FREE Printable House Cleaning Schedule

Whether it's the holidays or just anytime, cleaning your entire home can take a long time! With this FREE printable house cleaning schedule, you can clean your home in just 30 minutes a day over the course of a week.

The holidays are JUST around the corner! I don't know about you, but as much enjoyment as the holidays bring, they also bring a bit of pressure and stress; especially when I'm the one hosting the big celebration. With all the decorating, shopping, food preparation, and friendly get-togethers, I'll admit that cleaning gets pushed to the back burner. Then, on the big day, I'm running around like a mad woman trying to shove stuff into closets and run the vacuum cleaner to give the impression that I really do have it all together. This year though, I've come up with a plan of attack! I'm taking on one or two rooms a day in just 30 minutes for seven days, leading right up to the day of the big event. I've got FREE free printable cleaning checklist forms below so you can do it too.

Here's what I'm doing:  I'm starting with the rooms that can maintain their cleanliness the longest and working my way towards the rooms that need to be spic and span the day of our big holiday celebration. I figure that if I clean the master bedroom and the guest room that no one really uses first, there's a good chance we can keep them in check until our guests arrive. Then I'll branch out to the more "used" areas of the house and end in the kitchen, which will need a good cleaning by that point.

FREE printable house cleaning schedule

Each home is different, so you may need to slightly alter the rooms I have listed in the weekly house cleaning schedule printable above,  but I tried to be general in thinking about how many homes are laid out. My house is a bit different since we have a home office that desperately needed to be tidied up and organized. So, I added an extra day to my personal schedule and started there. Here's a tip: completely disconnect during your 30 minutes of cleaning time. Set an egg timer, or the timer on your microwave, and stick to it. No phone calls, text messages, emails - nothing! Put your head down and work swiftly and efficiently. If you have an infant or toddler to care for, try to work during nap time or when they have a bit of quiet time so your distractions are at a minimum.

Here's another tip: Before you start your cleaning adventure, gather all of your supplies so you have them handy. I hate when I'm in the middle of cleaning the bathroom and have to trudge out to the kitchen or laundry room to find the window cleaner. Just grab a bucket and load it up with everything you'll need. I've got an entire post dedicated to creating the ultimate home cleaning kit, so check that out for the best recommendations. Another good tip: Invest in a 12-pack (or more) of microfiber towels. They're cheap, attract dust like nobody's business, and since they're reusable you'll save money over paper towels in the long run.

Day by day I went through my house and cleaned a room or two in just thirty minutes. It's amazing how much I can get accomplished when I focus and set a timer. On Day 5 I went to tackle the den. We have a family room and a den, so I had to get creative on my time management, but I knew the den (a.k.a. play room) would need the most work. It basically looked like a toy store exploded in there.

Here's a tip: When looking for storage solutions, try to find something that will work for now AND will work for your home later. I decided before I even started cleaning that I need a plan for storing all those toys, so I made my way over to World Market and picked up two huge baskets that I could use as make-shift toy boxes right now, but use again down the road for storing blankets, shoes, books, magazines - whatever really. I don't like spending a lot of money on one trick ponies, so the fact that I can reuse these pretty baskets later and they don't scream "I'M MADE FOR HOLDING TOYS" makes me happy.

I think this room looks much better (aside from my husband's guitar amplifiers), and now our guests will actually be able to sit on the couch. The tricky thing about toy rooms is that you want them to look presentable, but still give your little ones access to their favorites. I tried to keep everything within my little guy's reach, but tidying up sure did help the overall appearance of the place.

I'll admit, as days 3 and 6 approached, I wasn't looking forward to them. I really, really dislike cleaning the bathrooms. I have a little complex about the toilet and the germs it's got to be teaming with, so my husband usually does bathroom duty in our home. This time, it was up to me and I faced it head-on. I wanted to ensure that our guest bathroom was as perfect as possible for our company. I started with the shower and noticed that the shower head had a good bit of mineral deposit build-up from our hard water. This results in a not-so-straight or forceful shower spray. You may remember that I LOVE cleaning with vinegar, so I got out my handy bottle of vinegar and with a little imagination, I was able to rig up a soak to get rid of those deposits. All I did was fill a little sandwich bag with some vinegar, then tied it to the shower head with twine. I let it soak for an hour and the result was a super clean, mineral-free shower head. You can do this trick on most of the shower heads and sink fixtures in your home. You just may need a bigger bag for some of them.

By the last day, I was feeling really productive and proud of all that I'd done. It didn't seem overwhelming when broken up into smaller tasks and having a handy checklist helped tremendously. By the time my guests arrive, the only worry I'll have is whether or not I'll have enough drinks and desserts to go around! If you're interested in using my free printable cleaning checklist forms, they're available in either fall colors or Christmas colors.

Print these free printable cleaning checklist forms

CLICK HERE for the fall themed weekly house cleaning schedule.          

CLICK HERE for the Christmas themed weekly house cleaning schedule.

So, what do you think?
Is this sort of cleaning schedule "doable" for you?
Enjoy these free weekly house cleaning schedules.

For other great tips and trick, check out these posts:

How to create the ultimate home cleaning kit

Weekly home cleaning schedule