As one of the most important and busy rooms of your home, your bedroom can be a high-traffic zone and prone to mess and clutter.
Maintaining a cleaning routine is one of the very best ways to ensure your room stays hygienic, tidy and organized, making it an ideal place to unwind and get to sleep. But how do you create a cleaning checklist that you can actually stick to?
We spoke to professionals for their daily, weekly and deep-cleaning tips for this easy-to-follow guide. Spotless sleep space, here we come!
How to clean a bedroom
‘An untidy bedroom can add stress, cause anxiety and even interfere with your quality of sleep,’ says Chris Wootton, managing director of domestic cleaning business, Poppies. ‘By having a clean and clutter-free bedroom, it will help you to recharge and revive, improving chances of a good night’s sleep.’
Daily bedroom cleaning steps
1. Tidy up
Before you can start cleaning a bedroom, it's important to tidy up daily, returning items to their proper locations. Put your clothes away in the closet, remove any water glasses or mugs from your bedside table, recycle old newspapers and magazines, and return any footwear to their storage.
If you live in a small apartment or house, there are ways to hide shoe clutter in small spaces, by using over-the-door shoe organizers, such as the number one top rated Simple Houseware 24 Pockets available at Amazon or under-bed storage, such as the Onlyeasy Sturdy Under Bed Shoe Storage Organizer available at Amazon. You may also want to consider swapping your shoes out seasonally, keeping sandals and boots in storage until summer and winter.
Also, empty the trash can daily, or every couple of days, and put any dirty clothing into the laundry basket. You can also hide a laundry basket, by putting it in your closet, or using a hanging laundry basket inside your closet door. We recommend the Household Essentials 148 Hanging Cotton Canvas Laundry Hamper Bag available at Amazon for this.
'The topmost surface of your furniture needs to be completely clutter-free,' says Peter Stewart, CEO of Spotless Clean by Peter, a top rated residential cleaning company in NYC, Boston and Florida. 'Whatever the insides may host, even if only the top is free from trash and unnecessary items, your room will look much neater.'
Stewart recommends keeping only essential everyday items, such as a hairbrush, medicine or even a book, on your vanity or nightstand. The rest should be put away, he adds. 'The point is to only keep the essentials within your arm's reach.'
2. Air out bedding
While you probably know how to make a bed, did you know that you should air out your bedding too?
'Air your bedding every morning,' says Alex Varela, general manager of Dallas Maids. 'This is a fantastic way to keep your bedding nice and dry, and it kills moisture and bacteria (up to an extent).'
So, if you've been wondering if you should air bedding every morning, doing so will limit dust mites, and it's proven to be a way to improve sleep, too.
I air mine out every morning while I shower, brush my teeth and get ready for the day, and then make my bed before I leave my house. This is why I don't make my bed when I wake up, and what I do instead.
Weekly bedroom cleaning steps
1. Do the dusting
Always start dusting from the ceiling downwards when cleaning a bedroom. Use the nozzle of your vacuum, or a long handled duster, to get into cobweb strewn corners. You can also use the vacuum on its lowest power with the brush attachment to tackle pleated light shades and curtains and pelmets. Our best handheld vacuum guide is a good place to start if you're not sure how to choose a vacuum cleaner for dusting.
‘Use a damp microfiber cloth (such as the bestselling HOMEXCEL Microfiber Cleaning Cloths available at Amazon) for hard surfaces like metal light shades, Venetian blinds, picture frames and baseboards,’ says Sarah Dempsey, cleaning expert at MyJobQuote. ‘Lastly, wipe over and buff mirrors and windows using a vinegar-based spray and dry microfiber cloth.’
This homemade cleaning spray makes it easy to clean with vinegar, for a natural alternative to traditional, chemical cleaning products. We recommend the Great Value Distilled White Vinegar available at Walmart for this.
Don’t forget to wipe down light switches and outlets; these frequently used touch points can harbor significant germs and bacteria.
2. Change your bedding
If you're wondering how often you should change your bedsheets, Logan Taylor, cleaning expert at Dazzle Cleaning Company advises that you should do so weekly.
'Change and wash all your bedding, including washing bedsheets, pillowcases, and comforters,' he says. 'Don't forget to also wash your pillows and mattress cover if they are machine washable.' Be mindful that, from time to time, you should also wash a weighted blanket. Wondering can you wash an electric blanket? The answer is you may be able to, but always check the tag for instructive laundry symbols.
3. Vacuum and mop
Use your vacuum on full power and tackle the floor, getting as far under the bed and furniture as you can reach. ‘Forget advice about starting at the furthest corner of the room and vacuuming your way out and instead vacuum as you enter the room and vacuum as you exit, that way you hit the high traffic spots twice,’ says Kate Henderson, duty manager at Daffodil Hotel.
If you have hard flooring, you may also need to mop afterwards. Ensure you know how to mop floors the right way for streak-free floors, as these may make your room look dirty. For this same reason, make sure you know how often you should replace your mophead, too.
And if they’re not too heavy, take any rugs outside to beat the dust out of them, which will remove more dirt than simply vacuuming over and allow you to vacuum the floor below.
Bedroom deep cleaning steps
1. Clean out your closet and drawers
Decluttering your closet may seem like a huge task to tackle, but capsule decluttering is an effective way to cut back on clothes clutter.
'Clean out your closets and drawers, donating or tossing any items you no longer need,' says cleaning expert Taylor. If you're not sure where to start, there are many closet decluttering tips to steal from professionals, which can help you declutter your clothes fast before putting your closet organization ideas into practice.
The best way is to simply get started – grab a sturdy trash bag, such as the Hefty Strong Large Trash Bags available at Amazon, and fill it with any clothes that you're sure you want to donate. Then, use a method like trying the 90/90 decluttering rule to hone your wardrobe and make sure you're only keeping what you wear and love.
2. Vacuum your mattress and clean your bed
While you should be regularly changing your bedding, you should also be deep cleaning your bed. Vacuum the mattress, on the lowest setting so as not to damage any fillings, bearing in mind that cleaning a mattress thoroughly will be needed periodically, as well as washing a mattress cover.
‘This is a great opportunity to flip or turn your mattress, if required. It’s also a good idea to let the mattress air with no sheets on for at least half an hour,’ says Kate Henderson, duty manager at Daffodil Hotel.
While the bedding is off, take the opportunity to vacuum or wipe down the headboard, including any gaps between the headboard and mattress. Do consider if it’s time to wash pillows and wash a down comforter, too.
‘Research shows that if your comforter isn’t washed the recommended number of times – every two to three months – it can harbor around 20,000 dust mites, making you more susceptible to allergens and irritants,’ explains Martin Seeley, sleep expert and CEO of MattressNextDay. ‘Check the label of your comforter before washing but ideally, you want to wash it on a high setting of 60 degrees to kill all germs and bacteria.’
3. Clean your rugs
'Clean rugs if you have them,' recommends Stephen Ip, owner of Cleanzen Boston Cleaning Services. If you're unsure how to clean an area rug, you can clean carpet with baking soda, but avoid any rug cleaning mistakes by being careful not to use too much water, the wrong products, or not rinsing the products after.
We recommend the bestselling Carbona Carpet Cleaner with Brush available at Walmart, which can be used on all types of carpet, including to clean a wool rug.
4. Vacuum and mop under furniture
While moving and rearranging your furniture can seem like a huge task, it's important to do so to prevent mold, mildew and moths from harboring underneath.
'Move furniture to get behind it and vacuum or mop underneath,' says cleaning expert Taylor. While it's possible to move heavy furniture by yourself, always use equipment and proper lifting techniques, or ask for help from family, a friend or neighbor where possible.
Once you have mopped and vacuumed, you could consider rearranging your furniture to refresh your space, with some small bedroom layout ideas. Just avoid making any furniture arranging mistakes if you decide to do so.
5. Disinfect
Finally, cleaning expert Taylor recommends disinfecting heavily touched surfaces around your bedroom.
'Use a disinfectant to wipe down doorknobs, light switches, and other frequently touched surfaces,' he says. 'This gives your mind and body a fresh start for the coming months.'
We recommend the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes available at Amazon, which kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses with a fresh scent.
FAQs
What's the fastest way to clean a bedroom?
Wondering how to clean your room fast? If your bedroom is in a mess and you're in a hurry, put everything away first – if surfaces are clear your room will look much tidier.
Then, make the bed, remove any mugs, glasses and bowls that may have accumulated and wipe down surfaces. If you have time, giving the floor a quick vacuum will make a big difference. While this won't deeply clean your room, it will effectively refresh the space when you're in a pinch.
'They key to having a clean room isn't trying to deep clean every week,' says cleaning expert Ip. 'They solution is to create a routine for cleaning, so you don't have to tackle a huge pile of trash and unnecessary things every couple of months
'Once you make a routine to clean daily, you'll find that your monthly or bi-monthly cleaning days are much less tiring than before!'
To create an achievable cleaning routine, structure your tasks and stick to your schedule.
