How To Make Your Household Chores Stress-Free

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Brunch with the girls on Saturday morning is way more fun than cleaning your bathroom. We totally get it. But when it comes down to it, part of being an adult is crossing off that to-do list of chores around your apartment. Between laundry and dusting, plus vacuuming and taking out the garbage, your household chores list can get pretty lengthy. Here’s what to clean, when to do it, how to save on supplies and more so your apartment stays fresh year-round.

Household Chores List

First things first: Make a list and stick to it. Writing down everything that needs to be cleaned in your apartment will ensure that you never forget to throw away that smelly garbage. Here are the basic household chores you should aim to tackle around your home:

• Sweeping and washing hard floors
• Vacuuming
• Washing dishes
• Throwing away all garbage and recycling
• Cleaning the bathroom (toilet, sink, floor and shower/bathtub)
• Dusting the entire apartment or house
• Cleaning the refrigerator and cabinets
• Doing laundry
• Grocery shopping

Beyond these basic chores, you should also remember to tackle ones that may not come to mind right away, such as:

• Washing your shower curtain and liner
• Washing and changing your bed sheets
• Cleaning ceiling lights and fans
• Disinfecting doorknobs
• Vacuuming your couch
• Washing windows
• Changing light bulbs and batteries in smoke detectors

These and other chores around your house may need to be done more or less often than the basics, so just be sure to add them to your overall to-do list.

Schedule

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Before you start thinking that you need to do all nine of the chores listed above every single week, consider a few things. How often are you in your apartment? If you spend the majority of your time sleeping at your partner’s place, your apartment might have a lot less grime lying around than you think. Also, just do what you can with your own personal schedule. Between work, spin class and networking events, there might not always be a ton of time to toss a load of laundry in or sweep and wash every floor.

A basic schedule to keep in mind for cleaning is what should be done weekly, what can wait every two weeks and then what can be done monthly.

Weekly chores should include:

• Washing dishes
• Throwing away garbage and recycling
• Cleaning the bathroom
• Vacuuming

These chores should be done at least once a week to ensure that the areas you touch most frequently are clean. Washing dishes and throwing out the garbage and recycling should be completed as needed, if not daily. Vacuuming and cleaning your bathroom could take no more than one hour per week if you get into a nice routine. Doing these four chores per week will make you feel confident in your space.

Chores that can wait to be done every two weeks include:

• Sweeping and washing hard floors
• Doing laundry
• Grocery shopping

Sweeping and washing hard floors can wait to be done every two weeks with a simple trick: vacuum them every week instead. Then, depending on how big your wardrobe is and how often you eat at home, laundry and grocery shopping may be best suited for twice per month instead of every week.

Pro Tip: Keep several sets of bed sheets on hand so you can change them every week without needing to wash them more frequently than your clothes.

Every month, at the least, try to accomplish:

• Dusting the entire apartment or house
• Cleaning the refrigerator and cabinets

Dusting can take some time, so add it to your calendar and get it done once a month. If you have bad allergies, you may want to dust more often than that, though, like every two weeks. Cleaning out your refrigerator and cabinets is important because different foods have different expiration dates. Just be sure to know what’s in there and when it needs to be tossed. It’s also important to deep clean your refrigerator with soap and water every three to four months.

Cleaning Supplies

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Before you can even start cleaning your apartment, you need to have the right tools. A few standard cleaning supplies you should keep in your closet include:

• Vacuum
• Broom and dustpan
• Mop and bucket, or Swiffer and wet pads
• Paper towels
• Anti-bacterial, multi-service cleaning spray
• Furniture polish
• A toilet brush or wand
• Toilet cleaning solution
• Shower cleaning solution
• Multiple sponges
• Garbage bags
• Dish detergent
• Laundry detergent
• Dryer sheets
• Rubber gloves

A few of these supplies are one-time buys, like a vacuum or rubber gloves, while others you’ll need to replace every few months. Be sure to replace your sponges frequently, and disinfect your cleaning tools before using them again.

Pro Tip: Save money by making your own cleaning supplies. And be wary of certain laundry detergent ingredients that could be harmful.

How To Do Laundry

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Cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, washing dishes — these household chores are pretty much foolproof. However, laundry can get a little tricky. Before you shrink your favorite dress or turn that white t-shirt purple, listen up.

Before doing laundry, separate everything in your hamper. Always wash towels, bed sheets and clothes separately. Next, separate your clothes into whites, lights and darks. You should also separate items by delicates, jeans and hand washables.

Next, wash everything on the cold water setting. This will not only help save the planet and you some money, but your clothes will also last longer. Then, be sure to change the setting on the machine to match the clothes you’re washing — delicates, permanent press (jeans, towels and linens), whites, colors, etc. Lastly, follow the directions for adding detergent to your washing machine. Some machines have a separate spot for the detergent, while others may have you just pour one cap full into the machine before you add your clothes to the water.

Once your clothes have been washed, they’re ready for the dryer (or just a towel rack in your home). Not all clothes should go into the dryer. Read the tags on your clothes before putting them in there. If your machine allows it, we suggest using warmer settings for clothing and hotter setting for towels, linens and jeans. Don’t forget to add a dryer sheet to the load to prevent static and soften fabrics, too.

Pro Tip: Depending on the cycle time, toss a load of laundry into the washing machine while you tackle a different chore on your list. Multi-tasking is highly recommended when it comes to cleaning your apartment.

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