How to Clean a House In One Day: Your 10-Step Plan

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We all have visions of living in a sparkling clean house with nary a hint of clutter, or a speck of dust in sight.

The reality is that between work, and…well, life…we find ourselves slipping further and further from that Instagram-worthy showcase home in our imagination. 

Essentially you have two options when it comes to keeping your house clean and living your busy life.

You can set a strict cleaning schedule and commit to cleaning one portion of your house each day, or you can dedicate one day to cleaning the entire house, and spend the rest of the week enjoying the fruits of your work…or, whatever else you would like to do. 

Now, you may be great at sticking to a schedule, and you might not mind spending part of every day on cleaning chores…but, for the rest of us, we have put together a step-by-step guide to knocking out a whole week’s worth of housework in just one day. 

How to Clean A House in One Day

If you are going to clean your entire house in one day you are definitely going to need a solid plan of attack.

No worries though, we’ve got you covered! We have scoured the web, and we have come up with the best foolproof plan to get a clean home top to bottom in just one day. 

Before we go any further, let’s start by making sure you have everything you will need to clean your entire house without needing to stop midway to run out for more supplies.

 Items You Will Need

• Microfiber Cloth
• Paper Towels
• Glass Cleaner
• Toilet/Tub/Sink Cleanser
• Broom & Dust Pan
• Vacuum Cleaner
• Duster
• Gloves

The Best Way to Get Started and Stay Motivated to Clean

There is no magic mantra that will help you get started, or stay motivated to clean. The biggest secret to getting started…is to get started.

I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but getting up and getting started is really the hardest part. Generally, once you are over that initial hurdle, your momentum will carry you through. 

Need some extra motivation? Think of those Instagram-worthy homes in your imagination, or think about posting your own photos of you enjoying your sparkling clean home at the end of the day.

You can tell everyone that your home always looks this great. Nobody needs to know that there were potato chips, and a missing sock under your couch cushions yesterday.

Your Step-By-Step Guide for Achieving a Clean Home in One Day 

As we just discussed, the best way to get started is to get started, so let’s get to it!

Something to keep in mind when you’re trying to clean your whole house or even just an entire room is to start at the top of the room. That way you’re not double cleaning areas.

Step 1: Create A Checklist

It can’t be stressed strongly enough. Having a plan, and sticking to it is going to make or break your success in this endeavor.

Take a bit of time right at the start to create a quick checklist so that you can easily see what you have already done, and what you still need to accomplish.

Checking or crossing items off the list can be incredibly satisfying, and a great motivator to keep going.

Just make sure you don’t spend so much time making your checklist that you forget to get started. Keep it simple, and move on to step 2.

Pssst, you can grab a free checklist for cleaning your entire house in just 2 hours right here.

Step 2: Get Your Supplies Together

Next, you are going to want to make this project as easy as possible on yourself by taking a few minutes to gather all of your cleaning supplies together in one central location so you don’t have to go hunting for supplies mid-cleaning. 

If feasible, you may want to consider finding an easy-to-tote container, large enough to hold all of your supplies, that you can easily move from space to space as you go. 

Step 3: Go On A Laundry Hunting Mission

Now that the prep work is complete it is time to start the cleaning.

Start by going through your entire house room-by-room stripping the linens off of the beds, gathering towels, and gathering up towels and other items to be laundered. 

Head back to the laundry room and start a load of laundry so that the washer and dryer can complete their respective cycles, and you can move through loads of laundry throughout the day while you are cleaning the rest of the house.

The idea here is to wind up with freshly laundered, and dried linens, and towels at the end of the cleaning day. 

It is so satisfying to be able to finish off with crisp, clean linen after a full day of working hard cleaning your house.

Step 4: Declutter The Entire House

With the laundry started, it is time to embark on another sweep of the entire house. This time your mission will be to find any errant items and clutter.  

This means clearing products, tools, paperwork, and personal items off of countertops, tables, and furniture, picking up items off the floor, and returning everything to its rightful storage spot.

I find the easiest the quickest way to do this is by using baskets and categorizing the content. For instance, have one for trash, one for recycling, one for bedrooms, and one for the living area.

I also tend to have one for things that I’m not sure what to do with. That way I can sit down and go through it later without it taking away from the actual cleaning time.

Step 5: Let Your Cleansers Clean The Sinks & Toilets

Time to move on to the heavy cleaning. We are going to start with the hard parts first. Yes, we mean the sinks, tubs, and toilets.

The trick here is to let the cleansers do the hard work for you. Most cleaners are designed to break down hard-to-clean grime, but they need to set for a bit to work their magic. 

So, grab your cleansers and visit every sink, tub, and toilet in your home to apply cleanser, and let it start to break down the grease and grime while you move on to the next task on the list.

It’s also wise to have a bucket of warm water ready to be used for any wiping down that you may find you need to do.

Step 6: Dust

The next couple of steps are going to be time-consuming, but we promise that once these are done you will be ready to cruise into the home stretch, so don’t give up on us now. 

There is some leeway here, you may want to combine the next two steps, and tackle them simultaneously, or split them into two circuits as we have listed them here.

Either way, you want to start with the dusting. That way you’re not wiping things down and then having dust fall back onto them. Work smarter not harder!

Gather your microfibre cloth duster and visit every room in your house dusting electronics, picture frames, plants, and decor. Don’t forget the mini-blinds and ceiling fan blades!

Always start this step at the top of the room. That way all the dust will drop down and you can finish by vacuuming it all up at the very end.

Step 7: Wipe Down Countertops & Appliances

Alright, the bulk of the work is done now! You are almost done. Now it is time for another tour of your house.

On this trip, you will need a clean, damp microfibre cloth or two, paper towels, and glass and counter cleaner. 

Go through each room spritzing, and wiping down countertops, mirrors, windows, and appliance surfaces so they sparkle.

Step 8: Return To Finish The Cleanser’s Work

Now it is time to return to those sinks, tubs, and toilets.

By now, the cleansers should have thoroughly broken down any tough grime, grease, or other gunk, and you should be able to simply rinse them away, and give each vessel a final swish, wipe, or swipe to make it shine.  

Sometimes you’ll need to add in a little elbow grease. I like to have a good stiff brush as well as an old toothbrush to really get things shining.

Step 9: Vacuum, Sweep, & Mop

Now it is time for another trip through the entire house. This time you are going to be vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping the floors throughout the home as needed.

This sounds simple, but it is easy to get distracted during this task.

There is a good reason that this task is located further down the list. You want to stay on course with your floor cleaning mission.

If you stop to start another task, put away an errant item, or organize the bookshelf, it is hard to get going again. Just trust us on this one, and power through. 

This is typically the very last task on your list because once the floors are cleaned you don’t want to be dusting over them or wiping things down.

That will end up messing up all of your hard work that you’ve already put in.

Step 10: Replace, Fold Or Hang Laundered Items

Last step! Head back to the laundry room, gather up all of your fresh, clean linens and replace them from whence they came.

Put sheets back on the beds, and towels back on the bathroom hangers. Fold, or hang clothes and put them away. 

Tips to Make Cleaning Your Entire House Easier

There you have it. Cleaning your entire home in just one day is no small feat. We hope this step-by-step guide has made the task a bit more manageable.

While there is no easy button for house cleaning, there are several tried and true tips that make it much easier to get a clean home in just one day’s time so you can enjoy the rest of your week.

The number one tip is always going to be to make a plan and stick to it. Distraction and procrastination are the two biggest reasons that most of us are living in a cluttered house. A solid plan will help you overcome these two hurdles. 

While the first thing is to have a plan, the other crucial tip is to make sure you have everything you need before you start.

If you have to stop because you are missing a crucial supply, you open the door for distraction, and procrastination to weasel their way back in. 

These great tips will set you up for a good amount of success, but there’s more that will help.

Clean on a Daily Basis

Have a daily cleaning routine so that your home is getting cleaned on a regular basis. This makes a big difference in the long run.

Have a cleaning time set aside every day to cover things like dirty dishes, putting laundry in the washing machine, and tidying up the family room.

I find it really helps to have a set time so that I can focus and not get distracted. In my experience, it’s the fastest way to get the job done.

Have a Deep Cleaning Schedule

Deep cleaning has to be done regularly in order to keep home maintenance up to date. However, trying to deep clean the whole house at once just isn’t a good idea.

It’s also basically impossible if you don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to it.

However, if you focus on doing little things every day in your extra time, you’ll find that doing just a little bit at a time really does add up.

One day it could be the window sills, another day it could be the light fixtures and ceiling fans. Small things make up the big things and doing one job a day or even a week takes less time.

Keep Your House Uncluttered

When you have a messy house it is virtually impossible to even get to the cleaning tasks when there is just junk everywhere and nowhere to put it.

Spend time getting rid of things you don’t need or lack space for so that it’s easier to keep a tidy home.

The easy way to clean up is to have a place for everything.

The Wrap Up

Voila! You are all done. It is so satisfying to get the job done, right? Now that you’ve done it you’ll know better what to do next time and how to be even more efficient.

I don’t often try to clean my entire house in one day but there have been times when it has been necessary.

For instance, when we were getting the house ready to put up for sale. I had very little time to get the place cleaned and prepped, but I got it done.

It takes a whole lot of work, but it can be done and it can be done well.

We have one last suggestion for you. Grab your smartphone, and take one more trip around the house snapping pics of your sparkling clean house.

You may not care to share it online, but it’s great motivation for those times when you’re feeling utterly unmotivated and really need some inspiration.

SOURCES:

https://www.hunker.com/12122262/how-to-clean-your-entire-house-in-one-day

https://www.familyhandyman.com/

https://deliberatelyhere.com/how-to-clean-your-house-in-one-day/

https://www.jeanettegiselle.com/clean-house-one-day-checklist/

https://handymantips.org/clean-whole-house-in-one-day/

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/tips-for-quickly-cleaning-your-whole-home-in-one-day-237302