Two ways to use a house cleaning checklist
As your own routine, so the house never slides too far. Or as the list you agree with a regular cleaner, so you both know what a visit includes and nobody is guessing.
Either way, tick off what applies to your place and cross out what doesn't. A flat with no bath and one toilet needs a shorter list than a family home with three bathrooms.
The house cleaning order that works in any room
Clear the surfaces
Dishes to the sink, clothes to the basket, toys to their box. You can't wipe a bench you can't see.
Spray the bathroom first
Put cleaner on the shower, basin and toilet and leave it to work while you dust elsewhere. It does half the scrubbing for you.
Dust from high to low
Shelves and tops of frames before benches, benches before skirting boards. Dust only falls one way.
Wipe and rinse
Back to the bathroom and kitchen to scrub, rinse and dry, so nothing streaks or spots.
Floors last
Vacuum every room, then mop the hard floors, working towards the door so you're not walking on wet floor.
Kitchen jobs for every house cleaning visit
- Benches, the splashback and the table wiped down.
- The sink scrubbed, with the tap base and plughole done.
- Stovetop degreased, and the fronts of the oven, dishwasher and fridge wiped.
- Microwave wiped inside, if it's been used for something messy.
- Bins emptied, with a fresh liner in.
Bathrooms and toilet, cleaned every visit
- Toilet inside and out, including the seat hinges and the floor around the base.
- Shower walls and glass rinsed and wiped, and the drain cleared of hair.
- Basin, taps, vanity top and mirror.
- Towels swapped if that's part of your list.
- Bathroom floor vacuumed or swept, then mopped.
Bedrooms and living areas on each visit
- Surfaces within reach dusted, including bedside tables and the top of the TV cabinet.
- Cushions straightened and throws folded.
- Every floor vacuumed, under the edges of beds and couches as well.
- Hard floors mopped.
Jobs for every few visits, not every clean
- Light switches, door handles and the edges of doors, where hands go.
- Skirting boards and window sills.
- The extractor fan covers in the bathroom and kitchen.
- Inside the fridge, with anything past its date thrown out.
- Shower screen given a proper going-over for soap scum.
- Bed linen changed, if you've asked for it.
Save these for a deep clean
- Rangehood filters and the grease on top of the cupboards.
- Inside every cupboard and drawer, emptied first.
- Window tracks, frames and the inside glass.
- Grout lines, the shower seals and the toilet cistern.
- The oven, unless you add it to a regular visit.
A damp-season extra for the house cleaning list
In winter, add the condensation to the list. Consumer NZ suggests wiping off water that collects on the inside of windows and on walls, and running the extractor fan when you shower or cook, then leaving it on for about 10 minutes afterwards.
Tenancy Services asks tenants to remove mould as soon as it appears, so small black spots on sills or the bathroom ceiling belong on the every-visit list once they start showing.
Keep bleach and vinegar apart when you clean the house
Bleach and vinegar should never meet: Consumer NZ warns the two together create toxic chlorine gas, and bleach should never be mixed with ammonia or other cleaners either. Use one product at a time, rinse between them and keep the window open. Store everything in its own labelled container, up high or locked away from children. If something is swallowed, the National Poisons Centre is on 0800 764 766, and in an emergency call 111.
Your house cleaning list, or the cleaner's
Worth doing yourself
- The daily jobs: dishes, a quick bench wipe, a squeegee on the shower glass.
- A pick-up before the cleaner arrives, so they spend the visit cleaning rather than tidying.
- Windows open and fans on to keep condensation down.
- Anything personal, like paperwork on the desk or a child's art table.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- The weekly or fortnightly scrub of bathrooms and toilets.
- Every floor in the house, properly, every visit.
- The every-few-visits jobs that tend to slip off a busy household's list.
- A deep clean when the edges of the house need catching up.
How we'd use this house cleaning checklist
Keep the every-visit list short and honest, because that's the part that has to happen whatever the week throws at you. Rotate the every-few-visits jobs so one or two get done each time, and book a deep clean for the rest when the edges start to show. If a cleaner does your list, give them this one, edited for your house.