Monthly Cleaning Schedule
Everything your weekly cleaning misses — fridge, oven, windows, baseboards — spread across one month so it never piles up.
The monthly deep-clean list
- Kitchen: fridge interior, oven, dishwasher cycle, behind appliances.
- Bathroom: grout, shower head descale, behind toilet, fan vent.
- All rooms: dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, baseboards, vents.
- Windows: inside and outside (weather permitting), sills, tracks.
- Soft surfaces: vacuum upholstery, wash throw pillows / blankets.
- Laundry: washing machine cleaning cycle, lint trap deep clean.
How to actually do it
Don't try to do all of this in one Saturday. Use the generator to spread one or two monthly tasks per weekend across the month. With four weekends and 8 monthly tasks, you'll do two short jobs per week instead of one ruined Saturday.
What goes monthly (and what doesn't)
Monthly is the right cadence for the bigger maintenance tasks that don't show grime quickly but accumulate damage if ignored: fridge interior, oven, descaling the kettle and shower head, baseboards, behind-the-bed dust, washing machine drum clean. These tasks rarely feel urgent — the chart is what makes them happen.
- Week 1: Kitchen deep (oven, fridge interior, descaling).
- Week 2: Bathroom deep (limescale, grout, behind toilet).
- Week 3: Bedrooms deep (under furniture, mattress flip).
- Week 4: Whole-home reset (windows, baseboards, lights).
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.
FAQ
What's a monthly cleaning schedule?
It covers tasks that don't need to be done weekly: windows, fridge interior, oven, deep dust, behind appliances, baseboards, light fixtures.
How long does a monthly clean take?
About 2-3 hours if you do everything in one go. Better: spread one monthly task per weekend, so it's never a marathon.
What should be on a monthly deep cleaning list?
Windows, fridge, oven, dishwasher cycle, washing machine cycle, dust ceiling fans, vacuum upholstery, clean grout, descale taps.
How do I get someone in my household to actually follow the schedule?
Make it visible (printed, on the fridge), make it specific (named tasks not 'help out'), and make it short-cycle (weekly, not monthly). The schedule itself is most of the work — most people will follow a clear chart they can see, but will ignore a vague verbal agreement.
What happens if someone misses their week?
Don't try to 'catch up' missed weeks — it punishes the household for one person's bad week. Carry on with the next week's rotation and treat the missed week as a reminder to talk about workload, not as debt.
Should I include pets, kids and partners on the chart?
Anyone who can hold a sponge appears on the chart. Even a four-year-old can be 'wipe the lower kitchen cupboards' — it's not about getting a clean cupboard, it's about building the habit.
What if I miss a monthly slot?
Roll it forward, do not double up next month. Two oven cleans in a row is a punishment routine; one slightly late one is fine.
Generate next
Deep Cleaning Checklist
Once a quarter, run the full deep-clean checklist.
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- Daily Cleaning Checklist
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