Sometimes moving out for the first time also means having to clean a whole apartment by yourself for the first time.
Even if you had chores growing up, as most kids do (or should but that’s a whole other blog post), it’s a whole new thing to have to do it all by yourself now.
How often should you be cleaning your apartment? What should you be cleaning daily as opposed to weekly? What about monthly?
Never fear, here is a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule that will keep your apartment nice and clean without stressing you out.
Daily Cleaning
Every day, you should be knocking out cleaning tasks that have to do with things you use daily, or that get dirty daily.
Dishes
For example, you’ll likely be cooking in the kitchen every day, or even if you’re not making a whole meal, you’ll probably dirty a plate or two, a mug, and some utensils even if you’re heating leftovers and enjoying a cup of tea.
Try to put your dishes in the dishwasher as soon as you’re done using them. If you don’t have a dishwasher, then wash them by hand as soon as possible. Or, if you prefer, let them collect and knock them out all at once at the end of the day (or the next morning, but try to have an empty sink at least once a day).
Some pots and pans may need to soak for a while before you can wash them. I know how tempting it can be to let them “soak” for a day or two, but don’t let it sit longer than a few hours or overnight.
Kitchen Counters
Something else you need to be doing every day in the kitchen is wiping down counters. It’s amazing how this one simple task makes everything seem so much cleaner. It’s also a fast task and much less gross than dishes, while being much more satisfying (in my opinion).
For this, use a dishrag specifically for wiping down the counters. Don’t use the sponge you use to wash dishes with. Who knows what’s caught up in there, and you don’t want to be wiping down your counters with it. Honestly, if your sponge is gross enough, it’s time to either stick that bad boy in the dishwasher or just get a new one.
Put Things Where They Belong
This is something you should be doing throughout the day. Keep your handtowels hanging where you like them, put the salt and pepper back where they belong, put away the flour you left on the counter from those pancakes this morning.
Just make sure things are where they need to be. It declutters the counters, making everything much more open and neater, and also helps you know exactly where something is when you need it again.
Bed
Just like wiping the counters makes everything seem so much nicer, making your bed is also a great way to keep your bedroom looking neat even if the rest of the room is a disaster. Plus, going to sleep in a nicely made bed is much more satisfying than the alternative.
Put Away Your Clothes
Most girls suffer from the problem of pulling clothes out to wear, then leaving them out. Or, deciding they can wear an article of clothing again, but leaving it out even if you don’t intend on wearing it the next day (who wears the same outfit two days in a row, anyway?).
Try to put even just a few of your clothes back in the closet or the drawer before you go to sleep. Or, throw them in the laundry basket if you decide you don’t want to wear them again after all.
Weekly
There are things that will slowly get dirtier and dirtier as the week progresses, and should be taken care of. This will likely take a whole day if you choose to do it all at once, or you can do one task a day over the course of the week.
Floors: Vacuum and Mop
Every week you should vacuum all rooms in your house or apartment, even if you don’t use them all equally. Hardwood floors should be followed with a good mopping, especially the kitchen and the areas near the doors where dirty shoes are more likely to be worn.
Some floors can be polished, but that’s fairly unnecessary and should be researched before attempting if you are unfamiliar with the process.
Laundry
Even though you should be putting away clothes somewhat consistently every day, you need to take the time to actually put them all away at once. Get them off the floor, off the dresser, and off the chair. Fold them, put them away. Or, put them in the laundry basket.
You also need to wash your laundry. This includes clothes, towels (both bathroom and kitchen), and bedsheets. You don’t need an expensive detergent, and you really don’t need fabric softener or dryer sheets.
Bathroom
Your bathroom needs to be cleaned every week. How can you make yourself clean in a room that’s dirty?
Wipe off countertops, clean the tub or shower, Windex the mirror, make sure the floor is clean when you vacuum and mop. Especially make sure the toilet and the area around the toilet are clean.
Check the shower liner for mold and if it needs it, throw the liner and the curtain in the clothes washing machine (separately) on a gentle cycle so you don’t rip anything.
Kitchen
Back to the kitchen. At least once a week, make sure the kitchen is completely clean. No dishes, counters completely wiped, microwave wiped out, stovetop clean, sink wiped down.
Monthly (Or As Needed)
There are some things that get dirty slowly, or that simply are too much of a task to take on every single week. However, they should still be addressed occasionally.
Fridge
Let’s face it, we all have things in our fridge we have forgotten about and that have gone bad. Of course, as you find spoiled food you should be throwing it away, but sometimes you really need to dig for the stuff you may have missed.
There will also be spills in the fridge you missed that are not only gross to see, but also make the whole thing smell bad. Wipe those up, take the shelves out if you need to, and wipe them down in the sink.
Couch
If you eat food on the couch, especially chips, there will be crumbs in there. That’s gross. Vacuum them up.
Your Bedroom
This one could have gone under the weekly list, but between the laundry and the vacuuming, your room should be clean enough to get you through the next week. However, at least once a month, you should be doing a thorough clean and making sure everything is where it should be.
Heck, you can even rearrange or redecorate your room if that’s something that helps you out mentally.
Kitchen Cabinets
Look, just like the fridge, there is food that gets forgotten about, and food that gets spilled. Clean that up every once in a while.
Dusting
Chairs, bookshelves, windowsills, the top of cabinets. These are all things that get dusty. It’s not crucial that it’s cleaned every week, but wiping them down occasionally does help make the whole place seem brighter and cleaner.
Windows And Mirrors
Wipe down the glass surfaces in your home. Trust me, it has the same effect as dusting.
Hopefully, you found these tips helpful! It’s hard to keep your apartment clean, especially if it’s your first one. But it’s also hard to live in a dirty place. Putting in the time and effort is definitely worth it, and you will see the benefits in your mental and physical health.
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Ally says
Thank you for this! I needed it! Great tips! I look forward to reading more of your posts ☺️
Shayla says
Thanks for this, it is often very easy to forget to do most of these things! I’m gonna go and clean the fridge out now 🙂