Printable Green Cleaning Checklist
With this green cleaning checklist, you’ll be ready to tackle the dirt, dust, and clutter safely and without exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Every day, many of us spray, wipe, and clean with products that contain impossible-to-pronounce ingredients and impossible-to-identify chemicals. These cleaning products do the job they were designed for, but what about the health and environmental impacts?
Is a smudge-free window worth a wheezing toddler?
How you clean your home matters. Cleaning with bleach and harsh chemicals impacts your indoor air quality. Have you read the labels on some of those bottles? They’re not exactly substances you want your child or pet to touch.
Green is definitely the way to go when it comes to your green spring cleaning checklist. You might also want to keep this list of the best DIY cleaners and green cleaning hacks handy.
Green Cleaning Checklist
Here’s a printable spring cleaning checklist you can follow. If you’d like our weekly cleaning guides, pantry organization lists, home maintenance checklists, and budgets, download our free customizable planner here.
(Click on the image for a PDF you can download and print):
Start With Clean Cleaning Tools
Start with clean tools so you’re not spreading around old dirt, allergens, or germs.
- Take your vacuum cleaner apart. Most bagless vacuum cleaners easily come apart and can be washed in the sink or tub. The filters can also be cleaned or replaced.
- Make sure your reusable sponges and brushes are sanitized. A great way to do this is to combine baking soda, vinegar, or lemon juice with 1 cup of boiling water.
- Old toothbrushes can help clean grout lines, window sills, and other tight areas. If these (or sponges) come in contact with mold, throw them away. Being super sustainable is not worth potentially spreading mold to other areas of your home.
Kitchen
- Dust lighting, trim & ceiling corners
- Clean inside, under, & behind the refrigerator & freezer (get dust and lint out of air circulation areas)
- Clean stove hood filter (remove and soak in vinegar & water mixture) & fan blades
- Clean range & oven
- Vacuum appliance vents
- Clean out cabinets and donate items you no longer use
- Clean & descale coffee maker or electric kettle
- Clean microwave
- Disinfect drains (pour ½ cup of baking soda down the drain. Follow with 2 cups of vinegar. Allow to sit for ½ hour. Pour 2 quarts of boiling water down the drain. Wait ½ hour. Repeat.)
- Wipe backsplash & counters
- Wipe down baseboards
- Wash windows
- Vacuum/ sweep floor
Bathrooms
- Dust lighting, trim, & ceiling corners
- Organize cabinets & linen closet and discard unwanted items
- Wash windows & mirrors
- Clean sinks & faucets
- Refill hand soap containers (try this DIY foaming hand soap & go plastic free)
- Wipe down walls
- Clean toilets
- Wash bath mats
- Wash or replace shower curtain
- Wipe down baseboards
- Sweep & mop floors
Bedrooms
- Dust lighting, trim, & ceiling corners
- Dust/vacuum & wipe blinds or curtains
- Dust furniture
- Flip mattresses (disinfect by sprinkling baking soda over entire mattress, wait a few hours, then vacuum it up using your vacuum’s upholstery attachment). Try these steps for a deeper mattress cleaning.
- Wash bedding
- Organize closets & drawers and donate unwanted items
- Wipe down baseboards
- Wash windows
- Vacuum/ sweep floors
Throughout the House
- Dust lighting, trim, & ceiling corners
- Dust furniture
- Wipe down washer & dryer
- Clean pet areas and launder beds (here’s a guide to reducing allergens in the home with pets)
- Vacuum & shake out area rugs
- Dust/vacuum & wipe blinds or curtains
- Wipe down HVAC vents and change filters
- Wash windows
- Vacuum/ sweep floors
Outdoors
- Clean porch, deck, lanai.
- Wipe down outdoor furniture, grill, and other appliances
- Clean (hire someone to clean) gutters
- Organize garage or garden shed. Donate unused items.
- Service garden tools: sharpen lawn mower blades and clippers, check hoses for leaks.
Is there anything on your green spring cleaning checklist we’ve left out? If so, tell us in the comments and we’ll update this.
