In general, I've found it's easiest to clean a tiny house from top to bottom (literally!) and from back to front. So this order may not work for you, but here’s how I usually go about cleaning a tiny house when I’m doing a deep clean. Maintenance cleaning is super quick, but a tiny house deep clean usually takes me about an hour. (NB: I have two pairs of sheets – if you only have 1 set you may want to save making the bed for last along with replenishing the towels and TP!)
Here are the steps I go through when doing a tiny house deep clean:
- Remove and shake rugs outside
- Do a quick sweep of floors to not track dirt around (and dump sweepings in compost or trash)
- Open windows and tie back curtains
- Get pillows and blankets out of the way and strip the bed(s)
- Grab towels from bathroom and kitchen
- Start laundry
- Tidy up and put everything that has escaped its place back where it belongs
- Make bed(s) with fresh sheets (see my Tips for Making a Loft Bed below)
- Do dishes and get them air-drying
- Switch laundry to dryer if it’s rainy or hang laundry if it’s sunny
- Dust art, books, games, etc.
- Wipe down all flat surfaces in kitchen with spray and rag
- Clean shower
- Clean toilet and/or empty compost toilet
- Sweep floors thoroughly (including the dust bunnies behind furniture)
- Mop floors if necessary
- Put dirty rag into laundry bin
- Tie up trash bag and replace with new one
- Empty trash bag in garbage, recycling in recycle, compost in compost
- Wash hands!
- Put rugs back
- Retrieve and fold clean laundry (this may have to happen later if you’ve hung it to dry in the sun!)
- Refresh bath towels, hand towels, dish towels, bath mat, and toilet paper roll
- Settle down for a well-deserved hot or cold drink!
Tips for Making a Loft Bed:
1) Find the corners of the fitted sheet that correspond to the top two corners of the mattress BEFORE you bring the sheet up the ladder so you don’t have to figure it out up there.
2) Fold the flat sheet the long way and bring the top edge up the ladder, placing it in the center of the bed. Unfold the sheet at the top and then unfold as you go, working your way down the sheet as you work your way out of the loft. Repeat for any blankets.
3) Put everything a little closer to the head of the bed than I needs to be at first so that you can smooth out the wrinkles by tugging on it.