How Long Does It Take to Clean a House?
It’s difficult to relax at night when you’re staring at the dust that has settled on your television console.
There are floors to be mopped and bathrooms to be cleaned, but you’d rather spend your only free hour of the day parked on the couch.
We’ve all been there and we understand that cleaning your house can be a hassle. If you can’t find the time, you can always have someone else do it for you.
But before you outsource the work, you want to know how long it might take to clean your house.
Here you can learn:
5 factors to consider when determining how long it could take to clean your house
Why cleaning professionals might clean your house faster; and
Who to call for help
Table of Contents
How Long Does It Take to Clean Your House? 5 Major Factors to Consider
Even if you find enjoyment in cleaning, taking an entire day to clean your house probably doesn’t sound too exciting.
Maybe you’ve got company coming in for the weekend and you want your home in tip-top shape before they arrive. Or perhaps you’d like to dedicate Sundays as your house cleaning day to help start your busy week off fresh.
You realize this sounds a bit ambitious and are wondering just how long should a full house clean take?
Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut answer because a handful of factors play into how long it takes to clean your house, including:
Your house size
The number and types of rooms
How long it has been since the home was last fully or professionally cleaned
The number of people living in your house; and
The type of people living in your house
#1: The Size of Your House
An obvious factor in how long it might take to clean your home is the size of your house. In 2020, the average size of a single-family home in the United States was 2,261 square feet.
Generally, larger houses take longer to clean than smaller homes simply because there is more space. A larger home either has more rooms or bigger rooms and thoroughly getting through the entire house will take time.
However, if a larger home is better maintained than a smaller home — it’s cleaned thoroughly more frequently — then a smaller home could potentially take longer to clean.
#2: The Number and Types of Rooms in Your House
You’ve determined the size of your house and now you need to know how long does it take to clean a 2000 square foot house?
Again, the answer depends.
Although you live in an average size American home, the number of rooms and types of rooms in your house will affect the cleaning time.
Let’s say that your house has:
3 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
A living space
A kitchen
A laundry room
A dining room; and
An office
Generally, bedrooms and offices are the quickest rooms to clean. Why? They aren’t full-time living spaces (like a living room or family room), and when they are in use you’re typically stationary and not creating a big mess.
Although bedrooms and offices might require some pick-up, most of the cleaning is quick and easy, like:
Pick up of toys, clothes, materials
Dusting
Vacuuming; and
Straightening up
Rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and mudrooms usually take longer to clean because they often require more scrubbing. Why? These rooms typically see the most mess, including:
Food
Dirt
Water/wetness; and
Surface debris
Think about it.
In the bathroom, you…
Use the toilet
Wash your hands; and
Shower
… at least once, if not more times, a day. This creates a lot of build-up, moisture, and dirt. Similarly, in the kitchen, you’re creating the most wetness and mess by:
Prepping and cooking multiple meals
Using the sink to rinse dishes and food
Running the dishwasher
Using multiple appliances; and
Washing your hands
According to our team of professionals at Tidy Up Portland!, a range of time for each room, depending on how well maintained they are, might look like:
Bathrooms: 40 mins
Kitchen: 35-75 mins
Bedrooms: 12-15 mins
Playrooms: 40 mins
Office: 10-15 mins
Living room: 25 mins
#3: How Long It Has Been Since Your Last Cleaning
Probably the biggest factor that plays into the average time for cleaning a house is how long it has been since your home was last cleaned.
If your home is well-maintained — you clean it on a bi-weekly schedule — it typically takes less time to clean your house. Why? A well-maintained home should:
Have less clutter
Have less dust and dirt
Require little to no scrubbing
Need mainly surface cleaning and tidying up
It will probably take longer to clean your house if it has been a while since your last cleaning. Usually, once it’s been more than 4-6 weeks since your home was cleaned last, you now require deep cleaning. This takes more time because:
Hard scrubbing is usually required
There is more to pick up and put away; and
Everything requires a bit more attention
#4: How Many People Live in Your Home
Are you a large family of six or eight? Maybe it’s just you and your spouse. Do you have pets to account for?
All of this could factor into the amount of mess in your home and how long it could take to clean.
Consider this:
Even if your house is larger — maybe 2,500 square feet — if it’s just you and your spouse, you probably won't create a big mess. You likely use fewer rooms and pick up after yourself easily, creating a well-maintained environment.
A larger family of 6 or 8 living in a 1,500 square foot home typically has more mess than you. More people in a smaller space are probably:
Sharing fewer bathrooms
Sharing fewer bedrooms
Cooking more meals throughout the day; and
Causing more foot traffic throughout the house
This will create a bigger mess, probably be more difficult to maintain, and likely take longer to thoroughly clean.
#5: Who Lives in Your Home
Aside from the size of your home and how many people live in your home, who lives in your home can play a big part in how messy and dirty it can become and how long it might take to clean. Makes sense, right?
As we mentioned earlier, two grown adults living in a large home probably create less mess than a family that has many small children, even despite the size of their house.
We’d like to think that adults are a bit more responsible and can pick up after themselves and keep things a bit more maintained between big cleanings. However, smaller children tend to:
Have more stuff
Create chaos and mess all day long; and
Not pick up after themselves as easily
Is all of this cleaning talk too much for you? You can save yourself the time and hassle of cleaning your home by letting the professionals do the work for you.
Tidy Up Portland! has a team of skilled, trained, and knowledgeable professionals who thoroughly enjoy the cleaning process and are happy to take the chore out of your hands. Contact us today to get started.
Maintenance Cleaning vs. Deep Cleaning: What’s the Difference?
We mentioned that two types of cleaning — deep cleaning and maintenance cleaning — will probably take different lengths of time.
At Tidy Up Portland!, we offer services that cover maintenance and deep cleanings. But what is the difference between the two?
Maintenance Cleaning
A maintenance cleaning is done regularly, often bi-weekly. Because the home is kept up with frequently, it requires little to no scrubbing and should be much quicker to get through. A maintenance clean might look like:
Wiping down appliances, countertops, and surfaces
Light dusting
Quick cleaning of bathrooms
Vacuuming and mopping floors; and
Washing bedding
Tidy Up Portland! offers a regular cleaning service to help you keep your home well-maintained all year round.
Deep Cleaning
Once it has been more than 4-6 weeks since your last regular cleaning, your home probably now requires deep cleaning to reset. It’s simple — the longer your home goes without being cleaned, the dirtier it gets and the more time it takes to clean.
Deep cleaning often requires:
Scrubbing dirt and grime from surfaces and appliances
Scrubbing toilets, bathtubs, and sinks
Vacuuming and mopping
Cleaning baseboards, walls, windows
Moving furniture and appliances
And more
At Tidy Up Portland!, we offer a variety of deep cleaning services, including:
Move out cleaning
Deep-cleaning of one area or room; and
An initial deep clean to help get you started on the right foot
How Long Do House Cleaners Take to Clean a Home?
Professional house cleaners are usually trained and well-versed in how to properly clean a home. Because of their skill, they can likely clean your home as quickly as possible while doing a good job.
At Tidy Up Portland!, we understand the art of cleaning. We use the efficiency method — cleaning from left to right, top to bottom, and with as little foot movement around the home as possible — to ensure we are hitting every spot and moving along as efficiently as possible.
You might be thinking that it’s just too late to save your house. It’s beyond being able to be cleaned properly and begin again with a fresh slate. But you’re wrong. Tidy Up Portland! can help.
Not only do cleaning professionals, like our team at Tidy Up Portland!, understand how to properly clean surfaces and different rooms, but we’ve been trained to work methodically to make the most of our time in your home. It’s probable that with our skillset, we can clean your home quicker than you might and get it feeling fresh again.
Don’t Have the Time to Clean Your Home? Consider Tidy Up Portland! for Your Professional Cleaning Needs
If keeping up with your household chores is slowly becoming the bane of your existence, you’re in the right place. It’s overwhelming having to parent, feed your family, go to work, take care of yourself, and clean your house regularly.
Something has to go, and cleaning your house can be the answer. At Tidy Up Portland!, we are trained to clean even the dirtiest of homes.
Maybe you’re looking for professionals to clean your house regularly. We can do that!
Maybe things have got out of control and you need a one-time deep-cleaning to help get your house back in order. We can do that, too.
Contact us today to see how we can help.