You have your hands full just getting to and from work or shuttling your kids to schools and after school activities. With our busy lives, it may be hard to keep your home spotless and sparkling. Whether you commute to downtown Austin, work in the tech industry or any other job or just have hectic day-to-day schedules, creating a daily, weekly or monthly cleaning schedule is a great way to start. Setting up recurring cleaning schedules is a great way to keep your homes sparkling and also help you chill and de-stress. Now, the question is: how often should you clean your home? Habits and routines of individuals, the total number of people staying in a home (family members or visitors), pets, personal health and allergies, the unavoidable cedar fever season in Austin and other intricate variables will have a role in dictating the frequency of cleanings. In some cases, there would still be times when your home would greatly benefit from a one-time deep clean despite how frequently you may have your home cleaned. Finding a balance in all of these factors and managing your home is an art.

Cheatsheet

It’s important to know what the factors are that will affect the how often on should clean their home so that a more efficient and customized cleaning schedule can be created.

Household Size

The more people you have living in your home, the more likely dust, clutter, and dirt will pile up. Cleaning schedules allow you to maintain cleanliness, especially high-traffic and common areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms, living room and beyond, and having everyone pitch in.

Pet’s Clutter in Your Cleaning Routine

Austin is known to be one of the most dog-friendly cities in America, and we love our pets! Pets are a crucial part of our families, and while dogs, cats, and other furry friends are here to stay, we must acknowledge pets come with extra cleaning challenges. From the red dirt in Austin to limestone dust tracked in from our most popular places in town like the Greenbelt or the local dog parks

Dirt or pet hair on couches, floors, or beds can make your home unsanitary. Be sure to include your furniture, floors, and pets in your routine cleaning checklist, giving you and your pet a clean and healthy living environment. Juany Cleaning Service utilizes green environmentally friendly products that are safe around pets as well as are vetted to Austin’s eco-conscious standards.

Lifestyle

Cleaning schedules allow you to fit cleaning the home into your daily routine while still managing a busy lifestyle. Cleaning your home as a habit is an essential part of your daily routine, that adds to the overall wellbeing of the people who live in your home. Stay on top of your schedule and use your planner to block out times and days for your cleaning routine, don’t let cleaning tasks pile up!

Allergies and sensitivities

Your family members allergies and sensitivities are a significant reason to have a cleaning routine in your home. As we all know living in central Texas, we are all too familiar with our outrageous seasons of allergies. Mountain cedar pollen (cedar fever) is at its worst between December and February, oak pollen in the spring, and ragweed pollen in the fall.

Without a cleaning routine, dust, dirt, allergens, chemicals, mold, or other things can trigger an allergic reaction. Residents of Austin should clean more during the months when allergies are the worst in our area (especially dusting and vacuuming) to ensure you are maintaining good indoor air quality. Cleaning activities like vacuuming, washing bedding and pillow covers regularly, dusting, and cleaning furniture can help you get rid of allergens. Utilizing anti-allergy products for cleaning or using hi-tech air purifiers will also help to keep any allergies from flaring up.

The first step to ensuring a clean, clutter-free home is to first make a list of all your cleaning tasks. Next, you can plan your cleaning routine by how dirty your house gets and keep the above factors in mind. Some tasks might need your attention daily, some tasks might need attention either weekly or monthly, and others can be more seasonal in nature.

Daily Tasks: Dishes, trash, quick tidying

The key to success when planning a cleaning schedule is prioritization. Washing dishes, cleaning trash, making beds, and tidying rooms are routine daily tasks that should be the priority when making a cleaning routine. Quick tidying tasks like folding bedsheets, making beds, and putting things back where they belong will help make your home always looks neat, clean, and welcoming.

Weekly Tasks: Vacuuming, mopping, bathroom cleaning

Other tasks might only need to be done weekly, like vacuuming (especially high-traffic areas, such as carpets, rugs, and hard floors), mopping, and other essential tasks like cleaning bathrooms and sinks, toilets, and showers thoroughly and cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms.

Monthly Tasks: Deep cleaning, decluttering

Cleaning tasks that should be done on a monthly basis include deep cleaning, organizing cabinets and kitchens, dusting hard-to-reach places, and cleaning kitchen appliances inside and out. Decluttering and organizing tasks like the garage or using storage bins also can be in your monthly cleaning routine. You can dust blinds and baseboards as well during your monthly cleaning routine.

Seasonal Tasks: Cleaning gutters, windows, outdoor spaces

Cleaning requirements in Austin that follow seasonal changes of our unique climate:

Spring (March-May): Deep cleaning is needed after cedar fever season to wash away the dust and pollen that has accumulated throughout the winter. This is also a good time to wash curtains, deep-clean carpets and wipe down all surfaces and eliminate allergens.

Summer (June-August): Floors and mudrooms need the most attention in the summer due to all the dirt tracked in from hiking the greenbelt, swimming at Barton Springs, and lake trips at Lake Travis, and this is also the best time for outdoor cleaning projects.

Fall (September-November): Fall is the time to prepare for your hosting season indoors with all the holidays coming in December and beyond. ACL festival and other events come to town that bring a lot of traffic into Austin homes during the Fall season.

Winter (December-February): Winter-cleaning is all about indoor spaces and preparing for the peak cedar fever season. Make sure to deep clean your air vents and change HVAC filters more frequently.

Tasks that include cleaning windows, doors, gutters, and other outdoor areas of your home. Cleaning seasonal tasks such as these will keep your home organized, neat, and tidy all year long.

A little tips and tricks can go a long way. Small lifestyle changes will help you have a tidy and clean home in no time!

Efficient Cleaning Methods

Top-to-bottom cleaning: Clean from the top area then move in the downward direction to avoid redoing any section of your room. One-touch rule: Don’t make more than one trip with any item you are cleaning around. It saves time and creates the habit of not just putting things down and come back for them later. Time limit: This works wonders; try to set a time, for example, 10-15 minutes, and complete any random cleaning task at that time.

Cleaning Supplies and Equipment

Prepare your supplies and equipment for cleaning. The right cleaning supplies and equipment make the cleaning process less of a hassle. Some basic items you should always keep handy at home are:

• All-purpose cleaner
• Microfiber towels
• A broom and dustpan
• A vacuum cleaner
• Disinfectant wipes

Microfiber clothes: Helps you trap dust without using any chemicals. Vacuum cleaner: Keep one with multiple attachments handy to clean various surfaces. Environment-friendly: While selecting any cleaner or disinfectant, make sure that it is environment friendly. This is crucial especially if you have pets at home.

Decluttering Tips

‘To keep or not to keep” can be a tricky question! Achieving this is a tough task but not impossible! Declutter one section at a time to avoid any clutter and make decluttering a less stressful process. Sort your items into three sections: Keep, Donate, and Garbage. Keep a timer for 15-20 minutes and start decluttering any section. By setting a timer you will be more focused and motivated to finish your work in that limited time.  When you buy any new item, follow the “one in, one out” rule, to keep fewer items and manage your home better.

Everybody’s dream is to own an organized, neat, clean, and welcoming home. Having a neat and clean home also has the added benefit of having a healthy and comfortable living environment. Cleaning is an activity that can be made very manageable if done consistently and regularly. If not done on time, cleaning can become a monotonous and dull task and that’s why by making a cleaning schedule and sticking to it will keep you on track and make cleaning less stressful. 

 Dividing cleaning tasks into daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal can help you keep your home tidy, neat, and welcoming.

For busy Austin professionals and families, we at know that your time is valuable. Why spend your Saturday scrubbing baseboards when you could be hiking the Lady Bird Lake Trail, browsing the Texas Farmers’ Market, or brunching on South Congress? If your schedule becomes too busy to maintain a cleaning regimen for your home consider hiring a professional cleaning service. Our local Austin team has the skill and expertise to handle everything from regular maintenance to seasonal deep cleans, so you can get back to enjoying everything our city has to offer!

Frequently Asked Questions

Cleaning and decluttering often seem like an unachievable task. However, a regular and systematic approach to cleaning and decluttering is what makes it possible for homeowners to have a clean and tidy home all year around.

How frequently should the bathroom be cleaned to maintain hygiene?

The ideal cleaning schedule for bathrooms is at least once a week. The toilets, faucets, sinks, and showers can be disinfected regularly. In case of any family member staying with you in your home that is sick, it is recommended to plan regular deep cleaning of the bathrooms.

What guidelines should be followed for cleaning different areas of a house?

The area’s cleaning frequency depends on the area’s usage. For example, living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms are high-traffic areas, and these areas may need to be cleaned daily, whereas bedrooms, storerooms, guest rooms may not need to be cleaned as frequently as they are used, and the cleaning may be sufficient weekly. Deep cleaning activities like curtain cleaning can be done monthly or based on the season.

Can a bi-weekly cleaning schedule be sufficient to maintain a clean home?

It depends on the home-to-home basis. For example, a bi-weekly cleaning schedule may be perfect for a home with only two occupants, for example, professionals working and living in downtown Austin condos, a family of four in the suburbs may need more frequent cleaning. We recommend you to focus on the areas that need more regular cleaning and plan your cleaning schedule accordingly.

How often is it recommended to clean the kitchen to ensure health standards are met?

Kitchen is a high-traffic area and is used daily. Therefore, the kitchen countertops, sinks, and stoves should be cleaned daily. However, the cleaning of the kitchen appliances, cabinets, and refrigerators can be sufficient with a weekly cleaning. A deep cleaning of the kitchen, mopping, and wiping the oven, and other appliances can be done monthly or based on the use.

Too busy enjoying the Austin sunshine to worry about dust? Let our local Austin team handle your monthly deep clean, weekly maintenance, or seasonal allergen removal.