As nice as living together with friends and family is, the topic of cleaning has a lot of potential for conflict in almost every shared household. If the discussions about the cleanliness of the bathroom regularly cause bad vibes in your home, creating a housecleaning schedule might just do the trick.
Those who are not in the privileged position of employing a professional cleaner cannot avoid cleaning the house. The main problem in shared households is that the need for cleanliness varies greatly from person to person. The levels of dirtiness unacceptable for one person are not even noticeable for another. Especially in shared apartments, no one really feels entirely responsible for the cleanliness—if one person leaves out a used mug, it’s hard not to follow suit.
Creating a cleaning schedule to ensure that no one feels like they’re doing too much or others are doing too little can help solve conflicts once and for all. The more structured your approach to cleaning in the household, the fairer the distribution of tasks—and the lower the risk of lazy excuses!
- Kitchen
Dishes, surfaces, doors, cabinets (inside and outside), floors (dry and wet cleaning), windows, oven, electrical appliances, garbage
- Bathroom
Sink, toilet, shower, bathtub, fixtures, shelves, cabinets, mirrors, windows, floors, walls and reglazing
- Living room
Dusting, home textiles, floors, windows
- Other rooms
Dusting, floors, shelves, doors and door handles, mirrors, windows
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Not every task has to be done weekly. How often you clean the windows, for example, depends on the degree of dirt and what you perceive to be clean enough. It's best to decide on who does what together so that no one feels inclined to complain later. The following list provides a guideline for the time frame when creating your housecleaning plan:
- Daily
Wash dishes, clean out dishwasher, wipe down surfaces, dispose of trash, put away clothes
- Weekly
Clean bathroom, vacuum, mop floors, dust, empty garbage can
- Monthly
Clean refrigerator, clean oven, clean windows and mirrors, sweep patio or balcony
- As needed
Wipe cabinets, descale appliances to remove limescale, wash home textiles
Now it's time to get down to business. Before you draw up the cleaning schedule, it’s best to assign a color to each roommate or family member. Then you can always clearly see who is doing which task. Encourage your kids to help out by creating a chores chart. If you hang up your cleaning schedule, it’ll be easy to see who needs to do what: The refrigerator door or a free wall next to the stove or in the entrance area is ideal.
What the cleaning schedule looks like is up to you and your creativity. A calendar with a column for each task area is particularly clear. Depending on the defined period, you then enter the name of the person in color whose turn it is on that day. This gives you the opportunity to clearly define the tasks in advance and also to consider individual appointments, such as vacations or trips. Alternatively, you could create a “cleaning clock” for the housecleaning plan. To do this, divide a circular piece of cardboard into different segments that correspond to chores. Using clothespins or clips marked with names, you can then spontaneously determine whose turn it is next.
We hope these tips have helped you create a cleaning routine. For more tips, head to the cleaning section on our website.