A Well Kept House: My Weekly Cleaning Schedule

If you've been reading my blog for awhile my knack for cleaning should come as no surprise to you. I actually really really enjoy it, and even joke about taking up a side job as a house cleaner. I'm also type-a, organized (OCD) list maker so in order to keep up on keeping our house clean with a busy schedule and a messy 2 year old I have implemented a weekly cleaning schedule. Some people prefer to do the one day a week cleaning frenzy to do everything in one fell swoop but that didn't ever jive with me so this is what I've been doing for a couple years now and I love it. It keeps your home clean and tidy without feeling like you're spending 5 hours a day cleaning and it's easier to stay on top of general tidiness.

Here's what my weekly cleaning looks like, obviously its based on my home and you'd need to adjust it to your needs in your house (ie: vacuuming vs sweeping, etc)

Monday: Bathrooms (Everything: Scrub toilets, sinks, bathtub, countertops and floors)
Tuesday: Vacuum hall, bedrooms and furniture. And dust all rooms (including living room)
Wednesday: Mop entry, kitchen, living/dining and wipe all kitchen cabinets.
Thursday: All laundry (usually two loads of clothing, one of linens)
Friday: Deep clean or organize one area (the refrigerator, a closet, clean windows and mirrors in all rooms, etc) + catch up on any missed days.

And here are things I do daily to keep things tidy:
-Sweep living/dining and kitchen
-Dishes, countertops and table
-Wipe down sink and toilet in bathroom
-General tidy in all rooms (sometimes this requires vacuuming hall+rooms at least once more throughout the week)

I generally spend 30 minutes to an hour doing all of the above, which seems like so little time to trade for a clean and tidy house every day. Obviously this isn't rocket science and probably not any new information at all but I always find it helpful to see exactly what other people do to stay on top of it to get an idea for how to implement it myself. I promise this won't feel like you're cleaning 10 hours a day and never staying on top of it, it's SO easy to maintain the tidiness with a schedule like this.

A few other things that help me stay on top of tidying and cleaning:

-Using disposable disinfecting wipes for quick clean-ups. I don't use them for everything but definitely for a quick sweep through the bathroom during the week on the toilet and sink. And they also come in handy for the bajillion toddler messes like pasta that gets thrown on the ground or cleaning his highchair tray. We've been using these ones from Seventh Generation (plant-based and safe for kids!)

-Letting your kiddos join in on the cleaning fun. I always let Beck help with windows or mirrors, or wiping countertops (only if he wants to obviously, and he always does!). It keeps him occupied while I clean and he learns that cleaning can be fun. The only place I usually clean during a nap time is the bathroom since I'd rather him not "help" clean the toilet ;)

-Have less stuff, tidy less. This is just the tip of the iceberg for another post I've been working on but I can't do a cleaning post without talking about it for a second at least. The less things you have, the less you'll have to tidy up. If it takes 30 minutes to pick-up toys in your kids room, maybe they have too many toys. If laundry day requires 10 loads of laundry, maybe you have too many clothes (unless you have like 10 kids).






I'm a long time lover of Seventh Generation products and have been using their cleaning products since I started buying my own when we first got married 8 years ago. I'll be working with them for a few posts so they sent me a box of house cleaners and products (hello... my dream package! I was actually giddy) to use and share about. I've been especially loving the natural glass cleaner, tub+tile cleaner (a must in the bathroom!!!), the lavender dish soap (smells SO good), and the free and clear laundry soap.

Make: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Yet another homemade product, are you sick of me yet? Well, I initially made this out of necessity. We had run out of dishwasher detergent and the dishes in the sink we're piling up and I was desperate. And a friend and I were recently talking about making it ourselves anyway so I looked up a couple recipes and I already had everything so I gave it a go.

Making your own cleaners is hit or miss, they usually get the job done "enough" but for me I need them to work extremely well, not just "its good for a natural product". A semi-clean house is not clean in my nook. So I was skeptical to say the least! But we've been using it in every load of dishes for a week and they are crystal clear and clean. I'm SO impressed. Honestly, this works just as well as the tabs we were using up from costco before we ran out. I know the added essential oils have a lot to do with it, they are super potent and help break down grease. And thieves has anti-bacterial properties so its a super cleaning machine!

I don't feel the NEED to make every single thing that's in our house but if it saves us money, I'm all about it. And I like knowing exactly what's going on our dishes to clean them. Everything in non-toxic in this concoction.

Note: I didn't plan on putting them in ice cube trays to make tabs. I added a tiny bit of water to mix in the oils really good but left it as a powder and it hardened rock solid in the jar after an hour. So I dug it out with a fork and put it in molds this time to save it. Next time I'll just blend up the dry ingredients and mix in the oils by hand and just keep it as a powder. One less step!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Ingredients:

2 cups washing soda
1 cup baking soda
1 cup citric acid
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 teaspoon castile soap
10 drops of thieves essential oil
10 drops of lemon essential oil
*1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar (I skipped this, see note above)

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
mix in castile soap and the thieves and lemon essential oil
Stir until the soap and essential oils are mixed throughout, you may need to do this by hand
Put the mixture in a jar and use a heaping tablespoon in each load. I usually add vinegar to the rinse aid compartment too.

*If you want to make hard tabs to use:
Skip the 1tsp of castile soap. Gradually add vinegar a little bit at a time and mix well (some fizzing will occur and the mixture will start to clump) You may not need the entire amount of vinegar, so add it a little at a time.
pack well into two ice cube trays (take your time doing this and make sure they are well compacted)
set ice cube trays out to dry for at least 24 hours in a sunny spot
take tabs out of trays and store in a tight-lidded container