Do You Clean by Room or by Chore?

Updated on September 21, 2011
S.B. asks from New Braunfels, TX
23 answers

I've been cleaning my house for over 13 years now as a SAHM, but now I'm questioning my methods. I currently do the "one chore a day" routine - ie, dust and clean walls on Monday, bathrooms on Thursdays, etc. But I have come across a blog based on the "one room a day" routine - ie, kitchen on Mondays, living room on Thursdays, etc.

I like my routine because I have it down to a science (30-45 mins usually, except floors), and I only have to take out one type of cleaning supply to drag around with me per day. But it does leave a lot left undone - like cleaning the miniblinds, baseboards, electronics, etc. I don't ever get to give a room a good thorough cleaning, KWIM? So I was wondering if anyone had done BOTH methods, which one you found easier, and which one tended to produce the best results in the shortest amount of time. Because I do want a clean, nice house, but I don't want to waste too much of my precious time on it. :)

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So What Happened?

Thanks so much for all the responses! I LOVE the idea of having a "deep cleaning day" a few times a year. I think that would help me get a handle on all those little things that bug the heck out of me, but not enough to add to my weekly schedule. :)

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L..

answers from Roanoke on

I clean by room. It would be hard for me to clean by method..only a piece of the room would be done at a time! I prefer to clean it all at once, shut the light off, then move on.

2 moms found this helpful

M..

answers from Detroit on

I straighten up each room everyday and laundry everyday. Meaning everything picked up, beds made, dishes, toys picked up.

I only "clean" once a week, meaning dusting, mopping floors, bathtubs, toilets,vaccuming. And I do that all in one day.

I do sweep the kitchen floor everyday though.

1 mom found this helpful

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

I clean by room so I'll have a clean room and not clean parts of a room.

4 moms found this helpful
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P.S.

answers from Houston on

Wow I'm surprised how many clean by room. I clean by chore. I hate pulling so many things out and lugging them around from room to room each day.

Mondays are my laundry days. I try to stay in and not plan anything on Mondays.
Tuesdays - I grab my Swiffer dusters and dust everything upstairs - walls and mini blinds too.
Wedsdays - Dust downstairs. Again, all I have is my Swiffer.
Thursdays - Bathrooms. I keep a bucket of cleaning stuff under each sink. No lugging anything.
Fridays - Floors. Shark and regular vaccum.

The first week of the month is my deep cleaning time. For example, the first Monday of the month, I wash everything in hot water...the rest of the month I wash in cold. 1st Tue & Wed - I pick things up and dust under neath. 1st Fri - I move furniture to vaccum underneath.

hth

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A.K.

answers from Phoenix on

Room. I have tried both & I like doing by the room best. I do 2 rooms a day ( top to bottom). Is does take a little longer than you, about an hour to hour & half depending on the 2 rooms. I do this every other week , except I do the floors and light kitchen cleaning & bath every day. The week I'm not doing heavy cleaning , I try to tackle an organization project or something that doesn't need done that often.

2 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

when I clean, I do it all! I can't just do 1 room and leave the rest of the house a mess and I can't just do 1 chore because then it wouldn't be complete. So, when I clean, I first put everything away and get rid of clutter. Then I clean all 2 1/2 bathrooms top to bottom, then I sweep, mop and vacume and then dust. It takes me about 2 hours total. I do it about once a week. Except I do sweep daily, and do laundry through out the week and obviously clean the kitchen daily. My kids are very messy though, so my house isn't always perfect

2 moms found this helpful

E.B.

answers from Seattle on

I do Living room, kitchen and meal area...everyday.

I do bathrooms and bed rooms once a week.

Thank god we are in a freakishly small house...so there is not much surface area to clean:)

1 mom found this helpful

G.T.

answers from Redding on

If I pull out the all purpose cleaner I usually go ahead and hit the bathroom, kitchen and blinds... which generally leads to the windex which entails cleaning the mirrors and windows. I usually do most of my cleaning on Saturday morning which includes vacumming, mopping and dusting. The dishes take care of themselves on a daily basis, husband is good at keeping the sink and counter clean, I do the mopping tho. I go with what I feel like doing and what looks like needs to be done. I dont have a priority or a schedule really. If you pick up and wipe down after each mess things pretty much look okay for a drop in visitor.

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P.D.

answers from Detroit on

I usually take 2-3 hours on a weekend and clean. However, I think your method would probably make sure this happened routinely. I have thought about breaking it down by cleaning bathrooms, kitchen, family room, bedrooms, laundry on x days. I'm anxious to see what others write.

R.A.

answers from Providence on

I tackle one room each day of the week vacumn,dust,clean floor, tidy room etc.. I consider vacumning, and doing dishes, emptying trash, as an every day daily chore. Laundry happens when the basket is loaded with clothes.

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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

I do it by room. Bathrooms one night, kitchen one night, living room one night, that sort of thing. I'm a working mom, though, I don't know if it would be the same way if I was SAH or not.

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H.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

I primarily do your method but with a tweek I do one main room and a small room (like bathroom) and I do the whole room once a month so every three ish months a room gets a good thorough cleaning.

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V.T.

answers from Dallas on

I do a combination of both. I clean the kitchen, bathrooms and our bedrooms as a room. However, with the rest of the living space, I dust first, then glass cleaning, then I do the floors. I also don't do something every day, besides straighten up and wiping down counters. When it comes to actually cleaning, I do the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms on one day, and the rest of the living space on another day. I usually do it Thursday and Friday, so the house is clean by the weekend. I do use Pledge Multi-Surface. I don't think it works very well on glass, but I do like how it works on my wood furniture, my stone furniture and my electronics.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I kind of clean by chore--and room! I overlap where I can. I think when your house is kept fairly "picked up" it's easier to clean by chore, when there is more clutter, you do better by room/zone--so it depends.

I find I kind of do upstairs/downstairs zone coverage most of the time.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

By room... except for floors, dishes, and laundry which happen every day.

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K.P.

answers from Seattle on

I clean the whole house at once when I get the chance which is usually Saturdays. I will scrub the house from top to bottom, do everyone's sheets and laundry and get it done. I love looking around the house and knowing that its all clean. It gives me the best accomplished feeling and it makes during the week easier. All I have to do is pick up here or there, but its never much. My hubby and I are both "clean as you go" people. Like when we cook dinner, we do dishes and wipe counters down as we cook so that when we are ready to sit down to eat, there is nothing to do but put our plates in the dishwasher and relax. Makes things go faster, and easier then waiting until later to do it.

I find this easiest routine for me. My hubby usually helps too, and together we get the chores all done faster by working together.

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J.T.

answers from Victoria on

if your doing it all in that time frame i say keep the good thing you have going. i only do a "deep" clean every six months (truly less). like the base boards and electronics, doors, door frames, fans you know all the nasty things. I do like to clean one or two rooms by the day. It works best for me. Like Monday- bedrooms (picking them up not vaccume and dust) Tuesdays vaccume dust and both bathrooms, Wendsday Kitchen Thursday living and dinning. And friday I mop. Well that was when my kids were going full time to daycare. The house seems to build up like the tv show horders quickly. i say stick with what you have. just do deep cleaning twice a year...spring cleaning and fall cleaning. you should be clean with that. If you want more then do it like one day out of the month. get your munchins to help too!

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I don't even understand how you can clean a house by chore. I sweep every day but other than that it is done by room starting with the kitchen. Then again I only clean one day a week because it seems pointless to do otherwise. After all dirt gets drug from one room to the next unless all dirt is removed. Which comes back to why I sweep every day.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Well I sort of clean everything everyday.
ie: laundry, mop, vacuum, dust, fold clothes, neaten up and put things away, throw things away, prep for dinner, bathrooms, kitchen.
And for me, running errands is a 'chore' as well.
Or I do upstairs one day, and downstairs the next day.

I can do a lot in even 1 hour. Moving from room to room. I am sort of high energy... and power through it, quick. I pretty much hit multiple things at one time.

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C.S.

answers from Houston on

I sometimes do both ways but for special projects I like to tackle those on a Saturday morning early when the house is quiet. I'm a working widow with one teenager so I'm responsible for making sure it's all done (doing or supervising) but I don't have to please anybody else or work around other schedules. If it's a noisy task I also don't mind waking up the sleeping monster. ;o)

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G.G.

answers from Austin on

I have done both but I do what you do. Certain chores per day (because I don't have to drag out a ton of supplies). It's more efficient for me. I'd really like to be able to knock out the entire house in one day but I don't have 10 hours straight to do that! :)

N.P.

answers from San Francisco on

I go by room and I have wide multi slotted bucket thing that I put all my various cleaners, sponges and gloves into. It's easy to move that from room to room and it has everything I need. Rags and spray for dusting, 409, windex, toilet bowel cleaner etc. It's a one bucket wonder. And when I say "by room" the bathrooms are an exception because I count them all as one room. If I'm going to take the time to clean one bathroom, I just do them all. All other rooms are a project unto themselves. The upstairs hallway I include with my bedroom so when I clean my room, the hallway is part of that.

In terms of the kitchen I can't stand having stuff loaded up in my sink or all over my counters so that gets taken care of every other day and I don't count is as one of my "rooms" because if I did that it would take forever to get through the rest of the house.

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H.1.

answers from Des Moines on

I clean room by room, with the exception of some daily things (dishes and wiping down counters for example.) A couple of things I guess are by chore such as sweeping/vacuuming.

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