The formula behind your weekly minutes

The planner estimates a weekly cleaning workload (in minutes) and then splits it into a schedule. The estimate is intentionally “middle of the road” — you can adjust the plan after you try it once.

• Apartment base: 90 min/week
• House base: 120 min/week
• Shared/roommates base: 100 min/week (more shared surfaces)

• Bedrooms: +10 minutes each
• Bathrooms: +20 minutes each
• People: +15 minutes for each additional person after the first
• Pets: +15 minutes per pet (hair, paw prints, litter)
• Clutter level (1–10): adds +0% to +45% to the total

• If time available is low, the schedule focuses on hygiene + surfaces first.
• If time available is higher, you’ll get extra “nice-to-have” tasks (windows, baseboards, etc.).

Frequently Asked Questions

• Does this replace a professional cleaning plan?

  No — it’s a personal schedule builder. It’s designed to keep a home reasonably clean with consistent small effort.

• What if I can’t follow the schedule every day?

  That’s normal. Use it as a menu: hit the daily basics, then pick one rotation task when you have time.

• How do you decide what goes on which day?

  The planner rotates “high impact” areas early (kitchen, bathrooms) and spreads heavy tasks across the week.

• How long should daily cleaning take?

  For most homes, 15–30 minutes is the sweet spot. Consistency beats intensity.

• Can I share the schedule with roommates or family?

  Yes. Use Copy/Share and paste it into a chat. Pair it with the Chore Split Calculator for fairness.

Cleaning Schedule Planner: the practical system that actually sticks

Most cleaning plans fail because they assume you will suddenly become a different person: someone who has endless time, perfect energy, and a love for scrubbing. Real life is messier. Your schedule has to work on low‑motivation days, on busy weekdays, and when your home gets “a little behind.” The point is not perfection — it’s control.

This planner uses a simple principle: split cleaning into three layers. Layer 1 is daily basics: small tasks that stop chaos from growing (dishes, counters, trash, quick sweep). Layer 2 is weekly rotation: one focused area per day so your whole home gets attention without marathon cleans. Layer 3 is deep cleaning: infrequent tasks that make a place feel “reset” (baseboards, fridge, vents, grout). When you stack these layers, your home stays consistently decent — and “big cleans” become optional rather than urgent.

Daily basics are the highest return on effort because they target the mess types that multiply: dishes, crumbs, mail piles, and bathroom sink grime. If you only do one thing, do the basics. A home that is “basics clean” feels dramatically better than one where a single room is spotless but the kitchen is chaotic. That’s why this planner always starts with basics and then allocates the remaining time to rotation tasks.

Cleaning time scales with the number of surfaces and the number of people using them. Bedrooms and bathrooms matter a lot: bathrooms require the most “hygiene cleaning” (toilets, sinks, showers), and bedrooms accumulate clutter and laundry. People add dishes, crumbs, fingerprints, and laundry. Pets add hair, dander, litter, and paw prints. Finally, clutter level changes everything — the difference between “tidy enough to wipe” and “need to pick up before wiping” is huge. That’s why the planner uses clutter as a multiplier (it increases the total minutes rather than adding a fixed amount).

Not everyone cleans the same way. Some people prefer a small daily routine. Others would rather do a bigger weekend reset. The Balanced style spreads effort evenly, which is great for consistency. Weekend power clean concentrates heavier tasks on Saturday and/or Sunday, while keeping weekday chores minimal. Micro resets is for busy seasons: it keeps you afloat by focusing on the essentials and a light rotation, so your home doesn’t spiral.

• Use a timer: set 15 or 20 minutes and stop when it ends. This prevents “cleaning fatigue.”
• Start with the visible wins: trash, counters, floors. The home looks better faster.
• Pair tasks with a cue: after dinner → 10 minutes. After coffee → wipe sink. Cues beat motivation.
• Do the “two-minute rescue” on bad days: if you’re tired, do just two minutes. Momentum matters.
• Protect your deep clean: it’s optional. Don’t deep clean when basics are slipping — stabilize first.

Example 1 — Small apartment, no pets: Apartment, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 person, clutter 4/10, 15 minutes/day. The planner may estimate roughly 120–150 minutes/week. A balanced schedule would put 10 minutes/day as basics and 5 minutes/day on rotation (bathroom touch-up, kitchen floors, laundry, dusting).

Example 2 — Family house with pets: House, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4 people, 1 dog, clutter 6/10, 30 minutes/day. The estimate often lands around 260–360 minutes/week. The plan will include more frequent floor work (vacuum/sweep), more bathroom time, and a stronger weekend reset.

Example 3 — Roommates: Shared home, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4 people, clutter 5/10, 20 minutes/day. The planner keeps weekdays structured (kitchen, bathrooms, trash) and suggests splitting responsibilities using the Chore Split Calculator to avoid “invisible labor” problems.

Deep cleaning is where you do the tasks that make a home feel professionally cleaned: baseboards, inside the fridge, the oven, vents, light fixtures, behind the toilet, and under furniture. But deep cleaning only works if your basics are stable. That’s why this planner treats it as a scheduled add-on at a frequency you choose.

• “I don’t have time.” Use micro resets: basics only, plus one rotation task when possible.
• “It never stays clean.” Reduce friction: trash can in every room, wipes under sinks, laundry bins everywhere.
• “I clean for hours and still feel behind.” You might be stuck in deep-cleaning before basics. Reset basics first.
• “Roommates don’t help.” Make it visible: post the plan, rotate responsibilities, and define “done.”
• “Kids undo everything.” Shorter, more frequent resets beat occasional long sessions.

The best cleaning schedule is the one that matches your season of life. If you’re busy, aim for “healthy and presentable.” If you’re in a calmer season, add deep cleaning and organization. Either way, consistency is the superpower — and this planner is built to help you be consistent.

Formula recap: Weekly minutes = (base minutes by home type + bedrooms×10 + bathrooms×20 + extra people×15 + pets×15) × clutter multiplier (1.00–1.45). Then we split that into daily basics + rotating focus tasks. If your available time is lower than the estimate, the planner automatically switches to a “basics-first” schedule so your home still feels okay.

Make it viral (and actually helpful): Share your schedule in a group chat and ask one friend to try it for a week. Compare “minutes per week” and steal each other’s best shortcuts. Cleaning gets easier when you treat it like a tiny routine, not a personality trait.