A Weekly Cleaning Routine for Busy Moms

Do you struggle to keep your house clean and don’t know where to start? I’m sharing a weekly cleaning routine that any busy mom can follow!

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After years of frustration regarding my unclean house, I’ve finally taken control of the dirt! I wish someone had shared the secret with me years ago. It’s so simple, yet so helpful!

Are you overwhelmed with your dirty home and tired of feeling defeated too? If so, then I hope this secret will help you as much as it helped me!

So, are you ready to know the secret?

The secret to a clean (enough) house is a weekly cleaning routine.

As one who thrives on routines, I don’t know why I didn’t realize this secret for myself. I wish I could take the credit for this one, but I can’t.

For years, I tried to find something that would work for the long haul.

Very early on (my 20’s), I cleaned whenever something got bad enough. Yeah, I know, gross!

My ad hoc cleaning resulted in a dirty house, but it also left me angry and frustrated at my family!

Once I realized that I need some sort of strategy, I decided to to set aside one day of the week for cleaning. Surely, this would help…but it didn’t.

By the time I’d reach my cleaning day (which was usually Friday), the house was a filthy mess and it took forever to get it clean. Since it took so long, I almost never got it completely clean. The mess would build up week after a week….taking me even longer to get any one space truly clean.

Why a weekly cleaning routine works

Perfection is not the goal.

I am a recovering perfectionist, so I will probably always struggle with wanting my home to be perfectly clean. However, I know that’s not realistic.

Life is messy. There’s no way around it. So, rather than aiming for perfection, a weekly cleaning routine helps to achieve clean enough.

A weekly cleaning routine ensures you touch the major spaces once a week, without taking up too much time in your day.

My morning & evening routines include daily cleaning tasks

A weekly cleaning routine alone won’t keep your house clean enough. There are some cleaning tasks that must be done on a daily basis (ex. cleaning counters, putting items away) or else your mess will get out of control.

My morning routine & evening routine include some of those basic daily cleaning tasks that have to happen each day. Like it or not, some things need to be cleaned more than once a week.

The weekly cleaning routine that I follow

I’m sure there are a million different weekly cleaning routines out there, but the one I follow is the Clean Mama weekly cleaning routine. I’ve been following it for over a year now and it’s been the key to keeping our home reasonably clean. (Again, we’re not aiming for perfection!)

The Clean Mama weekly cleaning routine assigns one cleaning task to each day of the week. Here’s the breakdown:

Monday – clean bathrooms
Tuesday – dust
Wednesday – vacuum
Thursday – clean floors
Friday – catch up
Saturday – wash sheets & towels
Sunday – day off

Some things to note: Cleaning the bathroom includes the shower, sink, and toilet only. I vacuum the floors on Wednesday and clean them on Thursday later in the week. Also, there is no way I could wash all my sheets and towels each week, so I pick one person’s sheets each week. At the end of the month, I have washed them all.

Check out the Clean Mama website for more details. She is great and has so many cleaning resources!

Why I love the Clean Mama routine

I love the Clean Mama weekly cleaning routine for a few reasons. First, it takes the guesswork out of my cleaning. I clean based on what day it is. Even if I miss a day, I just keep going to the next day’s task.

Secondly, I like that I “eat the frog” each Monday. I loathe cleaning my bathrooms, but this weekly cleaning routine forces me to get it done at the beginning of the week. The rest is easy compared to bathrooms! 🙂

Thirdly, this routine breaks down an overwhelming task (cleaning your house) into bite sized pieces that are manageable each day. For example, I can clean the bathrooms quickly on Mondays because I know I will clean the bathroom floors later in the week.

In addition, these tasks don’t take a long time because they are completed each week. If I clean my floors each week, then they shouldn’t get as dirty in between cleanings.

Keep in mind that these tasks may take a little longer when you are first starting out. As you continue this routine over time, however, the tasks will become quicker to finish.

Lastly, the Clean Mama weekly cleaning routine allows for grace. At the end of the week, there is a built-in catch up day. If I’ve skipped a day, then I can catch up on Friday. And if I can’t catch up on Friday, then I’ll do it all again the next week.

I also love that Sunday is a rest day! Everyone needs a day off! 🙂

For years, my house was messy and I had no strategy to change it. I felt powerless and overwhelmed. I was grouchy and resented my family for being so dirty and gross!

This weekly cleaning routine is manageable and any busy mom can do it! My house is not perfect, but it’s clean enough. And now I don’t have to panic when I hear a random knock at the door.

Are you ready to get started with a weekly cleaning routine? If so, then sign up below and get ready to get your house clean enough, once and for all!