My Cleaning Schedule

1/8/2024 Update!

I wrote this post 12 years ago!! Every spring and every January, my blog (that I don't update nearly often enough!) gets a lot of attention on this post about a simple cleaning plan! That makes a lot of sense though, right?

That said, I noticed while doing laundry this week that it's time to buy some fresh microfiber towels for us to use for wiping down surfaces. While I'm shopping, I'm going to make a list here of some of our go-to cleaning supplies that you can find online.

• Microfiber Cleaning Cloths - I use these for just about everything. I've had more and less expensive ones over the years, but I find as long as I wash them separate from any lint towels, they hold up well for a few years.
• Glass Spray Bottles - I have one (and need more!). I like to dilute a little castile soap or dish soap in one for the boys to help clean surfaces. Currently, I have homemade pine cleaner in mine. I put a bunch of fresh pine straw in a jar, filled it with vinegar, and let it sit for a month. I strained that into the glass spray bottle to fill it 3/4 full, added a splash of rubbing alcohol and topped it off with water. Now it can keep smelling like Christmas a little longer!
  
• Washable Mop Pads - I have a microfiber mop that comes in handy A LOT when we have frequent small messes around this little farmhouse! I love that the kids can help out without needing a bucket to carry around as well. We run the mop pad under water, wring it out, then spray a little diluted soap on any sticky messes and up the mop to wipe it up!
• Wet/Dry Vaccuum - I bought this a little over a year ago and have been very happy with it! We had one small issue with it and customer service was fantastic. They sent us a replacement with extra brushes, filters, and cleaning solution. That said, I need to buy new filters and brushes soon!

*I store all of our microfiber cleaning cloths and mop pads in a grocery bag until there's enough to wash a load. To wash, I set the machine to hot with a 15 min soak and an extra rinse.*

------------------------------Original Post-------------------------------

According to some Pinterest pins, Facebook updates, and Blog posts, it looks like a lot of people have a New Year's Resolution to keep their house clean, clean out their house and get rid of stuff, or to do a big overall house clean to start off the year.  That's kinda what we've been up to!  We came back home after being out of town for a few days for Christmas, and we realized our house was a wreck haha! There were receipts from Christmas presents we bought, half packed suitcases (we went out of town every weekend in December I think, plus some weekdays, so there were times when we never unpacked!), Christmas decorations, and random mail all over the place.  We decided that while we put away the Christmas stuff, it'd be a good time to do a complete clean of the house (and we wound up rearranging some too!)

Anywho, I'm never doing a "total house cleaning" at once again. We were pooped!  Sometime soon after we moved into this house, I made this cleaning schedule that makes keeping the house clean easy! Basically, you focus on one room (or group of rooms) per day each week (except the weekends!) to clean. Everyday, you do any laundry or tidying up that's needed.

Feel free to download the picture to print out! I keep mine on the wall next to my washer and dryer!

Here is a plain version.....

And one with a Hydrangea background! :)