How to Deep Clean Your Entire Home in One Week
Execute a phased 7-day deep cleaning protocol across all rooms using top-to-bottom dusting, degreasing, sanitizing, and floor restoration methods.
- Read the tools, materials, safety notes, and steps below for free.
- Tap Start Camera Coach when you want hands-free voice help.
- Allow camera and microphone. Point your phone at the work; the coach watches your progress and tells you the next step.
🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Microfiber cloths (pack of 12)
- ✓ Extendable duster
- ✓ Vacuum with brush and crevice attachments
- ✓ Mop and dual-chamber bucket
- ✓ Detail scrub brush
- ✓ Squeegee
- ✓ Step ladder
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ All-purpose cleaner
- ✓ Baking soda
- ✓ Distilled white vinegar
- ✓ Heavy-duty degreaser
- ✓ Bathroom disinfectant / limescale remover
- ✓ Heavy-duty trash bags
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Never mix bleach with vinegar, ammonia, or acid-based cleaners as this creates toxic gas.
- • Ensure cross-ventilation by opening windows and running exhaust fans when using concentrated cleaners.
- • Maintain three points of contact when using a step ladder to dust ceilings and light fixtures.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Declutter and Stage All Zones
Walk through every room with sorting bins and heavy-duty trash bags. Remove all out-of-place items, donate-able goods, and trash from surfaces and floors so all target cleaning zones are completely clear. Empty wastebaskets and stage grouped cleaning caddies in a central location.
- • All horizontal surfaces like countertops, tables, and desks are completely bare.
- • Floors have a clear path with no clothes, toys, or loose clutter.
- • Trash and donate bins are staged near the home exit.
- • Cleaning around clutter instead of fully clearing the surface first.
- • Sorting items without removing them from the room immediately.
Deep Clean Kitchen Appliances and Cabinets
Apply oven cleaner or baking soda paste inside the oven and let sit. Wipe down all cabinet faces from top to bottom using an all-purpose degreaser. Clean refrigerator shelves, microwave interior, stovetop, and finish by scouring the sink with baking soda.
- • Stovetop and range hood show zero sticky residue or grease sheen under direct light.
- • Interior microwave and refrigerator surfaces are white and free of food splatters.
- • Stainless steel and sink basin reflect clean light without water spots.
- • Wiping grease immediately without giving the degreaser dwell time to break down oils.
- • Using abrasive scouring pads on scratchable stainless steel or polished finishes.
Sanitize and Descale Bathrooms
Spray tub, shower walls, and sinks with bathroom cleaner and allow 10 minutes dwell time. Scrub grout lines and faucet bases with a detail brush to lift soap scum and limescale. Sanitize the toilet exterior, base, and bowl, then polish mirrors streak-free.
- • Grout lines in shower and around tub are uniform in color with no dark mold spots.
- • Chrome fixtures are shiny without white crusty mineral deposits.
- • Mirrors are completely clear without fog streaks or lint.
- • Using the same cloth for the toilet and other bathroom surfaces.
- • Rinsing away disinfectant before it reaches the necessary contact time.
Dust High Fixtures, Vents, and Baseboards
Work room by room starting at the ceiling level using an extendable duster on ceiling fans, crown molding, and air supply vents. Progress down to window frames, door headers, and wall art. Finish each room by wiping baseboards with a damp microfiber cloth.
- • Ceiling fan blade top edges are completely free of accumulated dust lines.
- • HVAC vent grates show no gray fuzz between slats.
- • Baseboard top ledges are clean and dust-free along entire wall lengths.
- • Dusting after vacuuming, causing dislodged dust to settle on freshly cleaned floors.
- • Using a dry feather duster that merely scatters dust into the air rather than trapping it.
Clean Windows, Glass, and Doors
Dust window tracks and vacuum loose dirt using a crevice tool. Spray window glass with glass cleaner or dilute vinegar and pull a squeegee down in smooth, overlapping strokes, wiping the blade with a rag after each pass. Wipe door handles, light switches, and door frames with a damp sanitizing cloth.
- • Window panes are transparent and free of streaks when viewed against outdoor daylight.
- • Window sills and tracks contain zero dead insects or black dirt particles.
- • Door handles and switch plates are clean of hand oils and grime.
- • Cleaning windows in direct hot sunlight, which dries cleaner too fast and creates streaks.
- • Neglecting to wipe the squeegee rubber blade between each pass.
Vacuum and Deep Clean All Floor Surfaces
Vacuum all carpets and hard floors using slow, overlapping strokes, getting deep into edges with the crevice tool and under movable furniture. Mop hard floors starting at the farthest room corner and working toward the exit using a two-bucket system (one wash, one rinse). Allow floors to air dry completely.
- • Carpet displays uniform vacuum track lines with no visible hair or crumbs in corners.
- • Tile and hardwood floors are matte or glossy with zero sticky foot residue or cloudy wash streaks.
- • Floor edges along baseboards are completely cleared of debris.
- • Mopping with dirty water, which redistributes grime rather than lifting it.
- • Mopping into a corner and trapping yourself on wet flooring.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Kristine Yu — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Detail scrub brush? Old firm-bristle toothbrush
- No Heavy-duty degreaser? Warm water mixed with concentrated dish soap and baking soda paste
- No Extendable duster? Microfiber cloth secured over the head of a broom with a rubber band