Cleaning schedules

The Deep Cleaning Checklist, Room by Room (Printable)

Updated 2026-08-17

A deep clean is not a bigger version of your weekly clean. It is a different job: the things that only need doing two or three times a year, which is exactly why nobody remembers what they are.

This checklist covers the whole house, split into sessions of about 45 minutes. You can do one a day for a fortnight, or three in a weekend if you are the sort of person who does that. Both work. Trying to do the whole house in one day does not, which is why most deep cleans stall somewhere around the second bedroom.

Before you start

Three things that make the whole job faster:

1. Declutter first, in a separate session. Deep cleaning around clutter takes roughly twice

as long and the result looks half as good.

1. Work top to bottom in every room. Dust falls. If you do floors first you will do them

twice, and you will be annoyed about it.

1. Do not start in the worst room. Start somewhere small and finishable. Momentum matters far

more than logic here.

Kitchen (about 60 minutes)

The longest room, so do it when you have most energy.

• Empty and wipe out the fridge, including the door seals where the grim bit lives
• Descale the kettle and run a hot cycle through the dishwasher with a cleaner
• Degrease the extractor filter, which is almost certainly worse than you expect
• Wipe cupboard doors, especially around handles
• Clean the oven, including the glass
• Pull out the bin and clean underneath and behind it
• Descale taps and polish the sink
• Wipe skirting boards and the kickboards under the units

Bathrooms (about 45 minutes each)

• Descale the shower head, ideally by soaking it rather than scrubbing
• Treat grout and any silicone seals with mould remover, then leave it to work
• Clean the extractor fan cover, which nobody has ever done
• Wash the bath mat and shower curtain, both of which are machine washable
• Clean behind and around the base of the loo
• Wipe down the inside of cabinets and bin the eleven expired products

Bedrooms (about 45 minutes each)

• Wash the duvet and pillows themselves, not just the covers
• Vacuum the mattress, then rotate or flip it
• Vacuum under the bed properly, which usually means moving it
• Wipe down light fittings and lampshades
• Clean the windows and window sills, and hoover the tracks
• Sort one drawer or shelf only, then stop

Living areas (about 45 minutes)

• Vacuum the sofa, including under the cushions
• Wash removable covers and cushion covers
• Dust the tops of picture frames, doorframes and shelves
• Clean screens with a dry microfibre cloth, never a household spray
• Wipe light switches, door handles and remote controls
• Move the furniture and vacuum properly underneath

The bits everyone forgets

If you only do five things from this list, do these. They make the biggest visible difference for the least effort.

• Skirting boards. They are the reason a clean room still looks slightly grubby.
• Light fittings. Dusty shades make the whole room look dim and dingy.
• Door handles and light switches. High-touch, permanently overlooked.
• Window tracks. Ten minutes for a startling improvement.
• The extractor fan in the bathroom. Genuinely nobody does this.

What genuinely helps

Deep cleaning rewards a small amount of specialist kit far more than weekly cleaning does, because you are dealing with problems that ordinary sprays do not touch.

• A steam cleaner is the one bigger purchase that earns its place, mostly for grout, oven

interiors and shower screens. It replaces a shelf of chemicals and does a better job on baked-on grease.

• Descaler, in quantity, if you are in a hard water area. It fixes kettles, shower heads and

taps in one product.

• A grout brush with a proper stiff head, rather than the old toothbrush everyone suggests.
• Extendable microfibre duster for light fittings and the tops of things, which is what stops

you balancing on a dining chair.

• Mould remover for silicone seals. Apply it, leave it, and let it do the work.

Doing it over a fortnight

If a whole weekend is not realistic, this order spreads the load and keeps the visible wins early:

1. Kitchen, part one (fridge, oven)
2. Kitchen, part two (cupboards, surfaces, floor)
3. Main bathroom
4. Living room
5. Bedroom one
6. Bedroom two
7. Second bathroom, hallway and stairs

Seven sessions, one every other evening, and you are done in a fortnight without ever losing a weekend to it.

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