Do you have a cleaning schedule?

[AmyBoz]

I know that many of you do. For example:
Mondays - clean XXX
Tuesdays - clean XXX
etc.

If you do, would you post it here...I need to get into one and would be interested in yours!

[pkellyc]

I did when my kids were small I used to do the kitchen on Mondays- counters, cabinets, appliances and floor. Bathrooms on Tusedays top to bottom. Wednesdays were dusting and through vacuming in the living and dining rooms. Thursdays bedrooms.
Fridays I spent on projects such as decluttering or painting. Saturdays were spent on the outdoors. Afternoons and Sundays were pure bliss.

I did pick up and vacume any areas that needed it on a daily basis along with a quick swipe on the bathrooms along with some laundry.
This helped to keep everything tidy just in case life got in the way of my cleaning routine. Especially when my kids were as young as yours. Somedays were just spent playing all day. I just couldn't help myself.

[thrifty gal]

I don't, but I sure need one. I'll be watching this thread. I really need some ideas.

[favesis37]

i used to and found i got alot more done. i will be watching this thread to see what comes up

[mom22grls]

I've got one!!! Mine's based loosly on the flybaby thing. I made a word doc of it. I don't use this doc anymore, though, because I use "choregenie" now, but It's basically the same.

Mon - bathrooms
tue - family room, laundry room get trash to curb, fridge
wed - kitchen
thu - living room, landing, bedrooms & bedding
fri - bills, file, and office room
sat - cars
sun - coupons


Anyway, I have a pretty detailed (if not a bit cheesy) list made already. I'd be happy to share if anyone wants it. PM me an e-mail address & I'll send it. I've got places for errands, what's for dinner, calls to make, etc.

[Scattymum]

I was doing flylady and it does work for me when I have nothing else to do LOL, I've been so busy lately and my kids undo any tidiying i do, I'd love to get a proper routine started!! Jamee, I pmed you!

[canadian gardener]

Road Map to my Day:

Bedroom: Get up, flip covers to air, open window, close door.

Bathroom detail: Shower days (every other day) brush teeth then shower, clean shower/tub while inside with cheap shampoo and bath puff. Use dead handtowel for bath mat, then use it to wipe the floor clean with a spritz of red juice. All days, clean mirror, countertop, sink and toilet. Hand towels toss daily or oftener.

Laundry is next: A Load a day, tossing the morning's load over the stair rail down to the basement. Leave till garbage run.

Kitchen detail: DECIDE ON DINNER. Unload DW while making breakfast. Do any supper prep possible, eg thaw meat, peel veggies, wash greens, set crockpot. CLEAN UP counters, stove, sink and prep stuff and toss the dead dishcloth and handtowel on the floor doing a quick swipe and wipe with the feet using the dishcloth to mini clean the floor. TOSS THEM TO THE WASH over the railing. (I use HOT water and bleach)

NOW TAKE OUT TRASH, going thru the house to the basement garage, emptying trashcans along the way into the bag of garbage.

Deal with starting the load du jour of laundry on the way back up.

Living room/ rest of house/entryway. Run around with my ostrich down duster, and dust, straighten and tidy. Doesn't take long when there isn't a lot of clutter to deal with. Drop dust onto the floor where the vacuum will get it eventually.

Vacuuming. Pick up the vacuum where I left it and continue doing small bites around the house. Drop when I'm tired. (it travels round the house, everything gets done, but NOT all in one day)

Do a bit of dejunking everyday! I keep a box for giveaways and a spot for books for the second hand dealer handy at all times. I toss anything that is garbage on my trash run in the early morning as I pass thru the house. I keep open trash bins in every room, so the family and I remember to toss it when we spot it as being trash.

That is pretty much it. Using that pattern keeps my house looking reasonably clean most of the time, and keeps me from expending a lot of energy doing it.

Once a week I strip bedding, once a month I launder the duvet cover and mattress pads, and flip or rotate the mattress. I often spray the febreeze allergen reducer on the mattress at that time. While it's in my hot little fist, I do the couch, and other upholstered furniture, drapes and the rugs.

Once a month, around the first of the month I wash the furnace filter and put it back in to continue cleaning the air for us. I have a static electricity kind that pulls a lot of dust out of the air, and I run our furnace fan all the time, not just on the heating cycles so that the air is continously being cleaned. (allergies)

Twice a year on a clear windy day, I hang my drapes out for the wind to blow the dust out of them, and kill off the dust mites.

[QuilterMom]

No.

[canadian gardener]

Weekly, as I mentioned above, I do the sheets once a week.

I do the flylady zones--but adapted for my house, dividing the house up by week for area so that each area gets a bit more attention in it's "week". So the mattress is rotated on Week 2 when I wash the duvet cover, mattress pads, and really get in and clean the bedroom better (like dusting the horizontal blinds and ceiling fan blades for example or spritzing the mirror over the chest, and the windows)

Zones work like this. A month has a partial week --often just 2 days or so at the beginning or end of the month, and 3 full weeks in the middle. Hence 5 weeks. They aren't all full weeks so it works best if you tack on smaller stuff in zone 1 or 5.

My zones:

Week 1: Entry, Dining room and Sun room
Week 2: Kitchen, upstairs bedrooms and hall closets
Week 3: Bathrooms, rec room and canning cupboard
Week 4: Downstairs guest room, computer room and laundry
Week 5: Living room and garage.

For some of those areas, like the garage and canning cupboard, I don't do anymore than a seasonal check up, and others like the bathrooms, it's a weekly more detailed cleaning. Kitchen week if I'm going to dejunk the spices, I'll do that when I'm paying attn to the kitchen details, but that might only happen once a year or two.

It's about spotlighting and paying attention to the details that need doing, in those areas, when they start to show signs of needing work, not doing mindless work for the sake of doing it. Looking and really seeing whether you need to go thru a cupboard and do a big purge and re organize, and if it's fine, then look at a shelf in that area. Don't deep clean it all at once.

Zones give you "permission" to ignore it till next time if you are overwhelmed, or it doesn't seem to need doing. Zones simply mean you look critically at that space and do a few small things.

[canadian gardener]

And for those of you wondering if I ever make my bed, the answer is often NO. I like to air it out for a while, but if I have company coming I will go into my bedroom, shut the window and flip the covers up for a fast make the bed job.

No company? after an hour or two of airing out (and I KEEP MY DOOR CLOSED as it's drafty and cold!) I close the window and open the door.

I do this to really expose the bed where most dust mites live, to cold dry air which kills a lot of them off.

They thrive on the humidity that human bodies give off, overnight, and shed skin cells etc. By opening the covers and letting them air out, it drops the humidity, and the cold dry outside air kills a few off.

Plus it makes the bed smell nice and fresh every night. But there is a method in my madness. It really does help with asthmatics to do this.

[babymav]

Tues, Thurs, and Sundays I do full cleaning (every room) the rest of the week I just tidy up.

[Early Bird]

Every day, I have a 'flight plan' for me, DD#1, and DD#2. Here's our Thursday schedule:

DD#1:
Damp mop rec room
Dust 1 bookshelf
Fold & put away laundry
Mom’s choice -- bedroom pickup

DD#2:
kitchen sink
Damp mop front hall
Household trash out; poop patrol
Mom’s choice -- bedroom pickup

Mom:
water plants; Start laundry; Exercise; Pack DH's lunch; laundry -> dryer
Breakfast; organize day; plan supper; brush & floss
Family chores
Teach children (we homeschool)
Take children to piano; speech
Start supper
Bathroom counter
Read while children fold laundry
Mom’s choice (pick from the following): organize 1 drawer, shelf, cupboard. Wipe off stove, fridge, sink. Clean tub. Catch up on paperwork, school records, Quicken. Craft or project with kids. Read while children fold laundry. Read to children. Etc.

**************************
I have one of these for each weekday. In fact, I have different Friday flight plans depending on if DH is off.

If done without dawdling (I know, I'm a dreamer), each of the kids' chores takes less than 15 minutes.

*****************

In general, Mom/Wed/Fri is vacuuming & kitchen counters
Tues/Thur is bathrooms

I change sheets on Tues -- NO outside activiites on Tuesdays. Yesterday, we had to go to the orthodontist in the morning; and there were scouts from 1215-2. So the kids didn't finish their routines.

[momof42003]

I keep trying to enforce a scheduale or routine, but the only one I have half way commited to is making sure that DD has the dishwasher unloaded before dinner and I rerun it and have the kitchen cleaned every night.. Then I try to do the living room every morning.. Not always does this get done though.. Laundry is once a day every day-four kids equal too many dirty clothes.. Bathroom is now on Tuesdays and Fridays.. Tidy every day. Vacuuming a couple of days a week.. Kids need to keep outside picked up and tidy. Need to fine tune my routine though... Thanks for the ideas..

[Katybird]

I don't because I work odd days so I just do a good once over on my days off and on the days that I work, I just tidy up a bit before going to bed.

[Tara2126]

I was using the planner from motivatedmoms.com and it really worked for me. Since we moved, I haven't been using it but I need to!