Simple Fall Cleaning Schedule
Once August is over, I immediately start charging into fall routines and schedules. The easy days of summer are behind us and now I have to create more of a routine. One of those routines that shifts with the seasons is my cleaning schedule. Today, I’m sharing my simple fall cleaning schedule.
It is inevitable… when summer is in full swing, the solid routine we had during the school year swings right out the front door.
I love the flexibility and relaxed feeling that comes with summer. Once the fall months roll in, it’s time to have more structure so things don’t fall between the cracks as life happens.
I am naturally a structured person. It is comforting to me and the routine of waking at a certain time, having set schedules, and shutting down the house at the same time every night is a welcomed part of fall.
Even though the house gets cleaning regularly in the summer, I don’t have a set cleaning schedule. Not to mention little feet are coming in and out like a revolving door… things get pretty grimy around here in the summertime.
Now that we are in the fall season, I’m going to share my fall cleaning schedule. Maybe it will help you with your own cleaning routine.
Let’s get back to the natural structure of the fall season, shall we?
Weekly Maintenance Schedule at-a-glance
I will dive into the weeds later in this post, but I thought it would be helpful for you to see how our cleaning shakes out throughout the entire week. Below, you will see our weekly cleaning schedule at-a-glance, so to speak.
- Sunday- Tidy up the house for the week
- Monday- Do some laundry, tidy as we go throughout the day, and have the family help me clean the kitchen after supper.
- Tuesday- Do some laundry, tidy as we go throughout the day, and have the family help me clean the kitchen after supper.
- Wednesday- Do some laundry, tidy as we go throughout the day, and have the family help me clean the kitchen after supper.
- Thursday- Take out the trash. Wash bedding. Make sure all cleaning rags are laundered.
- Friday- Cleaning day- everyone chips in. Launder towels, rags, and washable rugs.
- Saturday- Enjoy the weekend and tidy up at the end of the day.
Once a Week Cleaning Routine
When my kids were little, it wasn’t feasible for me to spend several hours cleaning. I could only clean for a few minutes here and there.
Now that my kids are older, I have settled into a Friday cleaning routine. This means that I wake, feed the kids, and then set my hands to the task of cleaning.
I have a pattern when it comes to cleaning my home. Many people do all of the picking up, then all of the dusting, then all of the floor work. That doesn’t work for me. This is how I work through my home:
- I clean my bathroom and bedroom first thing. All of my towels/wash rags get put into the laundry while I do this.
- The living room gets cleaned next. I dust, vacuum the sofas and chairs, then vacuum the floors.
- We have a small hall bathroom that takes just a few minutes to clean. I shared that process in a blog post, if you want to see it.
- Our Keeping Room (with the fireplace and green velvet sofa), along with the dining room is the next spot I tackle.
- Lastly, I clean the kitchen. We usually do school and eat lunch before I clean this space, just so it stays clean.
As far as the kids and their routine, each of my kids cleans their own room. The girls share a bathroom, which they clean together. Liam has his own bathroom he cleans.
The kids all bring their bath towels to the laundry room. After I launder my towels, I then wash their towels and rags.
I do have a video that shows my Friday cleaning routine, if you’re interested in that!
Daily Maintenance Schedule
A great way to manage a once a week cleaning routine is by doing some of the maintenance cleaning every day. It’s amazing what fifteen to thirty minutes a day can do in regards to managing a home!
My daily cleaning schedule consists of a few simple maintenance cleaning tasks. They don’t take long, but they keep the house under wraps so that it isn’t a complete mess by Friday.
This will look different depending on how old your kiddos are, but it should work for most people. I will share my flexible schedule below.
Flexible Daily Cleaning Schedule
- Unload the dishwasher in the morning
- Prepare breakfast. Put dishes in the dishwasher after breakfast
- Start a load of laundry
- School time (8:30-Noon)- put laundry in the dryer during a break
- Lunch time (Noon-1)- feed the kids and tidy the kitchen once it’s over.
- Quiet Time (1-3 pm)- kids go to their rooms to finish school, play, or read. I fold laundry and start supper prep.
- Supper time (5:30 pm)- We eat and then everyone chips in on the cleaning. I clean the dishes and put them in the dishwasher while the kids do these tasks: wipe the table off, pull out and push in chairs, dust bust the floor, and put leftovers in the fridge.
- Enjoy the evening- Once the kitchen is clean, I start the dishwasher and my day is, basically, finished.
That is what my daily cleaning schedule looks like. It has shifted over the years. When my kids were little, I cleaned certain areas on certain days of the week. Now that my kids are older and help out more, this routine makes more sense for us.
Plus, I can’t be doing deep cleaning every day with the amount of school we have to get through. This routine seems to be working for now.
Homemaker Tip
A big tip is to train your kids to care for their own things. Train them to put things away and tidy up when play time is over. It makes cleaning so much easier when you’re not having work around piles of toys all over the place.
I know it might seem like a pointless task, but I promise that if you are diligent in training them, they will learn and you will thank yourself later.
Fall Cleaning Target Areas
Every season, there are specific areas that I tend to. I can’t seem to manage a full-on spring deep clean. Maybe it’s because we homeschool. That’s what I’m going to tell myself. 😉
For me, managing certain areas each season makes it all a bit more manageable and not so overwhelming.
This list has grown as my children have grown. As always, having them be more self-sufficient and helpful has meant that I can take on more as a homemaker.
I will share my monthly cleaning task printable with you below, but a few of my Fall tasks are:
- Clean out the refrigerator
- Wash trash cans- I do this now because they do get yucky and I don’t want to do this task when it’s cold outside.
- Wipe down Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets
- Wash rugs- I now have THIS carpet cleaner that was recommended by a friend and I love it!
If you like to make lists and have an organized, but flexible plan, grab these FREE printables! I have included a blank printable for you to create your own schedule and my personal schedule to give you ideas of tasks you might like to add to your routine!
Small Details Not to Forget When Cleaning
I think that the small details matter, especially when having company over. I used to overlook these small details, but as I have gained more time, due to my kiddos being more helpful and older, these small tasks seem to make it into my weekly routine without any problem.
I will share them with you, in case you want to implement them into your routine.
- Change out hand towels so family members and guests have a clean towel to dry their hands with.
- Shake out rugs that are dust or dirty. Launder them, if needed.
- Make sure soap dispensers at sinks are full.
- Add a few drops of essential oils to the inside of the toilet paper rolls to keep the bathroom smelling fresh.
- Wipe down the bathroom door, trim where the door handle is, and the light switches. It often gets grimy in those spots from hands touching it.
- Make sure there is plenty of toilet paper in the bathroom and that it’s accessible for people using the space.
- Lastly, add some fresh flowers or foliage to a shelf or the vanity. Is the flowering months, I add a flower to a tiny vase. When winter comes around, I grab a sprig of evergreen for the vase.
I’ve gotten down a rabbit hole of all your posts and I love your style! We are considering homeschool for our kids (4 and 1 now) so all your tips are so helpful. Question: Do your kids do school on Friday?
(I’m sorry if I overlooked the answer somewhere)
Hello! We do have school on Friday, but I have several friends who don’t do school on Friday and it works out so well for them! They just double up lessons on Thursday to stay on target.
We don’t school on Friday. I typically spread Fridays work over the week….so Monday we may do 2x the history, Tuesday 2x the science, Wednesday 2x the math, etc. We love 3 day weekends!
Your house is lovely. I have tried your way of cleaning, clean the whole house in one day. It didn’t work for me as a thought of having to clean a half of the day seemed overwhelming and I worked at that time, so the idea of wasting a half day off on cleaning wasn’t appealing. Now I divide my house in smaller areas and clean one area each day. Like, on Mondays I clean kitchen and dining room, on Tuesdays bedrooms etc. This way I can do a better job on cleaning, paying attention to small details and spend an hour or so on cleaning. Thanks and good luck with fall cleaning!
That is WONDERFUL that you found a way that works for you. When I had little kids, I cleaned the exact same way you do now. I think it depends on everyone’s individual schedule. 🙂