Me too. A night cleaning routine can bring harmony to your home, leaving you to feel accomplished and that the day is complete.

My name is Sarah Goldsmith, owner of Purple Cleaning Services. I hate a messy house more than I hate cleaning.

Over the last 6 years, I’ve been running a successful cleaning business. So I’ve developed a few tricks and time-saving hacks to keep a home ticking over between maintenance cleans.

First, Night Cleaning Does NOT Have to be a Chore! 

Cleaning on an evening after work can be quite a therapeutic experience when done the right way. Sometimes I like to put some relaxing music on Alexa. Essential oils are also something new I incorporated into my cleaning routine.  I like invigorating fragrances by day and relaxing fragrances like Lavender and Bergamot at night. As a result, this has really helped me wind down on a night time and sets me up for a good night’s sleep.

Just add 5 drops of each to a sink full of soapy water and use it to clean the kitchen with two microfiber cloths. Essential oils also have natural disinfecting properties, so that’s an added bonus.

Where do you get the motivation Sarah?

That’s an easy one, I get the motivation to clean from watching other people clean. Not in a peeping Tom way! You won’t find me peeking through your windows, taking notes on your cleaning skills haha. I post my own motivational videos on YouTube and I watch other people too. 

You can find some night cleaning routine motivational cleaning videos below on my YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/PurpleHouseMaid/videos

Why Do I Need a Night Cleaning Routine?

Of course, there are obvious reasons you need a nighttime cleaning routine. Like the cleanliness and disinfection benefits.  

But my routine starts the morning before the night.

After I wake up, I make the bed. This sets me up for the day. Walking into my clean and tidy kitchen just gives me such a sense of well-being. 

No scratching around for clean dishes to make breakfast and the kids can sit at the table right away.

After that, I can go about my day stress and anxiety-free. 

Sleep Benefits:

I find that if I’ve tidied up and had a light clean of the house, I actually sleep better. My mind is calm and I can focus on sleeping. Before I had a good cleaning routine, I would toss and turn all night.

My mind was full of all the chores and tasks I needed to complete in the morning before work. 

I’d keep myself awake wondering:

Have I emptied the dishwasher? Did I set away the washing machine? Do I need a clean pan in the morning? Is there enough plates? Etc etc…. You know how it goes!

Check Lists

Having a night cleaning routine checklist is such a good idea, I have lists for each day. Each week and each month. Weekday tasks are usually one load of laundry, tidy up, surface wipe, dishes and vacuum.

The weekends are a bit more in-depth if I haven’t had the cleaning team in to do it for me. 

The weekend is usually 2-4 hours of cleaning the bathrooms, dusting throughout, cleaning off mucky handprints from various areas of the house. Vacuum through the whole house, mopping all the floors and changing out the towels.

You can print my Cleaning Routine Checklists for free here

Employ Little Helpers

A fine tuned week night cleaning routine

Tidy up

Tidy away anything that isn’t supposed to be there. For me, this is usually toys! I do have a playroom, however, my 2-year-old doesn’t understand that it’s where the toys are supposed to stay. There are usually half a dozen dolls, teddies and Playmobil on the kitchen table after we’ve eaten. I put all the toys away and tidy the playroom too.

This is a pivotal step in the night cleaning routine. You can’t complete any other step until you’ve tidied up. Don’t skip it.

Put food away in fridge

All the leftover food is sealed and put in the fridge. Or thrown out. I take this opportunity to check the fridge for anything that has spoiled and throw that out too.

Do the dishes

Another crucial step in the night cleaning routine.

Whether you’re washing by hand or using a dishwasher, this step cant be missed or there’ll be nothing to eat off of the next day.

I’m blessed to have a dishwasher and I do admit, everything gets put in it, no pre-rinsing and the pans go in too. I don’t have time to kill.

Wipe surfaces

Give every surface a wipe. Wipe down the counters and work surfaces. Wipe down the table. Do a quick wipe of the cooker splashback to help prevent a greasy build-up that will be harder to clean later. I even give the cooker top/hob a once over. Not a thorough clean, but a wipe over with soapy water and dry off with a microfiber cloth. It’s not amazingly spotless but it does the trick until the weekend.

Cleaning the sink

And I mean clean that bad boy. Clean and polish the draining board first and then clean the sink. The sink harbours a lot of germs. I want you to clean it with hot soapy water and clean the plug hole and plug. Hot soapy water and a bit of scrubbing kill most germs so you can be assured you’ve cleaned it properly.

Clean major touchpoints, chrome, door handles, table etc

This step can be skipped if you aren’t as anal as me about germs and viruses. Even if I wasn’t so paranoid, I’d still have to clean the chrome handles on every cupboard door because I can’t stand looking at the fingerprints and smudges.

Do one load of laundry 

Now even I sometimes, well, often actually, fail this step. Wash, dry and fold at least one load of laundry per day.

Take it with you when you go to bed and put it away.

Therefore, preventing the laundry from becoming an overwhelming task. Therefore, needs to be completed on the weekend. 

If you don’t produce one load per day, then you can skip this step. 

However, this step of the night cleaning routine can be flipped over to a morning cleaning routine.

I wash at night because the costs are cheaper.

Vacuum high traffic areas and kitchen

Vacuum the kitchen, downstairs hallways and the playroom (crumbs spread into that room, presumably on the kids clothes). I can’t stand walking into a room and having that crunchy feeling underfoot. I vacuum once or twice per day as part of all my cleaning routines.

Optional mopping

Mopping is not something I do every single day. So I only mop when I see that it needs doing.

If there are marks on the floor, then yes I mop, but not if it looks clean. This can wait until the weekend. I like to use a spray mop because it’s easily accessible.

Products I use for an effective night cleaning routine

A vacuum

Any vacuum will do. A cordless stick vacuum cleaner is an ideal option if you’re purse allows it. Cordless stick Vacuums like the Shark Cordless models remove the hassle of unwinding and winding cords. Making the task quick and convenient. So, I myself have an upright Shark, I can’t afford a good quality stick vacuum. I’ve tried the Hoover stick vacuum and found it lost suction in the first few months. It’s abandoned in the back of a cupboard now.

Dish soap spray

On Weekdays I just use my Dish Soap Spray. Don’t get fancy with measuring cups or anything. Fill a spray bottle with warm water and add a squirt of dish soap. I use Fairy Liquid but you can use Dawn if you’re in the US. The reason I use warm water is to help break down food particles and the fatty layer of viruses. 

At the weekend, I break out the big boys. The bleach and my Sonic Scrubbers.

Microfiber cloths

If you read my previous post on Microfiber Cloths, you’ll know I’m a crazy superfan. You’ll need a couple for a daily nighttime cleaning.

Night Cleaning Routine Conclusion

Chances are that you landed here looking for help with your cleaning routine. How you can make cleaning more therapeutic. We’ve talked about why a good night cleaning routine makes for a better morning. How using checklists can make you more organised and help you sleep. I covered some ideas I use to get the little ones involved in your cleaning routine. Where I find my motivation to clean. I’ve shared my full list of tasks and the products I use for my night cleaning routine. 

Most importantly, I can tell you that cleaning my kitchen is the top priority on a weekday. So if you’re still feeling overwhelmed just stick to cleaning the kitchen. 

Don’t forget to download my printables and let me know in the comments below if you love or dread the whole nightly cleaning routine.

My YouTube Video: Night Time Cleaning Routine For working People…… Check it out!