Keeping your home clean is a major chore. Heavy traffic, pets, and living in dusty environments can make it even worse. Who has time for it all? It may leave you wondering how often you should mop your floors or dust those shelves.
The answer is, "It depends." We know that's not super helpful, so let's dig into the question of home cleanliness and how often you should dust, sweep, vacuum, and mop your floors.
Factors to Consider in Your Cleaning Schedule
First, understand that no one-size-fits-all cleaning schedule will work for everyone. Quite a few factors will play into what you need to do when including the following:
- Pets – The presence of pets in a home automatically means you need to clean more often, particularly if they go outside to do their business or play. The more pets you have, the more often you need to clean. That's particularly true for high-shed dog and cat breeds.
- People – The more people there are in your household, the more often you’ll need to vacuum, dust, sweep, and mop.
- Environment – Do you live in a dry, dusty environment? Maybe you live somewhere relatively rainy and must always deal with tracked-in mud. Your environment will play a significant factor in your cleaning schedule.
Vacuuming
We recommend that you vacuum at least once per week. Even if you live alone, weekly vacuuming helps pick up the dust that falls on carpeting and reduces health hazards. However, you may need to vacuum more often than this, depending on the number of people and pets in your home. If you live in a home with four people and multiple pets, you may need to vacuum twice to thrice weekly to keep up with dirt and pet hair.
Dusting
Dusting is one of those thankless jobs that no one wants to do, but it's obvious when you haven't done it. It would be best if you broke your dusting up by room, as well as by area. Here are a few pointers:
- Light Fixtures – Monthly
- Little-Used Rooms – Monthly
- Frequently-Used Rooms – At least weekly
- Kitchen – Weekly
- Living/Family Room – Weekly
- Dining Room – Weekly or monthly, depending on the use
- Picture Frames – Monthly
- Ceiling Fans – Monthly
- Bathroom Fixtures – Weekly, depending on the use
Pro Tip: Always dust before you vacuum and mop because at least some dust will fall to the floor. Depending on the room and the level of dirt, you may be able to use a floor duster to capture this, and you might not need to vacuum afterward.
Sweeping
How often should you break out the broom and dustpan in your home? Again, it depends on the level of traffic, the number of pets, and your geographic environment. The best rule of thumb here is to sweep as necessary, which for many people works out to a couple of times per week.
Keep an eye on your hard floors. Watch for visible dirt and pet hair, then sweep it up as necessary. Of course, you'll need to do spot sweeping for accidents – like when the kids spill the cereal all over the counter and the floor or the dog knocks his food bowl over.
Mopping
We recommend you break out your spin mop at least once monthly. That helps you tackle dirt and grime and keep your home safe and clean. However, you may need to mop more frequently depending on the weather, your environment, and the number of people and pets in the home.
You should also be ready for spot mopping in specific situations. For example, if Fido has to go out in the rain and then tracks mud all over your kitchen floor, you need to be ready with the spin mop.
Some areas of the home will need more frequent mopping, as well. Kitchens, entryways, and mudrooms usually have the most significant cleaning requirements.
How Often Should You Mop and Clean?
How often should you mop your floors? There’s no single answer. Keep an eye on your traffic levels and dirt build-up, and then clean your house before it becomes problematic. Based on that, Many simply create a schedule and vacuum, dust, and mop.
You can get as detailed as you like with your cleaning schedule. We recommend breaking it down by cleaning type (vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc.) and by room. That way, you're not wasting time cleaning guest rooms that don’t see much use and can focus more of your energy on cleaning high-traffic areas.
It's also important to have the right tools for the job. A high-quality spin mop, a reliable vacuum, and a good broom and dustpan are all must-have items to keep your home spic and span.