This is part one of a series on Once a Month House Cleaning. Click here for part two. 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 day 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 ListOur 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)
- 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 part two.
12 comments:
We need vacuuming every week or an absolute must every other week, so I don't think the once a month cleaning could work in our house. Regardless of how clean our house looks after a week you start seeing dust in various areas...we don't have carpets, so this may play a role. I think carpets absorb dust (one of the reason why I think they are disgusting) so you don't see it as well.
My biggest problem is picking up rather than cleaning. I could not find a way to make my house look neat without picking up daily.
Thanks for posting this. I've been struggling with taking the time to do some heavy cleaning (ceiling fans, blinds, windows, baseboards, cabinets, etc.) Your post gave me the incentive to just take a couple of days off school (homeschooling 2 little ones and 4 teenagers) and just get it done. I've now scheduled a day at the beginning of every month to check on things like this that might need some work. Funny I had never thought of just penciling it into the schedule. It takes some pressure off, both knowing it is dealt with and that it will be dealt with in the future. Our daily cleaning is easier to keep up with, as it's split up between so many people. :)
Well, take everything that can be done once a month, and then vacuum and dust weekly one morning.
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I've now scheduled a day at the beginning of every month to check on things like this that might need some work. Funny I had never thought of just penciling it into the schedule. It takes some pressure off, both knowing it is dealt with and that it will be dealt with in the future. Our daily cleaning is easier to keep up with, as it's split up between so many people. :)
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Once a month cleaning? I bet this is a heavy cleaning. I know because often times, that's what I do too! Sometimes, it's easier to neglect the dust piling up when you so much more important thing to do. By now, I'm trying to follow through a new method which is a clean-as-you-go, so I won't be freaking to out after a month of not-heavily cleaning. --Skylar Cox @FacilitySolutionsDepot.com
You are doing good cleaning activities. Your cleaning schedule is also good but you can save your precious time in your cleaning tasks by hiring any commercial cleaner for your home improvement. Follow my suggestion as you like.
We clean our house with many ways But it will be better if we maintain a clean schedule for our house in daily basis,weekly basis or monthly basis. If we do it properly and work as for schedule then must be work load will be decrease and at a same time we get hygienic looks to our home.
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