Cleaning schedule generator

Change the sheets every 1 to 2 weeks (every week with a dust-mite allergy), put out fresh towels every week and test the smoke alarms every month; the plan below adds the rest for your rooms, by room or by week, ready to print.

Your plan

For 2 people · no pets · no kids · 21 chores

Every month, week by week
Chore	W1	W2	W3	W4
Change the sheetsEvery 2 weeks · Bedroom	once		once
Clean the kitchenEvery 2 weeks · Kitchen	once		once
Wipe the fridge shelvesEvery month · Kitchen		once
Fresh towelsEvery week · Bathroom	once	once	once	once
Clean the bathroomEvery 2 weeks · Bathroom		once		once
Clean the mirrorsEvery 2 weeks · Bathroom		once		once
Dust the shelvesEvery 2 weeks · Living room	once		once
Water the plantsEvery week · Living room	once	once	once	once
Vacuum the floorsEvery 2 weeks · Whole home		once		once
Mop the floorsEvery 2 weeks · Whole home	once		once
Empty the small binsEvery 2 weeks · Whole home		once		once
Test the smoke alarmsEvery month · Whole home	once

Through the year, month by month
Chore	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Rotate the mattressEvery 3 months · Bedroom		once			once			once			once
Wash the duvet & pillowsEvery 4 months · Bedroom		once				once				once
Descale the kettleEvery 3 months · Kitchen		once			once			once			once
Clean the ovenEvery 2 months · Kitchen	once		once		once		once		once		once
Clean the washing-machine filterEvery 3 months · Bathroom	once			once			once			once
Descale the showerheadEvery 3 months · Bathroom			once			once			once			once
Wash the windowsEvery 4 months · Living room				once				once				once
Empty the vacuum bagEvery 3 months · Whole home	once			once			once			once

When the counter says

Refill dishwasher salt Every 30 dishwasher cycles

Made at spickspan.pixeesoft.dev/tools/cleaning-schedule/, where each interval’s source is listed.

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How we worked this out

We start from the 39 chores the SpickSpan app suggests, in the rooms you pick. How much you want decides which of them go on the list (the basics, a tidy home or everything), never how often. Untick what you don’t do and change any interval; the views, the printout and the chores at the end follow.

An interval changes only where a maker or an authority gives a figure. For sheets the IKW says every 1 to 2 weeks, and weekly if you sweat a lot at night¹; the Sleep Foundation says weekly for most people and every 3 to 4 days with a pet in the bed². We keep 2 weeks, or 4 days with a pet on the bed. With a dust-mite allergy, aha! says bed linen every week and pillows and duvets at least once a month, both at 60 °C or more³, and Cambridge University Hospitals says to vacuum at least once a week⁴. Without the allergy, pillows and the duvet come round every 4 months, the short end of the Sleep Foundation’s 4 to 6².

Fresh towels every week (the IKW says at least once, better twice)¹; the mattress rotated every 3 months or so⁵; the kettle descaled every 3 months with very soft water and every month with hard water⁶. Smoke alarms get tested every month, as Gebäudeversicherung Bern and GOV.UK both say^7,⁸, rather than at the app template’s longer interval.

Every other interval is the app’s own starting point, marked SpickSpan default: we found no maker or authority figure for it, so set what suits you. That goes for pets and household size too. No source we opened gives a vacuuming or cleaning interval for pets or for the number of people, so neither changes one; chores that count uses, like dishwasher salt, simply come round sooner in a bigger household.

The week view spreads the chores that come round monthly or more often over a 4-week month, and the year view puts the rest in the months with the least on, so no week gets everything at once. A month is 30 days, as the app counts it. The spring clean is a one-off list to tick off on paper; only the chores in your schedule come back.

Sources

1
Zeit für den Wäschewechsel IKW (Industrieverband Körperpflege- und Waschmittel) · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
2
How Often Should You Wash Your Sheets? Sleep Foundation · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
3
10 Tipps gegen Hausstaubmilben aha! Allergiezentrum Schweiz · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
4
How to reduce the level of dust mites in your home Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
5
When Should You Replace Your Mattress? Sleep Foundation · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
6
How do I descale my kettle? De’Longhi UK · Maker · checked Oct 18, 2026
7
Rauchmelder retten Leben und schützen Gebäude (press release, 7 November 2024) Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB) · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026
8
Fire safety in the home (accessible version) GOV.UK · Authority · checked Oct 18, 2026

These are the makers’ figures for typical use. If your appliance’s manual or its own indicator says otherwise, go with that.

Your plan

Bedroom

Kitchen

Bathroom

Living room

Whole home