It's easier than you think to learn how to clean your house quickly and efficiently! Follow this step by step tutorial to clean your house in just one hour!
So you have company coming in an hour and the house is a mess? Or maybe you've just been putting off those chores and want to get it over with as quickly as possible. So, how do you clean your house fast?
Don't have a full hour? Use this guide to faking a clean house when you have unexpected guests!
Tricks from a former hotel maid & housekeeper
When I was in college I worked a couple of summers as a hotel maid and in residential house cleaning. I picked up a few tricks and I'm telling you that yes, you can clean an ENTIRE average size house in an hour but it takes hustle and focus!
No getting distracted while gathering up those old magazines, or checking your phone for the latest on Facebook. If you keep moving and follow this guide you'll have that house sparkling in no time!
Note: We aren't deep cleaning house right now, this is a surface clean with the most bang for your buck when you're short on time!
When you have more time be sure to check out my tutorial for cleaning a front load washer, top load washer, dryer, or how to clean a keurig with vinegar.
Tips to Clean a House Fast!
Start at the Top - No matter what room you're cleaning, clean from the top down so that dirt and dust from higher surfaces falls on lower surfaces that haven't yet been cleaned. Dust ceiling fans, then furniture wiping dirt directly on the floor. Clean all of the floors as your last step to remove the dirt and dust.
Batch Clean - Clean all bathrooms at once, save the floors of the entire house for the last step of cleaning your house.
If you try my guide, please click the star rating below to let me know that it helped!
How to Clean Your House Fast
It's easier than you think to learn how to clean your house quickly and efficiently! Follow this step by step tutorial to clean your house in just one hour!
Materials
- Dust spray
- Microfiber Cloth
- Bathroom Cleaner
- Toilet Cleaner
- Paper Towels
- Toilet Brush
- Vacuum
- Glass Cleaner
- Sponge
- Dish Soap
- Hardwood Floor Cleaner
Instructions
Bedroom-6 Minutes per Bedroom
- Strip linens and remake beds. When making beds rather than hunch over tucking bottom sheets under the mattress use one hand to lift the corner while tucking the sheet with the other.
- Clear all clutter, if you’re in a hurry gather clutter in a spare basket or bin for later organization and tuck out of sight in a closet.
- Wipe down furniture with a dusting spray and microfiber cloth, working top to bottom.
Bathrooms-7 Minutes per Bathroom
- I like to clean all of my bathrooms at once-make a quick trip around all the bathrooms in the house to clear counters and spray counters and tubs with cleaner, allow to sit while you clean toilets and wipe down the outer toilet surface.
- Go back and wipe down counters and rinse tub then clean mirrors.
- Come back to clean the floors when cleaning the kitchen floor.
Living/Dining Room-7 Minutes
- Clear all clutter.
- Starting in one corner of the room and working around dust all surfaces top to bottom. (If you have blinds and/or ceiling fans, dust those first.)
- Use an upholstery attachment and vacuum upholstered furniture.
Kitchen-12 Minutes
- Load all dirty dishes in the dishwasher and fill sink with hot soapy water. If your stove top has removable burner pieces that need to be cleaned, place in water as well.
- Clear counters.
- Dunk sponge in hot water and squeeze out excess, wipe down cabinets, counters and other surfaces again working top to bottom. Rinse sponge in hot water as you clean.
- Wipe down appliances.
- Finish cleaning any stove pieces and replace.
Floors-15 Minutes Whole House
- Vacuum carpeted rooms work your way backwards out of the room, moving quickly and without too much overlap to save time.
- Vacuum, don’t sweep hard floors-use an attachment to get corners where dust and pet hair can accumulate.
- Steam mops or Hardwood Floor Cleaners also make cleaning hard surfaces much faster than traditional mops, so I highly recommend investing in one of those to keep your cleaning quick!
Notes
- Always clean from top to bottom so dirt and dust falls on uncleaned areas.
- Clean floors as the last step after all other cleaning is finished.
- Vacuum all carpeted areas in one session, then vacuum hard surfaces. Finish by cleaning all hard surface floors in one session as well.
- Tools such as a steam mop or hardwood floor cleaner can make cleaning faster.
Use tricks to make cleaning easier moving forward:
- How to Remove and Prevent Fingerprints on Stainless Steel
- Prevent Water Spots on Chrome
- Clean & Refresh Grout to prevent discoloration
Do you have any additional tips? This is obviously not a deep cleaning your home tutorial but a general day to day surface clean. For deeper cleans check out my Spring Cleaning Checklist and Fall Cleaning Checklist, you can also see my Daily Cleaning Checklist if you prefer to work a little each day!
Want a printable flow chart version of this cleaning plan to help you clean your house fast? Become part of our community for a subscriber-only Printable One Hour Cleaning Flowchart!
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Closet Gallery says
What a great idea! This is very encouraging and helpful for busy people everywhere who want neater, cleaner houses. Thanks for sharing!
Roberta says
Very informative article! The detail and the step-by-step, and minute breakout of each room is a treasure! Thanks!
Melissa Riker says
So glad you found it helpful Roberta!
Alicia says
Great tools, especially for families that have their hands full raising children!
bshine home says
Thanks for posting informational article its solve my big problem i am busy person but now I clean my house within mints thanks
House Cleaning Henderson says
Great information, Melissa! Thank you for sharing. I love how you provide the minutes each room/area should take. Being organized is key!
Peter Jonas says
This is a very informative blog, thanks for sharing about these 4 tips for cleaning carpet. It will help a lot; these types of content should get appreciated. I will bookmark your site; I hope to read more such informative contents in future… great post!!
Mark says
This is a great article, Melissa! Having a plan and being orgainzed is key to completing tasks correctly. Great advice on cleaning from top to bottom.
Glass Cleaning Hobart says
Great Article ! Will definitely need this . Will save it for future reference .
Thank you so much !!
House Cleaner Waterbury says
This is great info Melissa! We own and operate a small house cleaning company in Waterbury, CT and these tips will be useful for our staff to organize better and use the time more effectively. I hope that not everyone will follow your advice because then we would be out of business 🙂
Henry says
Wow. Thank you for putting your time into creating this excellent house cleaning checklist
rilly romero says
Thanks for the awesome tips. I never thought of using a vacuum instead of a broom to get corners, really helpful tip and will help save a bunch of time. We recently started our own company for house cleaning and will definitely use these tips for our benefit.
andy young says
thanks for sharing this amazing article its really help me out and now I clean my house easily Commercial cleaning Washington DC
Robby Khouw says
Hi,
Thank you for your good article,
I have more stuff for tidy up your house!
Thank you.
sc house cleaning says
We recently started our own house cleaning business and found this article extremely helpful! Loved the top to bottom cleaning method, it makes cleaning so much more efficient. Thanks for your amazing content - we definitely will be referring back to your blog for more cleaning tips!
Melissa Riker says
Glad it was helpful!
Nour says
This is really an amazing article, well written and containing detailed information on deep cleaning your house. Now I will try these tips to get things done by myself 🙂
Keep up the good work and keep sharing.
GRACIELA says
ME GUSTO ESTE ARTICULO. TENGO 71 AÑOS, Y CADA DIA ME PESA MAS LIMPIAR. NO TENGO ALGUIEN DE SERVICIO PARA LIMPIAR, PORQUE LA INSEGURIDAD QUE VIVIMOS ACTUALMENTE EN LA ARGENTINA, NO DA PARA DEJAR ENTRA A NADIE EXTRAÑO. HAN TOMADO COMO MODALIDAD, LOS DELINCUENTES, ENTRAR Y GOLPEAR, SOBRE TODO A LOS MAS VIEJOS.VIVO SOLA CON UN HIJO ESQUIZOFRENICO. , ASI QUE ME LA ARREGLO SOLA. PERO AHORA LEYENDO, MAS O MENOS ME DAS UNA IDEA, SOBRE TODO, DEJAR LOS PISOS PARA LO ULTIMO. ME HABIA OLVIDADO DE LA ASPIRADORA, QUE HACE AÑOS NO USO Y ANDO CON LOS TRAPOS. CON LA ASPIRADORA, VOY A GANAR TIEMPO Y LEVANTAR EL POLVO. QUISE SUSCRIBIRME RECIEN EN UN CARTEL QUE SALIO, PERO ME RECHAZO MI CORREO. NO SE PORQUE. SALUDOS, GRACIELA DESDE ARGENTINA.
KM Rajpathak says
Reply is really great ttry to translate into English!
Sarah Hizon says
I really wanted to clean my own unit even if Im kinda busy person. I just dont like others to clean it. Thank you for sharing this, I can apply this to my home.
Stephanie Hammington says
This is very helpful for me! I really need advice, Im a busy person, and I dont have enough time to clean mess. So I will follow your tips to clean my condo. Thank you for sharing!
Pourti says
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