Weekly Bedroom Cleaning Checklist

Cleaning your bedroom each week helps control dust mites and other allergens. Use this checklist to cover all of the major surfaces in the proper order, and adapt it to your schedule as needed.

Busy parents often put their rooms last when it comes to cleaning. Once the kids are asleep, they may race around the family room, picking up toy clutter so they have a place to sit, but their own bedrooms are usually low on the list of priorities. That’s a shame, too, since having a clean room increases personal happiness. A clean bedroom also leads to a better night’s sleep, something that busy parents never seem to get enough of. So, don’t put your bedroom last — put it first!

Before You Begin

It’s a good idea to read through the steps below before printing the weekly bedroom cleaning checklist at the bottom of this article. That way, you’ll understand the steps involved. All of my house-cleaning checklists are divided into sections so they can be adapted to your life. If you have the time and energy, complete the checklist in one session. If you have limited time or are dealing with health issues, complete one section at a time as you can. When you’ve finished, you’ll have cleaned your entire bedroom from top to bottom.

Basic Bedroom Cleaning Tips

It is best to clean a room and its contents by cleaning things from the ceiling to the floor, working left from the entrance, and going all the way around the room. That’s what we mean when we say, “clean it top to bottom.” The reason for doing it this way is because it moves dirt off of surfaces down to your floor, where you can then vacuum it away. If you clean out of order, you may wind up shedding dust from one surface onto something you’ve already cleaned — and then it’s not clean at all.

It’s also important to use a damp cloth when dusting. Dry cloths spread dirt around, which means it winds up in your home’s air and then settles on other surfaces. Using a damp cloth and rinsing it often means you’re getting dirt out of your home, not just moving it around. That’s especially important if you have allergies, or if you’ve been waking up with itchy eyes.

Steps to Clean Your Bedroom

Step 1: Pick up the clutter.

To declutter your room, fill one of the empty boxes with things that belong elsewhere in your home, like dirty dishes that need to go to the kitchen or towels that belong in the bathroom. Put the full box outside your bedroom door. You’ll put it away after finishing your room. Next, grab a bag and pick up any trash you find. Put it outside your door, too.

Step 2: Dust and polish.

Use the extension duster or microfiber cloths and follow the cleaning rule of working the room from left to right, top to bottom, so you’re moving the dust down to the floor where you’ll vacuum it. Dust your room in the following order: walls, window casings, furniture, and decorations. If you want to polish your furniture, do it after you’ve dusted it to avoid leaving streaks. Try this homemade furniture polish for a protective, natural shine.

Step 3: Clean other surfaces.

For this step, use the glass cleaner and a dry microfiber cloth to polish mirrors, the inside of windows, light switches, and doorknobs. If the cloth begins to feel wet, switch to a dry one to avoid leaving sreaks on your glass surfaces. Then get a fresh microfiber cloth damp with water and wipe smudges or scuffs on your walls and baseboards. If you haven’t cleaned either of those in a while, you may want to spend some more time cleaning stains on walls or deep-cleaning your baseboards.

Step 4: Vacuum.

Blinds and curtains: Use your vacuum’s dust brush attachment to clean these. If you’d rather, you can wash your curtains and may be able to wash your blinds, too, depending on the material.

Your mattress: Switch to the upholstery attachment and vacuum your mattress while it’s bare. If you’ve got the time, you can clean your mattress stains, too.

The base of walls: Switch to the angled crevice attachment and clean around the bedroom walls where they meet the floor. Be sure to aim the attachment so the open end travels along the floor to get the most dirt.

The floor: Remove the attachments and vacuum your floor slowly, in overlapping strokes going from one wall to the other. Then turn 45 degrees and repeat, so you’re vacuuming properly and getting up all the dirt.

Step 5: Make the bed and put things away.

Remove your comforter and sheets and make your bed with fresh linens now that your room is clean. You may want to launder your comforter or duvet, too. Then empty the trash and deal with the things you sat outside the door. Once you’ve put your cleaning tools away, you’re done until next time. Enjoy!