You spend most of your time at home (even if it’s just to sleep). Take just a few minutes everyday for 31 days to make sure it a clean, healthy and safe place. 

Kitchen

Clean the stove, oven and vent hood. Most vent hood filters are removable and clean up quickly and easily with hot water and dish soap. Your oven likely has a clean cycle. If not, baking soda and vinegar will help remove stuck on grease and burnt drippings. Finally, bar keeper’s friend ceramic and glass stovetop cleaner will remove those spots from boiled over messes. 

Clean the dishwasher. Place a bowl with 1 cup of vinegar in the top rack of an otherwise empty dishwasher and run on a hot cycle. You also need to remove your filter – this is super important! Here’s a quick 2 minute video on how to find and clean your dishwasher filter. 

Clean your microwave. My favorite hack for cleaning the microwave is using 1 cup of water, a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and a few slices of lemon (to help with the smell) in a mug. Put the mug in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or until you see the window steam up. Then just wipe clean!

Clean the coffee machine. Once again, vinegar is your friend on this one. I have a Keurig and fill the reservoir with vinegar completely and run the machine to empty it. Then fill the reservoir with water twice and run through the machine to make sure your next cup of coffee doesn’t taste like vinegar. I also like to take as many parts of as possible and clean them with hot, soapy water. Finally, once a month I also use one of these cleaning cups for Keurig machines to do a light cleaning. 

Clean out and organize the pantry. Throw out anything that’s expired and wipe down all of the shelves. Organize like items such as cans, cereals, pastas and rice. If you don’t have the slide out shelves, I like to use baskets like these. My pantry is a bit tight for 4 people, so I also use over-the-cabinet basket and a couple of undershelf baskets to maximize space. 

Clean out and organize the refrigerator. Just like the pantry, you’ll want to toss anything that is passed its prime and wipe down the shelves with hot, soapy water. 

Clean out and organize the freezer. It’s critically important that you label and organize your freezer as it can be easy to confuse things or forget when you froze them.

Wipe down the outside of all appliances. If you have stainless steel appliances, mix 1 teaspoon of dish detergent with 1 quart of water and use a microfiber cloth for an effective and inexpensive approach.  

Clean and organize cabinets, inside and out. Dust loves to gather in the corners of your cabinets. This is also a great time to get rid of outdated spices or dishes and glassware you haven’t used in ages.

Bedroom(s)

Wash comforter(s)/duvet covers and pillows. Check your comforter(s) or duvet cover(s) care tag for properly cleaning. I like to let mine dry in the sun either way. As for pillows, most (but not all!) can be washed in the washer and dried in the dryer. I also like putting them out in the sun for a few hours to finally kill the last of any bacteria.

Clean and organize dresser drawers. You know the drill – if it doesn’t fit or bring you joy, donate it. 

Clean and organize closet(s). When it comes to the clothing, see the step above. As for the other stuff, make sure it’s labeled and easy to get to and, just as importantly, easy to put away. 

Bathroom(s)

Clean and organize the medicine cabinet. Similar to the food in your house, check expiration dates and toss anything past its prime. For a list of what you should have in there, check out our article Ten Items You Should Have in Your Medicine Cabinet. 

Clean and organize bathroom vanities, closets and/or cabinets. Due the humidity from showers and baths, dust and lint loves to gather in your vanity. Wipe it down, toss expired or broken toiletries and organize what’s left. Tight on space? I use this two tier sliding basket organizer in my 35 square foot bathroom.

Other appliances

Clean your washing machine inside and out. Like your oven, your washing machine may have a clean cycle. If so, use it! If not, add 2 cups of vinegar to the machine and run a hot water cycle. Then run an additional hot water cycle with no detergent or vinegar (mostly to get rid of the smell). 

Clean your dryer inside and out. Dryers are fire hazards due the lint and heat combination. Remove your lint trap and clean with hot, soapy water and don’t replace until completely dry. You’ll also want to vacuum where the lint trap is housed. To avoid buildup from dryer sheets, use these wool dryer balls instead.

Ceilings

Clean ceiling fans. The best way to do this is to put an old pillow case around the blade, all the way back to the base and slide it off. The dust will end up in the pillowcase instead of all over the room or your face. Gross. 

Clean the corners of your ceilings. Run a broom around the corners of all of the rooms to catch cobwebs (bonus points for going along the whole ceiling). You’ll be surprised, and grossed out, by how many spider webs are up there.

Windows

Wash curtains. Most curtains should be washed on the delicate cycle but between their size and the sun attracting dust, they can get pretty filthy. 

Wipe down blinds and/or shades. While your curtains are in the wash, clean the blinds that hang behind them. Some people like to rubber band microfiber clothes to tongs and wipe off each blind individually. I don’t want to take that kind of time, so I hang them from suction cups on my bathtub wall and spray them with the showerhead instead. 

Clean window glass. Since your curtains are in the laundry and your blinds are in the bathtub, you can reach every nook and cranny of the window glass. I find coffee filters from the dollar store clean well without leaving streaks or lint behind. 

Vacuum and wipe clean window sills. Cleaning windows has a lot steps, the last of which is the sill. Vacuum out the dust and dead bugs that you can and finish by using a microfiber cloth dipped in hot, soapy water to get what remains.

Décor

Clean mirrors. Just like windows, coffee filters work well for cleaning all the mirrored surfaces in your house. 

Dust lamp shades and light fixtures. Like your curtains, the lights in your home attract dust. You can use a vacuum, lint roller or wet cloth (depending on the surface type) to give your lamp shades and light fixtures a proper cleaning.

Around the House

Wash throw blankets. Like your comforter, you’ll want to read the care tag on these but think about the hours (and crumbs) these things have accumulated. They’re probably overdue for a good cleaning. 

Wash throw pillows/pillow cases. God forbid you (or your dog) drool on the pillows during those couch naps, you’ll need to clean your throw pillows, too.

Wipe down baseboards. Your ever-dependable hot water and dish detergent are the best resources for this one. If you have a lot of grime to clean up, you may want to upgrade to a magic eraser instead. 

Vacuum, wipe down vents and cold air returns and replace any filters. A perk to this cleaning duty is you might actually lower your energy bills as a result. Take a vacuum to everything first, then pull out your microfiber cloth and hot water with dish soap. For cold air returns and/or your furnace, you’ll also want to swap out the filter. I buy mine in bulk and try to change them at minimum every six months. 

Disinfect door knobs, handles and lights switches. Think about how frequently door knobs and light switches are touched. Ew. To make sure you get them all, try to go through one room at a time and work your way from the top of the house all the way to the exterior doors and switches. 

Vacuum or mop everywhere, including under furniture. At this point, hopefully you’ve cleaned from the top down and are finally ready to get to the floors. Move as much furniture as possible to get all the dust bunnies that like to gather under couches and dressers.

Hose or wipe down trash cans. You’ve thrown away a lot of stuff as you’ve progressed through this list. Finish the list with the household necessities that took the brunt of it all. Don’t forget to use soap and let them. dry in good ole fashioned sunshine if you can to get rid of every last bit of bacteria. 

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