Cleaning Rota Generator

What a good cleaning rota does

A cleaning rota is the difference between "we'll figure it out" (translation: nothing gets done) and a household that stays liveable. The rota names who does what, when — so nobody has to ask, remind, or argue.

Three rules of a working rota

1. Rotate the worst chores. Toilet, bin, shower — never the same person two weeks running.
2. Balance by effort, not count. Five wipe-downs aren't equal to one bathroom deep-clean.
3. Make it visible. If it's not on the fridge, it doesn't exist.

Generate yours in 60 seconds

Add your housemates, pick the rooms and chores, hit generate. Swap, regenerate, or print as needed. Your data never leaves your browser.

"Rota" vs "schedule" vs "chart" — does it matter?

The terms are interchangeable. A rota tends to imply rotation across people; a schedule tends to imply rotation across time; a chart implies a printed visual. This tool produces all three at once: a rota of who, on a schedule of when, exported as a chart. Whichever word your household already uses, that is the right word.

Why a written rotation beats a verbal agreement

The single biggest predictor of household cleaning conflict is not how tidy people are — it is whether the agreement is written down. A printed chart on the fridge converts every "you didn't do the bins" argument into a five-second glance: either the chart says it was your week, or it doesn't. The chart is also harder to gaslight than memory.

Rotate weekly, not daily. Daily rotation creates handoff friction (who empties the half-full dishwasher?) and erodes any sense of ownership. Weekly is long enough to feel like "your" job for the week, short enough that the unpleasant tasks come back to everyone in turn.

Setting up a rota for a new household

When you move in together, the temptation is to skip the rota for a few weeks "to see how it goes". It always goes the same way: one person quietly does the cleaning while resenting it, until they stop and the place falls apart. Set the rota in week one, even if it feels excessive. It is a conflict-prevention tool, not a conflict-resolution tool.

How fairness is calculated

Behind the scenes, every chore gets a numeric weight from its effort (small / medium / large), frequency, and a difficulty modifier for the genuinely unpleasant tasks. The algorithm distributes weight across people, not chore counts — three counter wipes do not equal one toilet scrub, and the schedule respects that. Annoying tasks rotate separately so the same person never gets the bin two weeks running. Full details on the methodology page.

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