Deep Cleaning Room-by-Room Checklist

Who this is for

A top-to-bottom pass through every room, on one grid. Rooms run down the side, the passes a deep clean is made of run across, and each room gets a date when done.

Anyone doing a proper clean rather than a routine one: before guests, after building work, at the change of a season, on moving in, or simply because it has been a while.

What this helps you track

• Which rooms have had every pass and which are half done
• The passes themselves, so the top of the wardrobe and the back of the sofa are not forgotten
• The extra jobs that only the kitchen and bathroom need
• The date each room was finished, for the record

How to use it

1. Write the date and who is doing it at the top. Cross out rooms you do not have and add your own in the spare row.
2. Work one room at a time, from the top down: ceiling and lights first, floor last, so dust falls onto surfaces not yet cleaned.
3. Tick each pass as it is done. A room is finished when every box on its line is ticked; write the date.
4. Do the kitchen and bathroom extras from the list at the bottom while you are in those rooms.
5. Use the browser version if you would rather tick on a phone as you go from room to room.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How long does a deep clean take?

Longer than people expect, which is why the grid is by room and dated rather than by day. Do one or two rooms a session and let the sheet carry over; nothing on it has to be finished at once.

Why top to bottom?

Dust and debris fall. If the floor is done first it is dirty again by the time the light fittings are wiped. The column order on the grid follows the same logic.

Is this the right sheet for the end of a tenancy?

It covers the same ground, but the moving-out cleaning checklist is written for that job: it adds the appliances, the meter readings, the photographs and a sign-off line. Use that one when a deposit depends on it.

Can I add a pass of my own?

On paper, use the notes column of the extras list or write in the margin. In the browser version you can add your own items to the extras list; the grid columns are fixed so the sheet stays one page.