Maintaining a spotlessly clean home may seem overwhelming, but fear not! Our 30-day cleaning challenge is here to guide you through a month-long adventure, breaking down the seemingly impossible task of cleaning into manageable, day-by-day goals.
Week 1: Hallways and Living Room
Day 1: Entryway declutter
Start the 30-day cleaning challenge by decluttering the first thing you see when entering your home: the entryway.
Remove shoes, jackets, and accessories and sort them into piles. You can discard any old or rarely used items and group the remaining items by type.
We will be organising this entryway space tomorrow. If you don’t have storage solutions already, it might be a good idea to add them today—consider adding baskets, hooks, shoe racks, etc.
Day 2: Hallway cleaning and organisation
For day two of the Cleaning Challenge, you can finish organising your entryway and other hallways.
Vacuum the floors and wipe down surfaces while they are free from clutter. If you use wicker baskets to store items, you can also clean them while they’re empty.
Once you have cleaned the surfaces and storage spaces, organise your items back into the entryway in a more orderly fashion.
Make a point of identifying specific areas for all the items you store here, as this will help you keep this space tidy for longer.
Day 3: Living room dusting
Day three of the 30-day cleaning challenge involves dusting your living room. Remove all from shelves and tables and dust each one. Then, dust the empty shelves before returning the items to their place. Remember to dust electronics, televisions, lampshades, and window ledges.
Day 4: Refresh sofas
Today, get the vacuum out and clean the upholstery and cushions in the living room. Make sure you use an upholstery attachment to avoid damaging your couch, and use a low suction setting for couches made from more delicate fabrics (check the cleaning codes for guidance).
If your upholstered furniture is stained, consider spot-treating these. You can also use a steam cleaner for a deeper clean, disinfectanting your sofas, chairs, and other fabric-covered items.
Day 5: Clean carpets and rugs
Day five is for cleaning carpets. Vacuum any carpets and rugs in your lounge or hallways after dusting. This collects all loose dirt and debris that may have fallen during the dusting process.
Now is also an excellent time to remove stains from carpets, such as food stains, pet stains, greasy stains, or mud stains.
Different stain removers work best for different stains, so choose one based on the stain you’re dealing with. Steam cleaning or bonnet carpet cleaning can also be done on day five for an extra deep clean.
Day 6: Mop floors
If you have hardwood floors in your living room or hallways, cleaning them after vacuuming is good practice. So, on day six, we will do this. For a quicker and easier solution, you can use a good old mop and bucket or run a hard floor cleaner machine over your floors.
Day 7: Wipe down walls
We will finish the week by cleaning any dirty walls in your home. For basic cleaning, wipe them down with a solution of washing-up liquid and water (suitable for most paint types).
If you have specific marks and stains on your walls, treat these too. For example, if you have young children, you might need to remove crayon marks from the walls.
Cleaning mould off walls using bleach, vinegar, or stronger cleaners might also be necessary.
Week 2 – Kitchen Cleaning
Day 8: Refrigerator clean-out
With the living room basics covered, the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge is taking us to the kitchen today.
We’re going to start with a refrigerator clear-out. Take everything out of your fridge, check expiration dates and toss any expired or spoiled items.
You can clean your fridge while it’s empty. Wipe down the shelves and drawers with washing-up liquid and water to remove spills and food residue. Then, arrange your food items neatly back in the fridge.
Day 9: Deep clean your oven
We are getting another of the most-hated cleaning tasks out of the way today: deep cleaning your oven.
Put on your rubber gloves and vacuum the oven to remove any large pieces of food. You can then clean your oven using a commercial cleaner, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, or any other cleaning solution you choose.
If you need help shifting the grime and grease, try our oven-cleaning hacks. Your options include using dishwasher tablets, toothpaste, steam, and more!
Day 10: Deal with the dishwasher
For Day 10 of our Cleaning Challenge, we’re tackling the dishwasher. This is another big task, as the dishwasher has many components that need to be cleaned. You should clean the dishwasher filter, dishwasher pump, and dishwasher drain and wipe the interior and exterior.
We recommend using bicarbonate of soda to clean your dishwasher. It works particularly well when used with white vinegar—one of our must-try dishwasher cleaning hacks.
Day 11: Clean other kitchen appliances
You’ve got the three main kitchen appliances out the way—you’ve cleaned the fridge, oven, and dishwasher.
Now, you can move on to cleaning smaller appliances, such as cleaning the microwave, cleaning the toaster, and cleaning the stovetop.
Day 12: Cleaning kitchen cabinets
Cleaning kitchen cabinets is often forgotten in weekly cleaning, so we tackle them on day twelve. You want to clean the outside and inside of your cupboards, starting with the outside.
Remove grease from your kitchen cupboards using washing-up liquid or vinegar. If you have high-gloss cabinets, finish with a polish to make them super shiny.
Once the outside is clean, turn your attention to the inside. Remove all contents, vacuum up loose bits of food, wipe with soapy water, and leave the door open for a few hours to dry.
While you wait, you can clean the contents of your cupboards ready to be put back.
Day 13: Clean kitchen floors and surfaces
We are finishing our kitchen clean on Day 13 of the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge. You need to wipe down surfaces you haven’t touched, such as the countertops, backsplash, and shelves. Then, clean your kitchen floor tiles using an appropriate cleaner for the floor type.
Remember to clean your kitchen sink either! After washing up, wipe the sink using a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and finish by cleaning the drain.
Day 14: Deodorising dustbins
We are ending week two of our Cleaning Challenge with a quick task: cleaning our kitchen bins.
Put on your rubber gloves, take out the rubbish, and rinse the bin’s interior with water and washing-up liquid. Dry the bin with a paper towel, then disinfect the inside, outside, and the lid.
Week 3 – Bathroom Cleaning
Day 15: Bathroom tiles, seals and grout
You’re halfway through the Cleaning Challenge! And we’re starting the task of making your bathroom spotless.
Begin by cleaning the bathroom tiles using a solution of vinegar and water. You can also tackle the grout and sealant using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Rub this mixture in using an old toothbrush to shift stubborn grime and dirt.
If your bathroom is covered in mould, cleaning bathroom tiles can be more challenging. You might want to look at our guide to cleaning mouldy sealant for extra guidance.
Day 16: Clean the shower tray
Today, you can clean the shower trays and baths in your home. Start by removing all shampoo bottles, conditioner, and other products, then clean the shower tray.
Make sure you scrub hard to remove all soap scum, limescale, rust build-up, and any other grime that has accumulated. If you have stubborn stains, one of our favourite shower tray cleaners is bicarbonate of soda. Make a cleaning paste and apply it directly to the stains before scrubbing
Day 18: Clean mirrors, glass and chrome fixtures
Day 18 of our Cleaning Challenge is dedicated to cleaning glass and chrome in your bathrooms. Start by cleaning your bathroom mirrors.
To get that perfect streak-free finish, we recommend using a microfibre cloth and a mild glass cleaner. White vinegar or lemon juice also works well.
Next, you can wipe down all chrome fixtures, such as chrome taps and towel rails. You can use the same cleaning solution that you use for the mirrors, which is why we’ve grouped these tasks together.
Day 19: Tackle the toilets
Today we are cleaning all toilets in your home. Disinfect the toilet, wipe down the exterior, and scrub the bowl. If you have a very stained toilet, use a product from our list of the strongest toilet cleaners.
While cleaning your toilets, don’t forget to clean around the toilet base. And, if you want to go the extra mile, you can even clean your toilet cistern.
A dirty toilet tank can be the cause of bad bathroom odours, so cleaning it helps to ensure your bathroom smells as good as it looks.
Day 20: Bathroom sinks and drains
Unfortunately, smelly bathroom sinks are quite common. To ensure this isn’t a problem in your home, day twenty of the Cleaning Challenge is dedicated to cleaning bathroom sinks and drains. We recommend using white vinegar and cream of tartar for an ultra-deep clean.
Day 21: Clean bathroom floors
Cleaning your bathroom floors is another must-do task. Start by sweeping or vacuuming the floors, mop with a cleaning solution, and wait for them to dry.
If your bathroom floor has grout, you’ll also want to scrub it to achieve a like-new finish. We have several hacks for cleaning grout, but our favourite is to use a paste made from bicarbonate of soda and water. Apply it to the grout lines, wait a few minutes, spray with vinegar, and scrub.
Week 4 – Bedroom, Laundry, and General Tasks
Day 22: Declutter your bedroom
Congratulations on making it to week four of the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge! This week, we are starting with a bedroom decluttering.
Start with the master bedroom, going through all items and deciding which to keep or discard. Throw out mouldy clothes, donate items that no longer fit, and keep those you wear regularly. You can then move on to the kids’ bedrooms and spare bedrooms.
Day 23: Organise your wardrobe
Today is another organisation day, which should be easy, considering you’ve just cleared your wardrobe.
Find a home for every piece of clothing, be that on a hanger, in some drawers, or on some hooks. Storing your clothes correctly helps to extend their lifespan and make your room look neat.
If you often find your clothes piled on a chair in the bedroom, consider purchasing one of these laundry chair alternatives to help keep the bedrooms tidier for longer.
Day 24: Changing bedsheets
Change your bedsheets on day twenty-four, giving you a cosy and clean place to sleep. You’ll want to do this first thing in the morning to make sure your bed is ready again by the evening.
First, wash your dirty sheets at 60°C to remove germs, bacteria, and sweat. You can put on a clean set while your sheets are drying, or if you only have one set, dry your bedding indoors quickly and remake the bed before it’s time to go to sleep.
Day 25: Clean the washer and dryer
Next in our 30-Day Cleaning Challenge is washer and dryer maintenance. Clean your washing machine using a washing machine cleaner or run a maintenance cycle with white vinegar to clean the internal components. You can then wipe the inside of the drum and clean the washing machine seal.
To clean your tumble dryer, you’ll want to first clean out the lint filter. You can then move on to clean other parts, such as the heat exchanger, dryer drum, door seal, vented hose, and filter.
Day 26: Dust and vacuum the bedroom
Back upstairs, today you can take 30 minutes or so to dust and vacuum the bedrooms. Always begin with dusting, cleaning the highest shelves first and working your way down to lower surfaces. Finish by hoovering the floors and carpets, ensuring any fallen dust is sucked up and eliminated.
Day 27: Clean curtains and blinds
The focus of Day 27 is cleaning the blinds and curtains in your home. Venetian and roller blinds are best wiped from top to bottom with washing-up liquid and water, whereas vertical blinds can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.
For curtains, you have a few options. You can wash your curtains either by hand or in the washing machine—this is true even if they’re dry clean only, but take extra care to avoid irreversible damage.
Alternatively, clean your curtains without washing them using a vacuum cleaner or lint roller, and spot-treat any stains.
Day 28: Wash windows
Spend Day 28 of the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge by cleaning the windows. Make sure you do a thorough job—clean the outside and inside of the glass panels, wipe around the frames and window ledges, and buff the panes using newspaper to make them shine.
Day 29: Clean skirting boards and door frames
It’s the penultimate day of the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge, and you’ve nearly cleaned your house top to bottom. We are down to the final finishing touches! So, today will be spent cleaning skirting boards and doorframes.
Vacuum any settled dust, then use soapy water or stronger stain remover to eliminate marks and scuffs. When cleaning doors, buff and shine the handles for that spotless finish.
Day 30: Clean radiators
Last but not least, it’s time to clean your radiators. Wipe the side facing outwards with a cloth and your preferred cleaning solution.
However, don’t forget to clean behind the radiators and remove dust from the inside. If you’re cleaning a radiator with a top grill, you’ll need to remove this first to get inside.
Once you’ve done this, you can ditch the rubber gloves and breathe a sigh of relief. The hard work has paid off, and you’ve completed the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge! All that is left is to sit back, relax, and enjoy your spotlessly clean home.
Hannah has a passion for cleaning. She worked her way around Australia by cleaning hostels in exchange for free accommodation and used her cleaning skills to bag a job as a chalet host for a luxury ski company in France.
