less material stuff you have in your life, the less you have to clean. Second-guess all of your belongings as you pick them up or remove them. Consider ways to remove clutter:
Donate unused or old items.
Throw away old magazines and newspapers.
Evaluate your furniture.
Collect old clothing that doesn’t fit or isn’t worn.
A minimalistic lifestyle can aid you when it comes time to clean your home, especially when performing deep cleanings.
Now that you’ve considered your clutter, follow these housecleaning best practices.
Cleaning each room of your home from the top-down and outside-in results in the greatest cleaning efficiency. If you’re cleaning in the bathroom, work from the tub or shower from the top, down and then work your way toward the door, leaving the floors for last. For a bedroom, remove clutter and then dust and vacuum from the edges or outside of the room inward, toward the center. In a kitchen, you’ll want to save the floors and countertops for last and focus initially on the uppermost cabinets and appliances.
This approach to cleaning means that you aren’t cleaning and re-dirtying a surface multiple times. If you clean a floor first, chances are good that you will dirty it again while cleaning other areas in your home. This is where being strategic helps. That being said, read on for American Housekeeping’s full housekeeping checklist for home cleaning.
American Housekeeping’s Comprehensive Housekeeping Checklist for Home Cleaning:
BATHROOM HOUSEKEEPING CHECKLIST
Remove rugs/wastebaskets.
Remove soaps and shower materials.
Clean bathroom cabinets – top down, outside in.
Apply tile and grout cleaner, to tub and shower surfaces – let sit.
Spray countertop with an all-purpose cleaner.
Fill a bucket with ¼ cup all-purpose cleaner and water to prep for floor cleaning.
Place your bucket and dirty rags in the sink (you’ll clean the sink near the end).
Wet bathtub and shower walls with warm water.
Scrub and sanitize all surfaces of toilets, showers, and tubs.
Clean shower rack and soap dishes.
Clean shower track (this is a detail item that is often neglected).
Rinse off walls of tubs and showers, then dry with clean cloth.
Spray the vanity area with tile and grout cleaner, let sit.
Wipe down cabinet fronts.
Use grout brush along faucet and drain.
Rinse the sink and your rag.
Wipe the vanity countertop.
Remove dirty cleaning materials from the sink, then scrub and sanitize basin.
Clean mirror: spray glass cleaner on soft cloth and buff.
Wash the floor with a cleaning solution and allow to dry.
Replace bathroom rugs, mats, and wastebaskets.
BEDROOM HOUSEKEEPING CHECKLIST
Remove any furniture that will keep you from vacuuming.
Strip your bed of its bedding.
Protect nicknacks or fragile items that could be damaged.
Dust and clean all surfaces top-down, outside-in.
Vacuum floors and rugs from the edges of the room toward the center.
Replace bedding.
Replace furniture and nicknacks.
KITCHEN HOUSEKEEPING CHECKLIST
Prepare cleaning supplies and a bucket of cleaning solution – place in sink.
Clean and sanitize kitchen cabinets (start at the top and work down, then from the outside in).
Remove stove burner rings or spray glass stovetop with proper cleaning solution.
Soak stove drip pans and knobs in the sink.
Remove the Microwave turntable and clean from inside out.
Clean other small Appliances.
Clean the outside and then the inside of the refrigerator.
Sweep, sanitize and mop kitchen floors.
Clean inside and around the sink.
Clean all contact areas in your kitchen e.g. handles, knobs and high-touch surfaces.
FLOOR AND ENTRYWAY HOUSEKEEPING CHECKLIST
Remove large pieces of furniture.
Remove rugs.
Sweep or Swiffer all wood and tile floors.
Vacuum up all dust piles and dirt.
Vacuum all rugs.
Dust extra surfaces and trinkets.
Replace furniture and rugs.
At American Housekeeping, we are more than happy to accommodate your housekeeping needs. If you have any further questions, feel free to connect with us or get your free housekeeping quote today. We offer maid, house cleaning services in Reno/Sparks, Carson City, and San Antonio.