The Saturday Morning Cleaning Schedule for When You Didn’t Clean All Week

published Aug 15, 2020
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So you didn’t clean this week but you want a clean house to hang out in over the weekend. And you don’t want to spend half your weekend getting ready to enjoy it. Good news: You can condense your weekly cleaning into one super concentrated Saturday morning blitz of chores. It’s best if you can solicit some housemates (sometimes known as spouses and children) to help.

Here’s the two- to three-hour Saturday morning cleaning plan for when you didn’t clean all week (but want your house to look and feel like you did):

1. Get the laundry started.

Gather all the laundry that needs to be done, including bedding, and separate it into loads. Get that first load going. Make sure your cycle end signals are audible. Transfer loads and add new ones as soon as you hear the beeps. Make the beds or fold loads as soon as they come out of the dryer so you aren’t faced with a giant laundry mountain after you’re done cleaning.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Apartment Therapy

2. Pick up clutter.

To clean quickly and effectively, you need clear floors and surfaces. Attack clutter strategically or you’ll spend all your time wandering around the house in circles trying to put stuff where it belongs. We suggest the laundry basket method or the bed method. You can even leave the actually-putting-stuff-away part until after your cleaning is done.

Credit: Joe Lingeman

3. Dust and clean glass.

If your weekly schedule breaks up chores by room, put that aside for this Saturday morning catch-up session. We’re going task-by-task, and, as usual, we’re starting at the top and working our way down. This isn’t the time to be detailed; leave the knick-knack dusting for another time. Just do a general sweep of your duster to dislodge any visible dust in trouble spots. Then go around with your favorite glass cleaner and wipe down mirrors, glass table tops, glass doors, and shower doors.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Apartment Therapy

4. Wipe surfaces.

In keeping with our top-to-bottom strategy, next we’re going to wipe down surfaces. Again, this will be an abbreviated version (it’s not the time to scrub around the faucets with a detail brush), but go around and wipe down each bathroom counter, the kitchen counter, and other hard surfaces like desks and side tables. Use a clean rag for each room.

5. Clean the bathrooms.

Spend some time cleaning each bathroom. Clean toilets thoroughly, and give shower and tub faucets, bathtub ledges, and niches or shelves a quick wipe-down. Go over bathroom faucets and soap dispensers with all-purpose cleaner and a rag.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Apartment Therapy

6. Clean the kitchen.

The kitchen also needs a bit of personal attention. Wipe down your appliances, and give the interior of your fridge a quick once-over, discarding old food, wiping up any obvious spills and messes, and straightening up anything that looks particularly disheveled. Clean the kitchen faucet and scrub the sink basin.

Credit: Joe Lingeman

7. Vacuum everywhere.

You may have common area vacuuming scheduled twice or more on your weekly checklist, but today your total weekly vacuuming time for the common areas is cut in half because you’re only doing it once! Vacuum common areas, including area rugs, and then vacuum each bedroom and bathroom.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Apartment Therapy

8. Mop where necessary.

This isn’t going to be a wet-mop-all-the-hard-floors kind of morning. Probably, you’ll only really need to mop the kitchen, if that. Use a spray mop for efficiency.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Apartment Therapy

9. Put all the folded laundry away.

Don’t neglect this step. In addition to an all-clean house, having all the (clean! folded!) laundry put away will give that aahhhhhh feeling like nothing else can so you can fully enjoy the rest of your weekend.