Monthly cleaning schedule
How often to clean everything in your home, from daily to yearly, and a four-week rotation that spreads the monthly jobs so no single weekend gets buried.
How often should you clean everything?
Pick a standard to see how the frequencies change. Hygiene jobs stay put; cosmetic ones stretch.
| Task | Zone | How often | Time* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dishes / load or unload dishwasher | KIT | Daily | 7 min |
| Wipe counters and stovetop | KIT | Daily | 3 min |
| Make the bed | BED | Daily | 2 min |
| Five-minute living-room reset | LIVE | Daily | 5 min |
| Empty trash and recycling | KIT | Weekly | 4 min |
| Scrub sink and faucet | KIT | Weekly | 4 min |
| Spot-mop kitchen floor | KIT | Weekly | 5 min |
| Wipe bathroom sink, faucet and mirror | BATH | Weekly | 4 min |
| Clean toilet: bowl, seat and base | BATH | Weekly | 6 min |
| Mop bathroom floor | BATH | Weekly | 5 min |
| Swap towels and bath mat | BATH | Weekly | 3 min |
| Put away clothes, clear nightstands | BED | Weekly | 5 min |
| Vacuum high-traffic floors | FLR | Weekly | 10 min |
| Laundry: sort, fold, put away (hands-on) | LNDRY | Weekly | 20 min |
| Wipe appliance fronts and cabinet handles | KIT | Every 2 weeks | 6 min |
| Clean inside the microwave | KIT | Every 2 weeks | 5 min |
| Scrub shower or tub and glass | BATH | Every 2 weeks | 10 min |
| Change bed sheets | BED | Every 2 weeks | 10 min |
| Dust bedroom surfaces | BED | Every 2 weeks | 6 min |
| Dust surfaces and electronics | LIVE | Every 2 weeks | 8 min |
| Wipe light switches, doorknobs, remotes | LIVE | Every 2 weeks | 6 min |
| Vacuum everywhere, mop hard floors | FLR | Every 2 weeks | 25 min |
| Shake out mats, clear the entryway | FLR | Every 2 weeks | 4 min |
| Clear out fridge and wipe shelves | KIT | Monthly | 15 min |
| Degrease range hood and backsplash | KIT | Monthly | 15 min |
| Wash shower curtain, descale showerhead | BATH | Monthly | 15 min |
| Vacuum sofa and under cushions | LIVE | Monthly | 10 min |
| Dust ceiling fans, vents and baseboards | LIVE | Monthly | 25 min |
| Clean washer seal, detergent drawer, lint trap | LNDRY | Monthly | 10 min |
| Clean the oven | KIT | Quarterly | 40 min |
| Scrub grout and caulk lines | BATH | Quarterly | 25 min |
| Vacuum mattress and rotate it | BED | Quarterly | 15 min |
| Wash pillows and duvet | BED | Quarterly | 20 min |
| Wash inside windows and sills | LIVE | Quarterly | 30 min |
*Baseline minutes for one bathroom, one bedroom, average pace. The generator scales them to your home.
The four-week rotation
Monthly jobs are the ones that fall through the cracks, because “sometime this month” never arrives. The fix is to give each one a week.
Our generator balances them automatically. In the sample alongside, the ceiling fans and washer seal get week 2 and the fridge and range hood week 4, so no week carries them all. Every-two-weeks jobs such as sheets and a full mop alternate between odd and even weeks, so each week carries a similar load.
Our four-week rotation keeps nearly the same beat as the Moon, which takes about 29.5 days to cycle; ahaboo lets you scrub through why it waxes and wanes.
Quarterly and yearly jobs
Oven, grout, windows, mattress, duvets, baseboards, vents: these go on a seasonal list. Put one on each weekend of the first month of a season rather than saving them for a single spring-cleaning blitz. See the deep cleaning checklist for the full list.
Sample rotation (2-bed apartment, tidy)
Week 1 78′
Wash shower curtain, descale showerhead · Dust bedroom surfaces · Clean inside the microwave · Dust surfaces and electronics · Wipe light switches, doorknobs, remotes · Vacuum everywhere, mop hard floors
Week 2 80′
Scrub shower or tub and glass · Wipe appliance fronts and cabinet handles · Shake out mats, clear the entryway · Clean washer seal, detergent drawer, lint trap · Change bed sheets · Dust ceiling fans, vents and baseboards
Week 3 73′
Wipe light switches, doorknobs, remotes · Dust bedroom surfaces · Clean inside the microwave · Vacuum everywhere, mop hard floors · Vacuum sofa and under cushions · Dust surfaces and electronics
Week 4 74′
Change bed sheets · Scrub shower or tub and glass · Shake out mats, clear the entryway · Clear out fridge and wipe shelves · Degrease range hood and backsplash · Wipe appliance fronts and cabinet handles
Once or twice a year
- Wash walls and paintwork around switches and door frames.
- Deep-clean carpets and upholstery.
- Clear gutters and wash outside windows (or book someone for heights).
- Test smoke and CO alarms monthly and check batteries; replace alarms at the age the manufacturer states.
- Declutter wardrobes, the pantry and the bathroom cabinet.
Questions people ask
What should be cleaned monthly?
Inside the fridge and microwave, the range hood filter, appliance fronts and cabinet doors, the dishwasher and washing machine filters and seals, light switches and door handles, and descaling showerheads and kettles.
How often should you change bed sheets?
Weekly to every two weeks is the common guidance. Weekly makes more sense if you sweat a lot, have allergies, or share the bed with a pet.
How often should you clean the bathroom?
Toilet, sink and shower weekly. Grout, the shower curtain and the exhaust fan monthly to quarterly.
How often should you vacuum?
High-traffic areas weekly, or twice a week with pets. The whole home every one to two weeks is usually enough.