How to teach your child to clean ANY bedroom in 10 minutes
(without using a blowtorch)
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have the hilarious Chris Haskell back on the blog with his co-worker, Bonnie Fife to explain how to teach your child to clean! You might remember Chris from this post, Keep the Sparks Hot. It has been crazy successful on the blog! The even better news is, Chris and Bonnie are going to be regular contributors to HDS so we are sure to get our lol quota taken care of and learn a thing or two in the process.
UPDATE:
You asked for it! We received so many requests to make a printable with these steps! Download a FREE PRINTABLE of these steps to refer to….before you revert to using a blow torch – see bottom of post for a picture.
Welcome Chris and Bonnie!
Does your child live in a room that could serve as a set in the crime drama “CSI-Magic Kingdom”?
It’s mind-boggling to imagine how your child’s room went from looking like the beautiful IKEA showroom you designed to what now resembles a gruesome, triple homicide in a princess-themed flophouse. Sometimes your dream of a clean room remains unattainable.
Your friend: “Oh, how cute! Olivia’s bedroom door adorned with police caution tape. That’s so clever, so urban. I’d love to see how you decorated inside.”
You: “It’s nothing really. Let me distract you in the kitchen…”
Friend: “Don’t be modest. Your living room is ‘totes adorbs’. Didn’t I see an Instagram of Olivia’s new curtains and …” <reaches for door>
You: “If you open that door I will EAT YOUR FACE!”
Until now, you may have felt that your biggest failing as a parent was the inability of your child to keep her room clean. It’s not. Your biggest failing is the “All Denim” family photo from 2010. But, the room and perhaps your first attempt at cutting hair, are certainly a close second. Sure, you’ve already considered many options to overcome the horror, which is a child’s bedroom. A chambermaid, arson, FEMA; all are potential, yet impractical solutions (and even illegal, in the case of FEMA).You might have given up all hope of tidy living and a clean bedroom, suffering from Sudden Onset Voluntary Dirtiness Dissociative Disorder as a personal coping strategy while passing the messy bedroom door. You wish you could develop a sense of order in your child. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to do it.
But what if we told you there is a way to teach your child how to clean on their own quickly, or build up good habits of cleaning, thoroughly and effectively? What if we told you it could be done in only ten minutes? Would you stop day-drinking your cooking wine and saying you “spilled it again”?
The process is simple. Broken down, it’s a five step approach in which the child is making easy decisions between few distinct options. This method is as much about teaching good, sustainable cleaning strategies as it is getting a room in order. But in order to be successful, you must be willing to let go of the minutia of adult-level details in favor of quick success. Don’t expect your little kid to become a professional organizer at once. Pausing to lecture your child about “Mommy’s Perfect Folding Technique for Underwear” not only makes it impossible to finish swiftly, it has also been scientifically proven that nitpicked children are guaranteed to select the career “back-alley tattoo artist.” At least, that’s what the research says.
A word of warning: It is likely you will uncover things in the cleaning process that normally, might make you angry. But in the long run, it will become their daily routine. Before you start cleaning, prepare yourself to keep cool by repeating this suggested phrase looking into the bathroom mirror. “I think you’ve been harboring more feral cats than anyone in your whole school. Oh,sweetie, that’s so <shudder>. . . cute.”
Now you are ready to begin.
Step #1:
Clear the bed and make it.
(1-2 minutes)
No matter how atrocious the bed and floor seem, the first step is to throw EVERYTHING off the bed to the floor. I know, I know it does not seem to be a good idea. This is how the mess was created in the first place. But it is also an important step in cleaning the room. With the bed clear, it is easy to make. And, a made bed makes any room look cleaner, which will feel inspiring to continue the autopsy,…er, room cleaning. To clean the entire room at once would be a nightmare for your child, so start small.
If you are one of these parents who demands “hospital corners,” we need to have a talk. The Geneva Convention strictly prohibits the use of hospital corners in bed making by children, husbands, and libertarians. Just get it made.
Step #2:
Put all clothes on the bed.
(2 minutes)
Using the “full hands” philosophy, collect every piece of clothing, towel, fabric, etc. Place it all in a pile at the foot of the bed. “But, you just told me to clear the bed! Now I’m supposed to dump a mixture of clean and dirty clothes on it?” you say, incredulously.
In short, yes. For children (and husbands), it’s best to keep it simple; this or that. The floor is littered with clothing, toys, things to keep, and trash. Basically, there are clothes and not clothes. Your child is making a plain choice between two clear options and acting on it. As he walks around the room, he collects one thing: clothes. At this point, do not use time sorting the laundry, which would add complication, just gather it up.
When you demonstrate this to your child, move quickly. The goal is to finish this part of the task in under two minutes, the whole job in ten or less. Stay focused, speedily filling your arms with all the clothing you can grab then dropping it onto the bed. You will not get a tidy space immediately, but look – your child is doing something about the messy room!
Step #3:
Gather items that belong in the room.
(2 minutes)
Note: This is where your addiction to baskets actually helps your family. Have a few baskets (boxes, buckets, containers, toy bins, whatever) standing by to help with sorting the big pile of clothes and items. With all of the clothing off the floor, you have two new options: things that stay in the room, and things that do not. Again, using the “full hands” (or basket) principle, move through the room picking up everything you can. When they start to fill up, walk around placing the items where they go, or close to it. Items that do not belong in the room (cups, plates, racoons, welding equipment, animal husbandry supplies), get placed just outside the door in a separate basket. They can be dealt with later. Taking them to their proper home now will prevent you from getting this room clean anytime in the foreseeable EVER.
The time-consuming task of walking each misfit item back to its intended home can be what derails most cleaning efforts. If we shrink our sphere and focus on putting things away within this room only, we can finish the job in the time allotted. Everything sitting outside the door can wait.
Repeat this method, circulating until the only thing left on the floor is garbage.
Step #4:
Get rid of the garbage
(2 minutes)
This is where a well-placed garbage can is really valuable. Set the can in the middle of the room and quickly toss everything that doesn’t belong into it. Of course, you will likely still need to vacuum (and release a family of squirrels into their natural habitat), but the result of picking up all that is left on the floor creates a magical environment.
This room is now officially 99% clean.
Step #5:
Separate the clothing
(2 minutes)
This is another either/or proposition. The clothing in the pile is clean or dirty. Separate this pile into two, making sure to inspect each garment to verify it does not have any spots, stains, or “crime scene evidence” tags. In some cases, it may be necessary to employ the sniff test, but a quick visual inspection for children is not out of the question.
Husbands, however, continue to use a version of the sniff test that is less accurate, and one they employed in college. (If it didn’t smell TOO much like pledge week, it was good to go. If it did, they would just throw it in the dryer with a dryer sheet.) It is also important to note that middle school children cannot smell. Puberty has rendered their olfactory sense inoperable.
If the clothing is clean, it goes into the clean pile, which will be put away. If it is dirty, it goes into the dirty pile, which will be taken to the laundry room or perhaps thrown into the fires of Mt. Doom.
Keep in mind that the training of children and husbands takes time. On the first attempt, a feeling of “success” is critical, but actual perfection is not. The important thing is to start teaching skills that will help them traumatize their own children someday. As you watch them in the not-so-distant future teach their own children this technique, you can just sit back, with that doll-like creepy old lady smile, and think to yourself with a sense of pride, “now we’re even.”
You are done!
Tear down the caution tape and celebrate by binge-watching those episodes of America’s Next Top Pet Groomer, because you’ve done enough parenting for one day. You can even take your friend on an impromptu tour of the children’s rooms. And, when your friend says, “how do you get your kids to keep it so clean?” You can answer, “You just have to be patient and willing to teach them.” But, don’t turn your back because she WILL stab you. Maybe it’s best just to Instagram it.
………………………………………………………………………………………
You asked for it! We received so many requests to make a printable with these steps! Download a FREE PRINTABLE of these steps to refer to….before you revert to using a blow torch:
Are you interested in natural cleaning solutions for your home? Check out these 31 Hacks and Tips for NATURAL Cleaning
Now that you’ve got your kids cleaning their rooms like pros, why stop there? Spring clean your backyard next!
Your home isn’t the only thing that could stand a little spring cleaning – your mind can, too! Here are 8 steps to clearing that internal clutter.
Sherryl says
Love the way you phrase things. Wish I had had help like this when my children were little. I am going to share your stuff!! Liberally!! Thanks.
breanna says
i like it to
Leia @ Eat It & Say Yum says
I LOVE this post! We definitely need to establish this routine at my house, the kids rooms are TERRIFYING! (Ok, mine isn’t perfect either…) Pinning! 🙂
Chris Haskell says
You mean a different “routine?” One that doesn’t include pleading, yelling, crying, hiding in the pantry with Mommy’s special Dr. Pepper, plotting to fake your own death, and moving to Hawaii?
Tammy Jennings says
I called my Mom and told her that I was thanking God for the internet today! I read this article and when my 6 year old came home I told him about it and he decided to try to get his room all clean using your method. I told him step one and we proceeded through the steps one at a time. This works GREAT! He got his room all cleaned up in about 20 minutes and was thrilled. The 5 steps broke down the job into manageable steps for a 6 year old and there was no argument, just blessed peace and joy at getting the job done quickly! Thank you so very much!!! (P.S. if there is a simple printable for this please let me know!!)
Missy says
I am so glad this helped! Thank you for letting us know – love it! A printable is a GREAT idea – I will see what I can do!
Amber says
You need to make this a handy printable so I can frame it and hang it in their rooms.
Tomi says
Bless yer beautiful hide – I may just try this on MY room!
Jec says
Yep, that’s totally what I was thinking. I printed off the printable to put up in all the kids’ rooms and my own too. THANK YOU!
Yaddy says
So….who did the cleaning…..mom or the child who owns the room. The article made it sound like mom did all the work….If mom, I would make the child do it, but one or two items at the time…..
Madime says
Sounds to me like Mom helped (and showed the child) the first (and maybe the second?) time, so that the child would know what to do.
Crystal says
Love it! Gonna use the heck out of this on my 6 kids. Its how I do things anyway but this breaks it down into understandable steps for kids!
Betsy says
Thanks for the article. I just wonder if you have a step-by-step plan for teaching a child to clean their playrooms in 10 minutes or so? I would really appreciate it!
Camille says
Just use the same method, you just dump everything into a pile and then choose what items you might have to sort. A bucket for the dolls, bucket for the cars, we make a pile of things that do not go in the room, and a pile for trash etc.
When I do this with my kids, I will assign one child to be the one that goes and gathers everything in the room and puts it in a pile. Then I will assign another child to go and gather any blankets or pillows and put those away, and then we all go in together and with our empty buckets gathered around the outside of the room that is now cleared, we start sorting everything. That goes really fast! The part that takes a little bit longer is in putting away all the things that do not go in the room. But, to get to that, we then sort those into areas where they go and then each child takes a pile and put it away.
Chris Haskell says
Camille is correct. The playroom can be cleaned in the same method. Although, the danger of making a pile is always the temptation to set it on fire. “Burn, Barbies, BURN!!!” Don’t do that. Watch for the upcoming article called, “Why are all the Barbies naked? 😛
·⋆·Ṭåηḳ✩Gïяℓ·⋆· says
I am always tempted to sweep all of the toys into a trash bag, once I get them all into that pile lol.
Justin Case says
Clean up the garbage… 2 minutes. Hah. I guess you’ve never seen a truly dirty room. Vacuuming is also an essential part of cleaning a room and you need to pick up anything bigger to than a pencil eraser or you’re going to clog your vacuum..
Esther says
finally, a voice of reason!
Hannah says
My sister sent this to me the day after it took my kids (ages 9 and 11) 5 hours to clean their rooms, and my youngest didn’t even get his completely finished. My biggest problem is the clutter – Legos, Legos, Legos, and more Legos. I can’t really complain too much because our kids do their own laundry, clean their own bathrooms, do the dishes, etc., but seeing the state of their bedrooms sometimes makes me want to crawl under the covers with a sippy cup of tequila. We will try this method next weekend and hopefully we get more family time and less mommy-pulling-out-her-hair time.
Renee says
Oh, the Legos! We organized them by color into buckets in an IKEA shelving unit, but my 7 year old tends to dump out an entire bucket looking for that one special piece that he has to use and gets so excited when he finds that piece that he completely forgets to put them all back in the bucket. Then, of course, he can never ever take apart any of his precious creations! So, he has to build new stuff on the floor, since his Lego table and desk are piled 6″ deep with random things he has made!
Alexandra says
Yes, we also did the color sorting! Took me 4 hours one day to organize and clean it all but he’s been able to keep it up by himself for 6 months now! Praise the Lord!! But he also dumps it out since the “special gems”fall to the bottom. What has worked for us is we use baby quilts on the floor to hunt for pieces, then he can grab two corners and dump them back in the bin after playtime’s over. 5 second clean up!
Ellen says
I don’t know about anyone else’s son’s, but mine is incredibly stinky at age 7. If clothing is on the floor, it’s safer to assume it’s dirty than risk a sniff test. Skip the second step and just put all floor clothing in the hamper. Never EVER sniff a sock. Just don’t.
Jenny @ My Little Me says
I will definitely be trying this out for my girls room. And I think I’ll adapt it for the living room as well! They have such a hard time cleaning it after destroying it!
Nancy says
Excellent and so easy! Thank you!
lily says
my daughter cleans her room now like a little angle
Nancy says
Trying to get on your mailing list but link says it’s not active and that I should notify you.
Jamie says
Am I the only parent with children who completely destroy their room every single day? I’m serious, 2 daughters (3 and 10) a shared room. It’ll be clean when they get up in the morning and by noon you can’t even walk in it.
JenC says
Your 2 daughters sound like mine. It can be cleaned in the morning and by afternoon all bets are off and it’s totally trashed with their toys, books, bedding, and clothing from drawers and closet.. My girls are 8 and 9 years old and share the same room as well
s says
Resets at transition times during the day are really great for fixing this! The children find this brings peace since messes are quicker to clean up if done throughout the day. If something is still in progress (puzzle, game etc) it can be left in an out of the way spot (extra table or slid under the bed for example) and continued throughout the day. But otherwise, messes are cleaned up. Train them to drop clothes right in the hamper. Keeping the hamper in the hall, bathroom or their room-whatever works for them and their space. Let them know clear rules and that if you have to help clean up their messes, you will be selling/donating their uncared for toys as your pay.
lily says
my daughter is cleaning her room now shes a little angel
PaJeane says
I’m going to go home and clean MY room with this method and I’m a Grandma. I’m going to adapt this to all the rooms in my house. My only problem with your post is I believe “husband” and “training” in the same sentence constitutes a true oxymoron. Unless, of course, we are referring to the dog training my husband to repeatedly throw the ball……..in the house. My daughter’s situation is the opposite of crime scene tape. I’m pretty sure the Legos, the crayons and the kids underwear (which are dated for expiration) are arranged by color. If I hadn’t been attached to the other end of the cord when she was born I would question her genetics. My son and his son, are without question, crime scene tape experts. I will share How to Teach a Child to Clean ANY Bedroom in Ten Minutes with them. Just as soon as HAZMAT gives the all clear.
Holly says
Where’s the poster version? I need one for my room.
Carrie says
Thank you for the steps… Where’s the step of pull everything out from under the bed?
Madime says
I solved that problem by putting our extra twin mattress under my son’s twin bed. Nothing else fits under there now 🙂
Camille says
This method is very helpful and useful, but the title is very misleading. This method although quick and very efficient, definitely takes more than 10 minutes unless it is just a follow-up job the next day.
If a room is truly messy, this is going to take much more closer to 30-40 minutes maybe even an hour on the first time.
although, gathering all the items in the room, making the bed, and separating into piles might take 10 minutes, the time of folding that pile of clean laundry, putting away the pile of things to do not going to the room, and putting away the things that go in the room is going to take a lot of time. Often times all parental involved the first couple times to continue and encourage the child.
Not to mention if the room was really that messy to begin with there is probably going to need to be a crazy vacuuming happening afterwards.
I have been doing a similar method with my five kids for years, we bring everything to the middle of the room in one big pile. We separate into piles of laundry, garbage, things to go out of the room, things that go in the room and that belong to different siblings into different piles. Luckily after doing this for quite a while, my kids are really great at being able to go in and start with the initial Gathering of everything to the center of the room on their own. I then usually sit down with them to do the separating. Once the separating has been done, someone is assigned to take out the trash and put a new bag in the garbage can, someone is assigned to put away the things that do not belong in the room, someone is assigned to vacuum, and then each is responsible for their pile of things that go in the room.
Luckily, if we keep up with this day after day, then yes cleaning their room can take absolutely less than 10 minutes! And, they can do it on their own. We use the same method with our playroom and it is very effective.
lisa smith says
Good start, but definitely not accurate on the time! Took 33 minutes just to fill the baskets! We will empty the baskets and sort clothes on the bed tomorrow!
Kaz F says
Thanks for this. I’ve just used it with my 2 boys 11 and 10. They share a room, it wasn’t particularly bad (even though it is school holidays) and they nailed it in 8 minutes. I even manged to quickly change their sheets while we were at it. I just need to go in and vacuum and dust now. They moved onto their study/playroom. That took a little bit longer as there are so many distractions, but it wasn’t bad either.
Jenny says
What a great idea, but I may have OCD. There is no way I could make the bed, then mix dirty and clean clothes and put them on the bed! Everything would be dirty at that point. LOL!
My room is clean, but my 10 year old’s is atrocious!
Tarrah says
That was my thought exactly! I wouldn’t even put the clothes on the bed to sort. I would just put them all in the hamper.
Renee says
Thanks for this great idea! I will be trying it out with my 7 year old as soon as he gets home from school. I’m just going to make one small adjustment. He has a loft bed, so instead of piling the clothes on his bed, we will put them all into a basket. They’re all going to end up in the laundry anyway. As far as I’m concerned, if they’ve been on the floor, or mixed in with dirty clothes, they all need to be washed anyway!
Tahna says
My kid needs a visual … do you have a chart for this process??
Missy says
We have one in the works – stay tuned!
Lara says
You are my new best friend: I have been able to get my daughter to clean her entire room happily, without WHINING!!!
You officially are a goddess to me…
THANK YOU!!! (Yes, I am an ADHD mom too…)
Whit says
This is very entertaining, thank you. Every time i get ready to help my kid clean, i should come here to read this and i’d be in such a jovial mood, i couldn’t yell.
The clothes item is exactly why we don’t keep clothing in our bedrooms. We have one big walk in closet, near our laundry room, and everyone’s clean clothes go in there. It is in the central part of our home, so all dirty clothes get dropped in the laundry and no clothing actually makes it’s way into a bedroom, unless it is on a body. That has been a marked improvement from our life before instituting this change.
Claudia says
What an interesting concept! Our laundry room was at one point a bedroom, thinking about making it a giant family closet. Thanks for the idea!
Narelle says
I use a similar idea, I get a leaf rake and rake the floor into one big pile, vacuum the floor to inspire us to what the room will look like ;). Then I sit down and start on one grouping from the pile, clothes, toys, etc. till the pile is gone, vacuum under the pile, make the beds. I started using a rake when I was pregnant and couldn’t bend down 15 million times to pick stuff up, and it worked so well I still do it. My husband thinks I’m nuts, but it really saves so much time and effort!!! ROFL
Emily @ RemarkableHome.net says
What about putting away all the things that don’t go in the room?
This is a good method. My boys love cleaning “games”. So I would excitedly explain this “game” to them and use a stop watch for each task. Whoever completes the task in the allotted time gets a point. Kid with the most points wins!
Dawn says
Hehehe loved this, can you make a printable chart? 🙂 My only change would be NOT To sort clothes at all, once clean mixed with dirty they are ALL FUNKY! Down the chute they go! 🙂
Vernita says
You have a wonderful writing style! Really enjoyed reading this.
Wendy says
I used this today for my 9 year old daughter, who whines and stalls every single week. She thought this was simple and empowering, and wants to use this method again next week! Thanks for sharing, and the good humor.
Marilyn Goodman says
This sounds all very nice, but has noone heard CAYG? Clean as you go…..
I know I come from the “olden days”, but outside of the final clean-up, why are
kids nowdays allowed to let their rooms become such “pits”? When they’re tiny tots they’re usually told to put one toy back before taking out another to play. Why doesn’t that carry through their teen years? Boys or girls can all keep that in mind. It shouldn’t be that difficult. It was a cute article tho and if all else fails I’m sure it would work for many
·⋆·Ṭåηḳ✩Gïяℓ·⋆· says
@marilyn goodman , well some of us have higher priorities than to constantly go into our kids rooms and get on their case about picking up a toy every time they get one out. The mess isn’t going anywhere, it’ll still be there when we have the time to help our kids clean their rooms. Until then, who cares? The kids are happy and having fun so let them play and be kids. They are only little once.
Eve Marks says
That’s what I thought when my kids were little. Only to find out that if we don’t teach them when they are little, they never learn. #justmyexperience
Margaret says
totally agree, from the voice of experience, kids ages 25, 22, 19, 14, and 10, and they still don’t know how to clean or keep a room clean
Anne says
ok you all: i raised my teen girls to always help me clean and learn how and therefore my house was always sort of messy because to include them in the cleaning process means cleaning and org took 2x as long. i thought “well, we are learning together! and chores become fun! i’ve got this nailed down, when they are teens all this messy house living and patience will be worth it.”
ha. not at all – they both now hate the word “chore” and even the one who was a neat freak as a kid, is super messy – oy. thank you for this amazing list!
started over with one more child, a boy this time, now living with 2 teens and a toddler. and grateful for the chance to just play this time, not focus so much on chores, life is too short, and anyway, my idea of including my girls did’nt work anyway!
Jessica R says
Started to read this article from Pinterest…. But I had to stop scrolling because of the ads. You might want to figure out how to get them to match something other than the line about the gruesome murder scene… because most of the ads I see on this page is for “suicide and death scene cleanup.” Affordablebiocleanupinc.com. Disturbing! Great article but I couldn’t finish it!
Katie says
So sorry about that! Thanks for bringing it to our attention. We’ll get that fixed asap. Thank you!!
Leslie says
Am I the only one who skips the sorting laundry part and just takes it all down to be washed? I figure it’s been in that mess long enough and been stepped on enough times it should be washed. But then there are only 4 of us in the house, if you have more kids I could see how that could get out of hand really fast. lol. Love this though! And the humor is great! I’m going to use it myself for all over my house. I tend to get so detail oriented that while my microwave may look amazing the rest of the kitchen is still a mess 3 hours later. hahah.
Karen says
I have to say, I am a bit incredulous. One area that this doesn’t touch at all is the desk or the bookshelf (stuffed with things from the last time they “cleaned” their room). Where in the process does the desk come in? I am a big fan of having the bed made (wish my kids or hubby were as enthusiastic). Also, this whole sorting clothes that are clean or dirty…my kids assume that if it is anywhere in their room but in their drawers or closet that it must be dirty. So much easier FOR THEM to walk it to the laundry room, have it get washed and folded and put away than for them to say that it is clean and that it needs to be folded and put away.
Marie says
I love this, The lil phrases you use is just too cute…, I only have one child still at home an at 14 her room stays a disaster area… not just on the floor but piled on her dresser an shelves.. She puts nothing back in place. She gets side tracked seems like every couple of min. I am definitely going to try this.
Heart says
Oh my goodness! The fights I’ve had with my eight-year-old daughter over her room. We tried this last night and we both agreed it was fabulous! Thank you.
charity says
just wondering how you put away toys in the room?
Erica says
Great post!! Love your humor. Thanks so much. (Pinned!)
heather says
I do have to say that I agree with the above posters about the time being WAY off for a *true* messy room, as opposed to just a touchup. The time does not include putting the clothes away, for instance — only putting them in the clean pile. And it doesn’t really include putting the ‘things’ away either.
It also makes the assumption that there’s a clear place to put the things, which might not be the case if the desk and the shelves is in a similar mess. Pulling everything off the shelves to do the same trick (keep, other room, garbage) will add to the time.
We did a run-through tonight with my 8yo daughter’s disaster of a room. Plus side, she enjoyed it. Minus side — it took 20 minutes and we only got one corner done. It was the worst corner, and we did get the clothes from the entire room. But there’s still much to be done, including the desk and the shelves, and no sweeping or vaccuuming has happened yet. And nothing in the ‘stays in the room’ basket has been put away yet.
And at any rate, this is basically Flylady’s system. I don’t know if she came up with it in the first place — probably not — but it’s nothing revolutionary. But it *is* hilariously written. Lest it sound like I’m merely complaining, I enjoyed the hell out of the article.
·⋆·Ṭåηḳ✩Gïяℓ·⋆· says
Flylady definitely didn’t come up with it. My mother and I use to use a similar method when I was little. Like when we did laundry, our bedrooms were upstairs and the laundry room was downstairs, so we would take a broom and sweep all of the clothes from each bedroom, down the hall and then down the steps. Once downstairs we could toss everything into the washer, then dryer, etc. when we cleaned my kids toy room, we did the same thing basically; swept everything into a pile and tossed the toys that we wanted to get rid of into bags and the keep stuff was tossed into a tote to go through and separate to organize at a later time.
St. K says
These steps are fantastic and make a lot of sense. The times are obviously way too short. The author has obviously never seen what real rooms look like!
The principles stated are right on, however.
Melanie says
Step 0: Organize your child’s room with the child so that everything has a place and the child knows where that place is.
Seriously, this plan would not have worked for my daughters a few months ago. They would have got bogged down in step 3 “walk around placing the items where they go, or close to it.” They had no idea how to do this because they had no idea that things had places where they went.
So I spent a day helping them organize. We made a big pile in the middle of the room and sorted it into categories. A box for trash, a box for things that go in another room, a pile for things that stay in this room. Then we sorted out the clothes. Then we were left with a bunch of stuff they didn’t know how to put away. We sorted it into piles of like things: stuffed animals, food and dishes and utensils for the play kitchen, doll clothes, dress up clothes, scarves and ribbons, lego, craft projects, scrap fabric, rocks, personal treasures, swords and other weapons. Then we created a home for each of those things, finding a container to repurpose, buying a big laundry hamper for the dress up clothes, etc. I realized finally that it was important that the containers were big enough. A too small bin for the dress up clothes was always overflowing. An oversized hamper solved that problem. A too small box for the blocks meant the blocks had to be stacked neatly and that took too long, a larger box allowed them to dump and go. A long day of planning and organizing on the front end has led to a room they can keep clean with small amounts of daily maintenance.
But a few years ago this wouldn’t have worked because my oldest daughter simply could not understand the idea of things having a place or of containers being single purpose. She was always dumping toys out to use the baskets for doll beds, doll houses, ships, shopping carts, whatever. I think it was really a matter of maturity before she was capable of understanding that objects need to have a home to live in. .
Mel Smith says
I love this! My son is resistant to doing it this way but I’m working on him.
Michelle @ My Blessed Home says
Love your humors and the method. I did this with my boys this morning (we were way overdue for a super cleaning) and it took us 25 minutes. But then again, I have five boys sharing one room, so 25 minutes isn’t bad. 🙂
Jess says
Yes! I LOVE this article. I struggle every 3 days to get her room cleaned up again, and your wording is so spot on. Although, you missed the “will you help me!?” …”No mommy has to go scrape the snot and fly vomit off last nights dishes”. This method, that I’m still shocked I just read for free, will work beautifully for my hoarding 8yr old! But does this mean I have to stop day drinking my cooking wine?
Kat says
Please please show same type of system to organize clean office area. Paper piles everywhere. Help
A.D. Ellis says
I’m an author, teacher, and mom of two kids with dirty rooms. Not only did I pick up some tips here, I almost peed myself laughing. THANKS!
whitney kasinger says
you have the most wonderful sense of humor.
a. i needed the laughs today.
b. i’m so implementing these steps TOMORROW!
sarah says
Funny, I would think someone who holds a degree in English would know how to spell the word feral when referring to the cat.
Missy says
Thanks for finding that typo – honestly, when I edited this post (I didn’t write it) I didn’t even know what a feral cat was and should’ve looked it up – but at least now I do! I made the change. 🙂
Amy says
I LOVE this!!! This is a great break down and something totally doable.
Beverly says
Any hints on where to put the decluttering of surfaces in this process? My 3 younglings (ages 8-13) are decent at picking up floor clutter, but the surfaces (dresser, desk, bookcase) are our nemesis!! Thank you for this anyways… maybe it’s time to employ a new and perhaps a more fun way for them to clean!
Theresa says
Racoons…. priceless!
Melody says
I just found this and love it! I needed the laugh and the ideas! I can’t wait in inflict this …I mean implement this right away 😀
Rose says
Although I like the process of the 10 minute room cleaning and have adapted in our house, it has never been completed in 10 minutes. That’s with me helping and guiding and with different children. Takes closer to two hours…..
P31wnb says
I just read through this with my 9 and 12 year olds, and they are game to try it… but in the interest of accuracy, they have asked me to point out that there are two steps missing. Step 6: Vacuum, and Step 7: Deal with the blockade in the hallway that was created in Step 3. 🙂 Actually, those might have to be reversed, as the barricade may block the ingress of the vacuum to the bedroom…
Brian Morin says
This is great if your child has a playroom somewhere else or a room that has a positive ratio in the space to stuff formula. But what if your kid just doesn’t have the space to put all of their stuff?
shelli says
Reduce, Reuse, RECYCLE!
Paul says
Great steps to teach kids to clean their rooms! But why do you have to insult husbands in the process?
Leslie says
Haha. You forgot the step in which you try to convince the kid for 1 1/2 hours that every little piece of crap in their room might actually belong somewhere else or really be trash, and then deal with the ensuing temper tantrum when you start throwing out the crap anyway.
shelli says
This!
Tim says
Great article but please note that not all husbands are childlike buffoons with disregard for basic human hygiene. Now if you excuse me I have to go get dressed. Sniff sniff.
Esther says
my thoughts exactly
maggie says
Thank you for the clean bedroom tips! We have 3 grandkids living with us, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get them to clean their rooms. Especially putting clean clothes away, instead of sending them back to the laundryroom. I’m going to post this on their doors!
Barbara Marsh says
I plan to share this with my 3 married daughters so they can post this on their children’s rooms. Only 14 grandkids (7 of each) but sure would be helpful for especially the 20+ years olds. They are worse now than when they were really little! Does it ever go away!!!!
Eric says
Very nice process, but I agree with some of the comments below on the reality of the time involved. It reminds me of a time I was getting out of a gym membership shortly after my oldest kid was born. The trainer kept asking me, “you can’t find 20 minutes to exercise?” To which I responded, “you know that’s b.s. It’s not just 20 minutes to exercise. You have the 15 minute drive to the gym, 15 minutes back, 15 minutes to shower, 15 minutes to grab some fruit, water and consume it… workouts are closer to an hour and a half, not 20 minutes. And, no, with a newborn, I can’t find that in my schedule.” So, 10 minutes to clean a room? With this process, it’s more like 10 minutes for some of the first few steps, but as pointed out, it’s tens of minutes to sort, fold, hang up the clean clothes, Similar timing to sort various toys into their bins, vacuuming, dusting, organizing the desk and dresser tops, etc. All that being said, the process outlined is pretty solid. I’m a big proponent of emptying the tops of flat surfaces onto the floor into a singular pile and then ‘working the pile’.
Kim says
While I’m skeptical of this list (steps 1,2,4,5 work, but step 3 is 30 minutes, minimum), here’s my approach to the clothes:
1) Get the kid a dresser that’s big enough that the clothes don’t need to be folded to fit in to their appropriate drawers.
2) Don’t bother to fold them. Just sort them by which drawer they go into, and chuck them into the right drawers.
What about dressy clothes, you ask. Sure, hang them up in the closet. But in our case, they only get worn on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and maybe a couple other occasions each year.
Tracy says
Thank you so much! This has changed my life! I have 5 kids and keeping tidy is a constant struggle! I use this for my own room (yes! My room gets disastrous as well!) and the kids room. I’ve also used this strategy for other areas of the house as well like the kitchen and living room, simply substituting the centerpiece of the room (like the kitchen island or couch) in place of the bed. Works wonders!
teri says
Yay! This is a fabulous list for my 10 year old!!!! Laughed all the way through the article! 😉 Stealing some one liners! lol
Sharleen Whealan says
I’m a retired grandmother and read your how to clean the room in ten minutes. Love it! I have more time than the mothers do, so I will pass on the tips to my grandkids moms AND dads and print out the printables for them! May follow some of these techniques myself! Your posts make me smile-a lot!
Mj says
OMG Need to do this
April Wallace says
Love your article! I have 8-year-old son. He is soooo responsible. He insists to clean and organize his room. Every time he does it I give him a surprise. It is usually some reward or candy. Best regards!
Janet says
You need to add step 6 to vacuum said room and step 7 put away things that didn’t belong in your room and you are golden.
Rebecca says
I was going to send this to my husband as a great suggestion for helping our boys tidy but was put off by your assumption that husbands can’t clean… You haven’t met mine! He’s the one who keeps our house in order and is way more fastidious than me. He’s not the only husband I know like that either…
Ta Wanda says
I’m an “organization junkie” of sorts and have tried so many methods over the years that have claimed to be easy and effective for kids but this is one ACTUALLY works! My son and I tried it one day after school and we were able to get mostly EVERYTHING cleared! This is a huge accomplishment for us! I say nearly everything because we are a family that stays on the go and we don’t have hours of downtime–we have to use our minutes effectively. This method did the trick on all the major items that I had been nagging him about lol. A timer kept us on task and chucking items helped us both not to succumb to the often distracting process of tackling one item at a time. All that was left was a thorough sweeping and carpet cleaning and we were done! I loved this method so much that I printed and framed the free printable detailing it and put it on my son’s bookcase shelf (bought a simple frame from the dollar store)! Thank you so much for sharing!
Kat says
“If you open that door I will EAT YOUR FACE!” I use the “eat your face” threat occasionally, the look of surprise and confusion always makes it hard to keep a straight face.
Great post!
shelli says
This looks great on paper, but is SO not practical! There’s no time allowed for the “oh, wait! I lost this EONS ago….,” or the “now that I’ve gathered it, what do I DO with it?
And there’s still going to be clothes on the bed….
Your picture is BEEEEEUUUUUtiful! But not practical, alas.
Chris says
Oh, ye of little faith. Cleaned my son’s room while he was in the hospital in 10 using the method myself. Even changed a lightbulb and put clothes away.
https://www.facebook.com/TheHaskell/videos/p.10154352275153659/10154352275153659/?type=2&theater¬if_t=video_processed¬if_id=1469313691039983
Margaret says
But you cleaned the room, this is supposed to be for them cleaning the room.
Julee says
“America’s Next Top Pet Groomer”? Is that a real show? If so, I’m in!!
Chris says
It should be.
·⋆·Ṭåηḳ✩Gïяℓ·⋆· says
Great blog article! I think I’ll give this a shot with my two kids and their bedrooms (after I rent a dumpster for them to throw everything from under their beds away). And I’m thinking that putting up a few shelves with some small baskets on them may be a good idea. That way, whatever doesn’t fit in the baskets on the shelves can just be tossed out. Then next time we need to clean up after “hurricanes Molly & Max” there will be less to pick up, making it a lot easier to do. and then while sorting laundry to be washed, I’ll be checking for clothes that no longer fit and bagging them up to donate.
Shirley Richey says
First of all, thank you so much for this article. First, because my children are not the only “little piggies” who, not only don’t clean their room, but destroy it! Second, this checklist will make it less traumatic for me and my children to clean their room. Finally, it will save my body from getting hurt. Kneeling on a Lego when kissing your children goodnight will kill you! Twisting your ankle in the middle of the night and bumping into furniture because there’s not a clear surface anywhere on that floor, will also kill you. Thanks for saving me and my children in the process:)
Molly says
This has worked great for us! I’m a little ashamed to say I mostly use it on the master bedroom – our kids are pretty young and their rooms are small, so we don’t keep very much stuff in there, so most of the time their rooms aren’t too bad. But since apparently a home without messy bedrooms is impossible, our bedroom constantly looks like we’ve been robbed – it starts with good intentions to fold a load of laundry up there, but it either never gets folded or never gets put away, eventually it ends up on the floor or the dresser, and it never goes away, and then everything else piles on top until we can’t even see the floor. It’s terrible! So while it takes me way more than 10 minutes, this method does help me a lot to get it under control!
Chris says
Oh, yeah! Master bedroom can feel like the Ellis Island of laundry… “tired, weary, huddles masses.”
Molly Rhoten says
I loved this so much! I hope you don’t mind if I link to this this from my blog. I created a free printable (with pictures!) that you can use with this post. It’s available for free here: http://thetripclip.com/tc/images/5-steps-to-a-clean-room.png.
kassandra says
Do you all have a ‘clean any room in 10 minutes? ‘
Chris says
…with Blowtorch! 🙂
Helena says
Oh my! I was already laughing to myself (this article describes my artistic 12 year old daughter’s room to a TEE!) when I got to the part that said “Note: This is where your addiction to baskets actually helps your family”. My husband is like ‘what do we need another basket for?!?’. Usually cleaning my daughter’s room results in one or both of us being on the verge of tears. It’s that bad. I’m printing this list for her room and saying a prayer!
April says
Great tips!! Will definitely try this with my boys but with one exception. For me, all clothes that are in the floor are now considered dirty which will actually make this easier. Everything clothing will go straight to the laundry room!
Eve Marks says
You have a great sense of humour, and good ideas too. Thanks
Carol Paul says
LOVE THIS! Sharing it on The Team Clean FB page now 🙂 We use your same idea of “only a few steps” for every room in the house. Check it out TheTeamClean.com
Nathalie says
I love this article this helps not just with kids but also college although All the clothes stay in their drawers or in the hamper!
p.s. did anyone else have a video come up randomly while they were reading this?
I did and I couldn’t find it on the page, but it sounded extremely interesting!
Jeff says
Awesome idea, but what’s with the husband bashing? :-/
Chris Haskell says
Written by a husband.
Martha says
I just went through this with my 8yo daughter. I kept telling her that it didn’t have to be perfect, but we needed to get through each step. She was so excited with each step we finished and feels pretty proud of herself for picking up her room (and she can actually get on her bed!!). It still needs some work, but neither of us are so overwhelmed with the task that it seems impossible. I’m actually motivated to help her finish. But let me rest first – I need to help my 10yo son with his room. Thank you for this! ~an easily overwhelmed mom
Marcianna says
Well that didnt work… AT ALL. My 9 year old nd I had the biggest fight ever!
Ann says
This actually worked with my 7 year old! I didn’t think it was much different from what I normally ask of her but the end result was certainly different!! It was actually done – and she didn’t want to have her reward iPad time until she was done even though that meant she had her reward the next day. There is something about the order of things that made the job go faster and inspired her to finish (this is the girl that normally never finishes or takes a week to do so). Thanks so much!!! Do you have any advise on how to clean common areas for adults? I’m very challenged when it comes to cleaning and organizing. 🙂
Amy Hallett says
I gave this to my daughter and told her to put it in her room where she could see it. She put it in the middle of the floor.
SueB says
Ok…you have just rocked my world! As a much older kid with no children of my own I will be using this method on me! As a little one I was given 2 choises, do it right or don’t do it at all. Once I realised that I could never get it “right” enough, I stopped doing it at all. Oh the many years of frustration and way too messy-ness that I have suffered through. Thank you for this post. I will be subscribing to your site because of this. Off to make my bed and then the bedroim!
Simon Keating says
I use Mr Bomb & Friends. Tell the kids that the bomb is going on and they will speed into action. Bedroom tidy in 5 minutes. Job done! 🙂
http://www.ruleoffun.com/mrbombandfriends/
yara says
Love this! What would you suggest for a 3 and 2 year old that do not like to listen/help? I’ve tried making games out of it and sending them to sit until they were ready to help, but still nothing.
Gilana says
Hey, guy you easy to say but when your kids dont listen to us. how to get solution.
Rachel says
I realize that I’m a little late to the show, but I absolutely love this! And I love that you’re honest and not condescending about it! I feel like I’m being judged when my house is a mess and it’s refreshing to see your honesty (ie: clean clothes mixed with dirty, animal husbandry😂) nobody i know would admit that this happens in their home. I feel like I’m not alone! Thank you so much for that
Dodie Vaughn Price says
This isn’t cleaning, this is picking up and putting away. Nothing wrong with that, but CLEANING is changing the sheets, dusting, wiping down fingerprints/sticky stuff, and vacuuming the floor. That is cleaning. And that really doesn’t take much longer than 10 minutes. What you’ve described here is a tidy that should be done daily.
Airbnb Cleaning says
Wow what a wonderful post this is..I think each and every parent should read it once.I am sure they will feel inspired. I appreciate your efforts and I will refer as many friends as I can to read this post. Well done!