Printable Cleaning Cards
/Cleaning is such a never-ending chore. It feels like the work is never done! Would you like a simple method to maintain a clean home? Looking for a way to get the whole family involved without having to nag? Want to best manage the time you spend on housework? I’ve got you covered with printable cleaning cards! If you haven’t heard of the cleaning card system before, here’s how it works…
The idea is that you create a detailed checklist of each cleaning task for every room in your home. Some people use index cards to create their cleaning card deck. Sounds like a lot of work, am I right? No worries, I’ve done this step for you!
The cleaning card system allows you to keep track of which cleaning tasks should take priority. Maybe you complete one card a day, one every other day, or 5 each Saturday—do whatever works for you! Once you complete a card, simply flip to the next. You’ll rotate through the deck to ensure that each room of the house is throughly cleaned before restarting the cycle.
You’ll start by printing the cleaning cards. You might want to print on cardstock to help the cards last longer.
The first few pages of my cleaning card deck are rooms that just about everyone will have in their home, while the last few are optional to print based on your home—4th bedroom, 2nd half bath, bonus room.
The last page is a blank cleaning card template. Print this page if you’d like to add additional ‘rooms’ to your cleaning card deck. Alternatively, you can choose to only print this last page and completely customize your own checklists for each room.
I left blank space on each checklist so you can add any additional chores that you wish. I’ve also left a space to write in how long cleaning each room typically takes. If you’re short on time, simply flip to a room that is faster to clean!
Next, you’ll need to cut out your cleaning cards. There are dotted lines to cut along to ensure all your cards form a nice and neat stack.
Laminating the cards will protect them from cleaners and splashes. It will also allow you to use a dry-erase marker to check the items off your list as you clean. You can have this done at your local library, office supply store, or at home with laminating sheets. Be sure to cut out the cards first so all the edges are sealed!
Here are some ideas for storing your cards:
Use a binder clip to keep the cards together. You can clip the deck right onto the side of a cleaning caddy or put the clip on the bottom of the deck to stand them upright.
Hole punch the top left-hand corner of each card and slide onto a binder ring. You can clip the binder ring right onto your cleaning caddy or slip it onto a hook near your cleaning supplies.
Having a detailed checklist makes it easy to get the whole family involved. Everyone will know exactly what needs to get cleaned in each room and can work together to get the job done faster. If you have young kids, try highlighting a few tasks from each room that they can be in charge of—cleaning baseboards is a great job for the littles! Using this system makes it simple for everyone to get involved in maintaining a clean home—yay for teaching some valuable life skills!
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