Complete House Cleaning Checklist

Nooks, crannies, corners and cobwebs. Oh dear!

We admit it, house cleaning is a chore. This house cleaning checklist will get you on the right track.

We promise it’s possible to get it all done, but it does take a bit of determination, focus and time to make your house shine.

This is a comprehensive checklist that we use to clean homes at our house cleaning company.

About the Checklist

The list is very detailed and it should help to keep you or your delegates focused on cleaning your home completely.

Depending on the specifics of your home, not all of the items listed will apply. But if you follow this list, checking off the items that do apply, your house will be spick and span and every corner your house will shine.

You can find the complete cleaning checklist at the bottom of this article along with an excel copy you can download and customize for yourself.

Extra Tips and Tricks to Clean Quickly and Efficiently

House cleaning is not at the top of the list of fun things to do. If you let your mind wander too much, you’ll spend even more time cleaning.

Use these tips to help you clean efficiently as you check off items from the checklist one by one.

Focus on what you’re doing, make every move count, and you’ll finish more quickly. Household organizing and cleaning can be done quicker than you think.

1. Clean Top to Bottom, Back to Front, Right to Left

Work your way around the room, cleaning as you go, just one area at a time.

2. Put your Cleaning Supplies in One Place

Don’t waste time running around getting a broom or cleaners or whatever you need to complete the task that you’re doing.

Your bucket should contain glass cleaner, disinfectant, detergent degreaser, soup scum remover, comet, soft scrub, scrub brush, sponge, toothbrush, and a green scrubby for starters.

3. Dust First, Vacuum Last

Start dusting from the top of the highest shelves, the tops of cabinets. These tend to be less dusty than lower shelves.

Even if you dust quickly, you’ll be moving the dust down to a lower level, usually the floor, where it is easily vacuumed away.

4. Make a Schedule and Stick to It

The mess gets worse the longer you put it off.

If the house is too big, hit a floor at a time, or clean all the bathrooms (for example) on Tuesdays.

5. Identify your Trouble Spots

Determine how you’re going to get your problem area cleaned up.

Do you need any special cleaning products? Is soap scum or mold and mildew taking over the bath? Select the tools you’ll need, and who you can assign the task to.

6. Get Help

If there are others living and breathing in the house with you, who are most certainly contributing to the mess, get them to help.

My favorite way to do this is to assign tasks to each child for a week at time, and rotate tasks. Don’t forget to throw in deep cleaning items, like the mess under the sink, or spraying down and wiping the trash compactor.

7. Use the Right Product for the Job

Use natural cleaning products if possible. We don’t use fancy products at our cleaning company but it’s important to use good quality, heavy duty cleaning products that do a great job.

This doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money either. We use a solution of vinegar and water to damp mop linoleum or vinyl floors. It works great.

8. Dump your Junk

Get clutter free. This is a hard one. I like stuff too, and I was raised in a family of pack rats, so this doesn’t come naturally to me either. The room will feel kind of bare at first, but trust me, you’ll get used to it (you’ll actually come to prefer it), and it makes clean up a breeze.

Download the Complete Cleaning Checklist in Excel Format

Get Mrs. Clean’s Cleaning Checklist in Excel format.