Cleaning up your schedule or scheduling your clean up!

A lot of the decluttering blogs that I have read give cleaning schedules for your house and they are all American. In this country a lot of us either have full time domestic, or part time domestic help, very few people have no help at all.

My question is this; if you have help do you think your house is actually clean? I mean, how often are your skirting boards cleaned? Has your ceiling ever been washed (except for that time you painted it)?  Do you clean your light switches, your mattresses, do your kitchen cupboards only get cleaned out when you change for Pesach and what about the people who don’t change over and don’t keep kosher? How often should things be cleaned?

All these questions!  I have one full time and one part time maid and I know my house isn’t as clean and tidy as it should be, especially with the kids at school. This means others have the same issues.

A few people have asked about cleaning schedules. I started working on one for my home with full time help. I have decided that if it is working for me it will help others.

Here is the kitchen schedule. I have broken the tasks down into daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, bi annually and annually. I think for those who are kosher and change for Pesach (Passover) this will make things a little easier. To arrange this I drew up the schedule, then sat down with a large yearly planner and started plotting the days. Once you have this, it will help you plan you new regime.

Obviously this is just a guideline. The washing of windows, ceilings and walls are done by my gardener.

This schedule was adapted from www.household–management–101.com, which is an American site so the original schedule was not only for a vastly different house to those found in South Africa but also for someone who has no full time domestic help.

A good tip is that if you change for Pesach, then schedule your big annual cleaning for the 4 weeks before, so that it isn’t so stressful. Knowing that it is already planned can make the stress, leading up to your change over, much easier.

This week in my house, it was time to clean the grouting in the bathrooms. I have included a before and after picture. I am not a photographer so I apologise for the lighting issues in the photo’s.

Enjoy your clean kitchen!

Kitchen cleaning Schedule

DAILY

• Clean all the kitchen counters first thing in the morning and each time food is prepared.
• Clean the stove and oven after each use
• Wash the dishes after each meal or load the dishwasher. Run the dishwasher only when full.

WEEKLY

• Scrub the drying racks clean
• Wipe down the outside of the kitchen cupboards, washing machine, dishwasher and fridge and tumble dryer.

MONTHLY

• Clean the inside of the washing machine, especially the rubber seals and the soap dispenser
• Clean the inside of your kitchen and inside house bins
• Clean inside the dishwasher

QUARTERLY

• Clean and wash the inside of the fridge, including the egg trays, and special attention to the fridge handles.
• Scrub the black off the bottom of the pots
• Sort and match Tupperware and lids
• Wash the kitchen windows
• Damp dust the skirting boards

BI ANUALLY

• Clean light switches, door handles and light covers
• Clean pet food bowls properly

ANUALLY

• If the oven is not self cleaning, deep clean ovens, remove glass, if possible, and clean thoroughly
• Wash the walls, doors and ceilings
• Clean the inside of the tumble dryer
• Clean the grouting between the tiles

Feel free to copy and print this schedule, once I work out how to include a downloadable pdf file, you will be the first to know. (hint, hint Help somebody LOL)

Let me know, what rooms do you find the most neglected in your house?