How to Clean Your House FAST

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?

When I was in college I worked a couple summers as a hotel maid and house cleaner.  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 work-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!

<

Click here for your FREE One Hour Printable Cleaning Flowchart!

How to Clean 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.

Bedrooms-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 Rooms-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.
• Vacuum floors along with all house carpeting as last cleaning step.

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-you’ll be amazed how much dirt comes off!
• Wipe down appliances. (When you have more time consider doing this trick for preventing fingerprints on stainless steel!)
• Finish cleaning any stove pieces and replace.
• Clean floors last along with all hard flooring surfaces in the house.

 

Floors-15 minutes whole house

• When vacuuming carpeted rooms work your way backwards out of the room moving quickly and without too much overlap to save time. (I use this vacuum and have for 3 years now, it’s the best vacuum I’ve ever had, amazing at getting pet hair out of carpets, I highly recommend it!)
• Vacuum, don’t sweep hard floors-use an attachment to get corners where dust and pet hair can accumulate. This helps prevent kicking dust into the air that will quickly settle again and aggravating allergies.
• Steam mops or Hardwood Floor Cleaners (this is my favorite) also make cleaning hard surfaces much faster than traditional mops, so I highly recommend investing in one of those to keep your cleaning quick!

Want a printable version of this list to help you clean your house fast? Become part of our community for a subscriber-only Printable One Hour Cleaning Flowchart!

Click here for your FREE One Hour Printable Cleaning Flowchart!
You might also like these 5 fast and easy cleaning tips:

Do you have any additional tips? This is obviously not a deep clean 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!