My Easy Weekly Cleaning Routine and Supplies
This week I decided to get my cleaning routine back in order. I’ve taken the last couple of months off of my cleaning routine. Why? Well when the quarantine began, my husband was home all of the time and I decided to workout with him. I didn’t do anything strenuous, but going from working out zero times a week to three 15-20 minute workouts was somehow hard on my body. My hip started freezing and it would give out on me a lot and I couldn’t clean much or do anything for that matter. I started physical therapy a couple of months ago and I am almost done with it. I’ll definitely be writing a post about my experience with physical therapy later on after I’ve completed it. Anyways, since I’m near the end of PT I thought sharing my cleaning routine with you will help me get back on track.
The routine I use is from Clean Mama. I was introduced to her routine by a close friend back in Seattle. Clean Mama breaks down daily cleaning into sections based on the day of the week. Here is the routine that I follow: Mondays: I clean all of our bathrooms. I’m going to modify this for a while and do one bathroom a day (I have 3 bathrooms) because my hip starts to hurt if I bend over too much. Tuesdays: I dust all of the surfaces, and every other week or so I will clean all of our windows and mirrors. Wednesdays: I vacuum all of our floors. Thursdays: I mop our downstairs and bathrooms. Fridays: these are the catch-all days. So if I’ve missed a day I can make it up on this day. It is really nice to have this to fall back on when I am unable to clean one day. Saturdays: I wash all of our sheets and towels. Sundays: are for relaxing and not worrying about cleaning. The daily tasks I also try to follow (but I’m not super consistent at) are: sweeping when needed, doing a load of laundry everyday or every other day, and keeping the kitchen tidy.
I’ve really liked this method of cleaning because it usually takes me no longer than a half an hour a day, and even then it only takes that long if I am unable to get the cleaning done while the boys are sleeping. I think it usually takes 15-20 minutes per day if I don't have any interruptions. I believe Clean Mama has a free printable monthly cleaning calendar up on her free printables page as well as a lot of other resources on her site. She breaks down each cleaning day and also has many tips about cleaning. Another reason that I love this routine is because it frees up a lot of time on the weekends (the days I used to clean before this routine) to be with my family and not have to fret about getting everything done. A bonus is that my house is always ready to entertain someone at the drop of the hat. Now a disclaimer: I am nowhere near perfect at keeping up with this routine. I have two toddlers who vary on naps and temperaments which means that some days are harder to get things cleaned than others. But I have come to accept that because we live here and it’s okay if the laundry isn’t folded, there are dishes in the sink, or the windows have finger prints on them. It just shows that we are a family with kids and we love hanging out together more than cleaning sometimes.
Here are my supplies broken down into each category.
Now, here are all of the cleaning supplies that I use. I use cleaning caddy’s from Grove Collaborative to categorize the bathroom and dusting. I also use their reusable glass spray bottles with coordinating sleeves for each purpose and I use their microfiber cloths for all of my cleaning. Another disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Grove Collaborative, I just really love their products as well as a lot of the other stuff they sell on their website.
For the bathrooms:
I start with our downstairs bathroom first and then do our two upstairs bathrooms. I begin by squirting the toilet cleaner in the toilet and then I spray the toilet and sink with the all purpose spray. I use different cloths for each part of the bathroom (One for the toilet, one for the sink/counters, and one for the showers) and wipe them down in the order I sprayed them. When I get to the bathrooms with the showers, I will scrub them down every other week with the tub and tile cleaner and grout brush. After everything is wiped and scrubbed, I will finish cleaning the toilet and then spray my toilet brush with hydrogen peroxide to sterilize it and leave it to air dry between the toilet seats. Quick little tip: use an old toothbrush to clean any nitty gritty surfaces like around drains and faucets.
Dusting and Windows/Mirrors:
I'll go over all of the dusty spots with the microfiber duster and then I like to spray my microfiber cloths with the dusting spray and wipe everything down with it. This spray smells like almonds and I love the lingering scent after I am done. For the windows and mirrors I just spray my cleaner onto them and wipe with the cloth.
Laundry:
I have really enjoyed using the Grove Collaborative auto detergent dispenser and lately I've switched to using cold water as much as I can when washing our clothes. Doing that will give our clothes more longevity and it saves on electricity. When I wash our whites I always use the oxygen whitener. I find that it really brightens our whites and I don't have to use bleach on them. I'm still in the process of finding a good fabric softener, but I think I will stick with the Downy free and clear for now. For all of my stains I have been loving the Puracy natural enzyme stain remover! This has been the best stain remover ever. It even took out old, dried in oil stains and deodorant stains. I am beyond impressed with it. I really like using wool dryer balls because they are reusable and I can add my favorite essential oil to them. I add about 6 drops of essential oil to each ball every two loads.
Floors:
Here are the tools I use for the floors. My favorite by far is the Dyson V7 cordless vacuum. We got this as a gift from my dad and it's my most used cleaning item! The suction power on this vacuum beats out my older one by a long shot. I'm unimpressed with this wet jet, but it does the job for now. I find that it doesn't clean my floor very well, but I think that's because we have lots of ridges in the laminate flooring. I do have my eye on a Bissel steam mop and vacuum that I have heard really good things about.
Sink/Counters:
This DIY sink cleaner makes my sink smell so good. I use the castile soap along with a scrub brush to help the sink cleaner get a deeper clean. For the counters I will use the all purpose spray and European cloths to clean any messes. I use the wipes for a general wipe down on the counters as well as our table and place mats.
I hope you you enjoyed reading about the cleaning routine that I use! I'll note here that I am not a chore person by nature, but this has definitely made it so much easier to do house chores and actually enjoy it. Okay, enjoy might not be the best word here, but I don't despise cleaning. And I'll also add that you don't need to jump into this routine right away. You can start by adding one segment into your normal routine to see if you like it. Does cleaning come naturally to you, or do you tend to drag your feet when it comes to chores? Let me know below!
With love,
Brittany