Use this list of what to clean in January as your simple guide to what jobs need to be tackled this month around the house.
I love a good fresh start, don’t you? If January isn’t the biggest fresh start, I don’t know what is. If you haven’t been happy with how clean and tidy your home has been, now’s the perfect time to focus a little bit of your attention on fine-tuning what types of cleaning tasks you’re doing around the house, and when you’re doing them. I’ve loved creating these monthly cleaning lists over the last little while because I’m a huge fan of efficiency. My monthly cleaning lists are all about figuring out which few tasks are perfect to do right now, at this particular time of year, and that’s it. Timing really is everything. 🙂 With this super dialed-in list, you can have a home that is reasonably clean and tidy all year long, without ever having to completely burn yourself out with days and weeks of deep cleaning tasks.
Your Simple List of What to Clean in January
January is a great time to focus on regaining a sense of routine and order after the holidays. These tasks should help you do just that, and give you the most bang for you cleaning buck, while still giving you time to relax and enjoy these quiet winter days.
Read through this explanation of what to clean this month and why, then scroll to the bottom to print out the checklist. Post it on your fridge or file it away in your homekeeping binder so you can check off what you get done!
Cupboards, Backsplash, and Walls Around Stove
Chances are that you’ve been cooking up a storm over the last few weeks and you may have had some sprays and splatters happening around the stove. If you wipe them off now, it’ll be easy. If you wait a month or two, those splatters will have time to harden and collect dust and that will make things much more difficult. So let’s take 45 seconds and do it now!
Wrapping Supplies Storage Area and Re-Organize
Well, despite the fact that I started the season off with a perfectly organized and well-stocked wrapping area, and despite my best intentions, things got a little wild by the time all my wrapping was done. This is the perfect time to go through and tidy everything up, get rid of little extra bits of paper that you shoved here and there in a rush, or trimmings of ribbon that you thought you’d clean up later. Then comes the fun part where you can restock using all the clearance wrapping paper you bought during the after Christmas sales. Now you’re ready for next year!
Christmas Dishes and Table Linens
Clean them up and put them away safely until next year. Bonus points for you if you iron the table linens first before putting them back in the linen closet!
Christmas Decor
OK, you were going to do this anyway, weren’t you? 🙂 This one’s kind of a freebie.
Fabric Curtains
We worked on the blinds a few months ago, and now’s probably a good time to give them a quick once-over again with the feather duster if you haven’t done them again since November. Let’s really focus on soft window coverings though this month. If you have some that you can’t really take down, try to give them a good vacuuming and spot-clean them. If they’re machine washable, you know what to do. If they need to be dry cleaned, but you aren’t feeling that ambitious right now, try the curtain in the dryer trick. 🙂
Your Kitchen Junk Drawer
Did you throw little bits of everything in there during the holiday rush? Now’s the time to give it a good tidy so you don’t open it up to a disaster every time you go to look for some batteries or an extra charger over the next few months.
Your Spice Drawer
I have to admit that my spice drawer really needs some attention right now after all of my holiday cooking and baking. It shouldn’t take too much since we made our DIY spice drawer organizer last spring, but I definitely have some empty bottles here and there as well as some new things that don’t really have a permanent home yet. I usually try to keep my spice shopping as waste-free as possible (here’s what I do), but I have to admit that I picked up a few pre-packaged spices in a rush a few times over the last month that are kind of messing with my beautifully-organized drawer.
High Dusting
Now’s as good of a time as any! 🙂
Phones, Remotes, Laptops, Tablets
Flu season + lots of social interaction over Christmas = Time to clean the surfaces that your family touches most.
Here’s how to safely clean a laptop computer.
Houseplants
Keep them clean and they’ll clean your air for you! If you’re like me, you may have had all of your houseplants tucked away in a sunny corner all together during the holidays, but now’s the time where you’ll want to start spreading them out all around the house again so you can enjoy them during these dark, grey winter months. While you’re finding the best spots for them, give them each a good cleaning. The mayonnaise house plant trick is one of my favourites for this!
Free Printable January Cleaning List
Just click here to download and print your list!
What other things are you hoping to get taken care of around the house this January?
If you’re looking for more ongoing guidance and detail on what to clean and how to get it done quickly and easily, check out my book The Cleaning Ninja!
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- What to Clean in October
- What to Clean in November
- What to Clean in December
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.