Cleaning Schedule for Working Moms with Free Printable

Can’t get on ahead of your household cleaning? It’s nice to come home to a clean home after a long day at work. But you don’t want to spend hours cleaning every day. For busy working moms, having a cleaning schedule is the key to having a clean home.

In this article, I will show you how to create a simple weekly cleaning schedule. It will help you stay on top of the most important cleaning tasks so it’s not so overwhelming… or messy!

By creating a weekly schedule you will be able to do a few cleaning tasks each day and at the end of the week, you will know that every space in your home has had a quick cleaning. This will stop your chores from piling up and overwhelming you. 

You will begin to notice that you can get through each day’s cleaning tasks quickly. Don’t forget to delegate if possible. If you have a family, you’re not the only one living in your home, making messes, or benefiting from a clean house. Everyone in your home can help!

Why Working Moms Need a Cleaning Schedule

Busy moms are always on the move… taking care of the children, making sure they have what they need for school, sports, and other activities. We’re usually running around quite a bit after school too. Keeping on top of the household chores can feel so overwhelming.

When you work outside of the home (or work from home!) you may feel frustrated trying to manage home chores along with everything else.

Breaking down the big project into smaller bite-sized, manageable lists can make a huge difference. These small tasks each day can really help you to stay on top of the cleaning so you can enjoy your time at home even more and not use your entire weekend to clean the house.

** Check out my list of Must-Have Cleaning Tools to make Spring Cleaning easier! Read the post here.

Creating Your Simple Cleaning Schedule

In this weekly cleaning schedule, you will give each day of the week an area of focus. Each day will have a small list of chores, so you won’t get overwhelmed!

Every home is different so you might have a formal living room and family room, a porch, foyer, or just an entryway. If you have both a living room and family room you may want to just do both on the same day or do one on Monday and the other on Friday’s Catch-All Day.

You will notice that every day of the week, except Sunday, we are doing at least one load of laundry. You can also adjust this as needed. We only have 2 children so we only do about 3 loads of clothing each week. You may need more or less. 

You will also notice that each day you will be dusting, cleaning, and vacuuming each room. Be sure to do those things in the right order. You want to knock all the dust off the surfaces before you clean and vacuum. This way you knock any dust or crumbs onto the floor before vacuuming. 

Always Start with 1 Load of Laundry

Every day of the week we start with at least one load of laundry on Monday we’ll do a load of clothing from start to finish. Yes, this means you want to wash, dry, fold and put away the clothes. Be sure to involve your family. 

Our children are old enough to put away their own clothes so I can leave a pile on their bed. Most days they actually fold and put away their own laundry. Kids can really help with laundry at a young age so don’t be afraid to have them help. 

SUNDAY

We usually relax and just enjoy family time on Sundays, but it helps to do a quick tidy-up and keep the surface wiped down. 

MONDAY – LIVING ROOM AND ENTRY

On Monday we focus on the living room and entryway. 

The first thing I do every day is throw in a load of laundry. On Monday I usually was a load of our family’s clothing. Next, I head to the living room, dust all surfaces, and shake out any area rugs.

Take a cloth and wipe down surfaces including light switches and door handles. Our main door comes into our living room so I take time to clean our front door and entryway as well.

Then we will clean mirrors, windows, and any wall art. We usually finish by vacuuming the floors and furniture.

TUESDAY – BEDROOMS

Tuesdays we are in the bedrooms. Again, you may have more bedrooms than we do. So you may need to adjust this too. 

I like to start by stripping all of the beds and changing the sheets and pillowcases. I recommend starting the laundry right away. 

Take a few minutes to tidy the room if needed. If the room is a mess and you have kids old enough to clean up after themselves I sometimes pick up all the toys on the floor and put them on the bed so they can put them away before bedtime. I also put all the dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Usually, our kids do this but I usually find a few things on the floor.

Next up is dusting, cleaning, and finishing up with vacuuming and emptying the garbage. 

WEDNESDAY – BATHROOMS

I like to do a thorough cleaning in the bathrooms if they need it, halfway through the week. I usually do a quick daily clean-up in the bathrooms but it does need a little more attention each week.

While this might be called a “deep-cleaning” it is not meant to take very long. You will want to customize this for your situation. It might make sense for you to switch these tasks to the weekend, especially if you work outside the home. If you have a larger bathroom (or multiple!) you may want to break up the tasks and do them on separate days too. A good example would be to do the shower/tub on another day of the week if it seems like too much.

Here is how I do a deeper cleaning in my bathroom each week:

I start by gathering the towels, hand towels, and bathmats and throw them in the wash. 

Next up, I start cleaning. I try to start with the cleanest spot and end with the dirtiest. So I start with the countertops and sinks and give them a quick wipe down. I move on to the tub and shower, I typically do this while I’m taking a shower because I can easily use my handy-dandy tire brush to do a quick scrubbing. You will find a list of my favorite cleaning tools here.

Then I move on to cleaning the toilet. I wipe down the outside of the toilet working my way to scrubbing out the toilet with the toilet brush.

Next, I take a new cleaning rag and wipe down light switches, faucets, and the door handles. Bathroom mirrors always need a good cleaning. What on earth do kids do to get toothpaste splattered all over mirrors anyway?!?

Finish the room by vacuuming or sweeping and mopping the floor. Empty trash and you’re done!

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RELATED: Must-Have Cleaning Tools

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THURSDAY – KITCHEN

It’s nearly impossible to avoid cleaning the kitchen every single day, but I still like to take Thursday and do a better deep cleaning. 

I start by grabbing all of the kitchen towels, washcloths, and any washable rugs and put them in the wash. I start cleaning the stove and microwave and move on to the counters before finishing with the sink. 

I try to do a quick wipe down of the appliances especially the handles, they can get so gross! I often take a few minutes to do a quick cleaning of the front of my cabinets, especially the most used ones. The lower cabinets often get spilled on so I try to wipe those down quickly too. 

I like to clean any windows, mirrors, or pictures in the kitchen and dining room but I don’t necessarily do this every single week. Remember that this is your schedule you don’t have to follow it word-for-word, just use it as a guide, it will change over time. 

Once everything is washed down I will vacuum and mop the floors. I like to empty out the recycling and trash so everything is perfectly clean!

FRIDAY – EXTRA ROOMS

Friday is one of the days that you will want to really customize. Most of us have a few extra rooms in our house. A den, family room, playroom, or ballroom (a girl can dream!).

We have a family room in our basement that would fall into this category. On Fridays, I throw another load of our family’s clothes in the laundry before I start. I like to treat these rooms like the living room so the tasks are pretty much the same. You’ll be tidying up the room(s) and then dusting, cleaning, and vacuuming.

The more you follow this schedule the more it becomes second nature and it really doesn’t take much time at all. 

SATURDAY FAMILY CLEANING DAY

Saturday everyone is home so we try really hard to take just one hour (most days it’s less than an hour) and have Family Cleaning Time. 

I split up our cleaning list and everyone chips in. 

I would throw in a load of laundry while my husband is cleaning out the cars. The kids each do a bathroom on Saturday. We started this when the kids were pretty young, about 8 years old, using our Chore Cards. These are great tools to help teach your children how to properly clean each room in your home. Get the Room by Room Chore Cards HERE.

Adjust the Cleaning Schedule as Needed

As I mentioned above all of our homes and families are different. While I have 2 kids most of my friends have 3 or 4, they will most likely be doing much more laundry than I do. I also have older kids who can help keep their rooms clean, so I don’t find myself having to work hard to clean their rooms. 

I’ve added two additional pages that you can print out and customize to make the perfect schedule for your home. You will receive 1 file with all 3 pages so you can print what you need.

I hope you find this Weekly Cleaning Schedule helpful to get you started creating your own personalized cleaning routine. 

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Get your Weekly Cleaning Schedule

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For personal use only. Please do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission.