25 Housecleaning Tips to Keep Your Home in Tip-Top Shape Year-Round

If you lead a busy lifestyle, keeping a clean house can seem overwhelming. You start the week with a clean and tidy house . By midweek, though, you realize that you haven’t put away your dry-cleaning or folded the laundry. There’s a growing stack of mail in the hallway, a used gym bag by the door, a pile of fresh laundry on the bed, dirty dishes in the sink (and clean ones in the dishwasher, which didn’t just finish its cycle).

By Friday, the house is a full-blown disaster zone—that is, until you rest from your week and tackle the massive (and much-needed) tidying-up job. Then the cycle starts all over again. We promise it’s quicker than you think. Keep scrolling to study up on the house cleaning tips that will transform the state of your home permanently.

Make the Bed as Soon as You Get Up

Making the bed first thing in the morning will kick-start your productivity levels and make it that much harder to crawl back into bed.

Wipe Your Bedside Table Each Morning

Keep wipes near your bedside table and give it a quick swipe of the cloth when picking up your phone in the morning. That’s one less chore to tackle on the weekend.

Edit Your Wardrobe as You Go

If you put your clothing in the giveaway pile each time you try on something and it doesn't fit or doesn't suit your style anymore, you'll never need to clean out your closet again. Keep a hamper or bag in your closet where you can store these items, and sort through it once a month to toss, donate, or sell.

Immediately Rehang Clothes

Don’t toss clothes like jeans or a sweatshirt on a chair if they can be worn again before laundry day—hang them in the closet. Keep dry clean–ready items in a separate section of your closet.

Have a Dedicated Hamper for Every Person in Your Home

One hamper is not enough. Have a laundry basket for each person in your house, plus an extra one for linens. If you’re feeling extra organized, use hampers that have two baskets in each so you can separate whites in advance. 

Start a Wash Cycle as Soon as You Get Home

If you have enough laundry, start a wash cycle first thing in the evenings so you have time to dry and fold. Don’t ever let unfolded laundry make it into your bedroom. Keep a folding area near your washer/dryer, and be ruthless about folding and ironing as soon as the drying cycle is finished.

Spray Clean Your Shower After Each Use

Prevent shower grime by giving your entire shower and tub a light mist of daily shower cleaner after each use.

Hang Towels on Bars and Robes on Hooks

Your towels need to properly air-dry if you want reuse them two to three times before washing. Make sure they’re properly hung to dry. If you’re a bathrobe person, use a dedicated hook in the bathroom to make your space feel a little more like a luxury hotel room.

Keep a Laundry Hamper in Your Bathroom for Towels

Your bathroom is not a hotel; don’t leave towels on the floor or in the tub. If they’ve gone past their three-day use, throw them in the hamper.

Clear Your Countertops of Clutter

We get it; mornings get busy. If you can't put your container of oatmeal or tube of toothpase away before work, make a point to do it at night. Spend a few minutes each night putting away every product that was used that morning and avoid coming home to a large pile on Friday.

Clean Your Toilet During Your Nighttime Routine

The time you need to brush your teeth and wash your face is probably the exact time you need to let an average toilet cleaner product work before giving it a quick scrub. Use a wipe to quickly clean the seat. Doing this every other day will keep your toilet neat in between deep cleans.

Wipe Down the Countertops After Getting Ready for Bed

Once your nighttime beauty routine is done, give your bathroom countertops a quick wipe. Keep a stash of cleaning products in your vanity to make this process seamless.

Empty the Dishwasher While You Brew Your Coffee

Your dishwasher should be ready for your breakfast dishes so they don’t pile up in the sink. Keeping dirty dishes out of the sink will also help prevent insects in the kitchen.

When You Notice a Spill, Clean it Right Away

It’s easier to notice tiny spills in broad daylight, so inspect your countertops and floors in the morning. While it’s easy to tell yourself I’ll take care of that when I clean this weekend, tackling it as it happens will get you into the habit of cleaning as you go.

Swap Out Your Dish Towel

It turns out that dish towels should be changed more often than we think, Get into the habit of swapping them out in the morning and tossing the old ones into the laundry basket.

Clean as You Cook

There are two types of cooks in this world: those who clean as they cook and those who don’t. Learn to be the former by starting with your prep work and cleaning that before you start cooking. Once your meal is ready, rinse utensils before sitting down to eat. It will make it much easier to clean up after you're finished eating.

Fill and Start the Dishwasher at Night

Don’t leave it until the morning, no matter how tempting it is to go lay down and binge something on Netflix. Do it between episodes if you must, but get it done.

Wipe Countertops and Cooking Surfaces

Wipe down your counters and stove each night before you go to bed. Get into the habit of wiping the microwave after each use. You’ll love waking up to a spotless kitchen.

Keep Baskets in Every Room

Once a day, do a quick walk-through of each space. Fill up your basket with accumulated clutter, and leave it by the door. Put each item back in its place first thing when you get home.

Wipe Down Your Coffee Table and Side Tables During Commercial Breaks

While watching your favorite show, there’s bound to be a moment when you have to endure the inevitable commercial break. Take the time to wipe down your living room tables to prevent dust or stains .

Fluff Your Couch Pillows After Each Use

Get into the habit of fluffing your pillows when you turn the TV off. You wouldn’t leave your TV on all night, so why would you leave your pillows deflated?

Keep Your Bag, Keys, and Coat in the Same Spot

Make it easy to get out the door in the morning by having everything you need organized in the same place.

Take Out the Trash and Recycling When You Leave the House

You can alternate days between the two, but getting into this habit will prevent you from having garbage pile up at home.

Keep a Mail Sorter in the Entryway

Drop your mail in a dedicated basket or tray when you walk in the door, and empty your tray once a week when paying bills. Unless you’re waiting for something urgent, most mail can wait a few days. That way you’ll keep everything in one spot and address it in bulk.

Immediately Launder Workout Gear

Don’t leave your gym bag to linger. Sort the dirty clothes, and store away the rest.

Now that you've tackled each room in your home, you may want to adopt a weekly cleaning schedule to help you maintain your space's sparkling clean appearance. If you really want to hold yourself accountable, try writing up your cleaning schedule on a chalkboard or whiteboard in your home, then crooss off daily tasks as you go.