The methods, practices, and routines for getting a clean home seem endless—and, truth be told, I’ve tried plenty of them. My regular cleaning routine tends to be a compilation of just about every regimen I’ve tried, from the 6/10 method to zone cleaning and even a 1950s cleaning schedule that I gave a whirl. Keeping the house clean and tidy isn’t so much of a struggle for our family at this point since our household of four includes two children who are old enough to mostly clean up after themselves, but if there’s one pain point, it’s the deep clean.

Scheduling a time to tackle a messy closet, dig through the too-small clothes in my children’s drawers, and even scrub every inch of the laundry room are my most put-off tasks. Unfortunately, I keep pushing them aside, and the issues seem to snowball, giving me the dreaded sense that my house is just about bursting at the seams. A tad dramatic? You betcha, but it’s a problem nonetheless.

When I was first introduced to the one-hour cleaning method, it looked like an intriguing solution to my deep-cleaning paralysis. Tackle one space, job, zone, or task in an hour—it couldn’t be more doable. So I set off with my trusty tub of cleaning supplies and a one-hour timer to give this new clean routine a go. Here’s what I learned.  

What Is the One-Hour Cleaning Method

The one-hour cleaning method is a daily practice of deep cleaning one room, space, or zone for an hour. When the timer goes off, put down your cleaning tools because your work is done for the day. The idea is that it helps put a stop time to tasks that can be hard to tackle, whether due to their tedious nature or because of limited time.

If you can spare an hour, you can make it happen—even tackling that fridge cleanout you’ve been putting off for weeks. All this without fear of getting sucked into an endless afternoon of scrubbing, sweating, and swearing, you’ll commit to weekly purges, so you don’t find yourself in the same situation two months from now. Here’s to hoping.

Pros of the One-Hour Cleaning Method

The one-hour cleaning method is ideal for those of us who can sometimes have a hard time getting started on a task or simply want a more strategic approach to deep cleaning. It can be a great way to get your house in ship shape in just a month, one hour, and one day at a time, which makes it ideal for pre-holiday prep.

While you can create a game plan that breaks down which space or job you’ll tackle each day, this method also allows for the flexibility of setting your own approach. Maybe you didn’t finish cleaning the kitchen during yesterday’s one-hour window, so you’re going to finish it up today and start on sprucing up the half bath, or perhaps you prefer to do one bedroom a day before moving on to the more communal spaces.  If it works for you, it will work for this method.

Cons of the One-Hour Cleaning Method

The biggest pitfall of the one-hour cleaning method, as far as I’m concerned, is the one-hour aspect. Not many of us can spare an extra hour each day, which is where it can get tricky. Luckily, I have some strategies below for combatting just that.

One of the other concerns I had with this cleaning strategy is that I can see it being a problem for someone like me who has a hard time not finishing a task—even if the timer has gone off. Getting my mind in the right place beforehand and realizing I might not get to everything I set off to achieve might be the hardest obstacle I had to overcome personally with this method.

Finally, one remaining concern with this strategy is that it takes up the bulk (if not all) of my daily cleaning time. Does one just neglect the laundry, fur ball tumbleweeds from my winter-coat-shedding pup, and the cloudy glass shower door? That’s a no for me. Instead, I decided to use this strategy a couple of days a week when I could spare the time. That way, I was able to keep up with my usual routine while still taking advantage of what turned out to be a useful technique for tackling my deep-cleaning aversion.

One-Hour Cleaning Method Tips

Start Small

When you first try this strategy, start with a bite-sized space. That way, you can have the satisfaction of starting with a project you can see through to completion in one hour. I tackled my daughter’s bedroom first. I cleaned out her dresser, dusted, mopped, cleaned the windows, and changed the linens. I tidied up the closet and wiped down high-touch surfaces. For me, it was a great way to build confidence in this new-to-me cleaning method. Once you’re feeling good about the process, start tackling those bigger jobs that might require more than a day or two to complete.

Be Realistic

I will be honest: When I was working full-time with a toddler and a baby, there was no way I had an extra hour to spare every week, let alone every day. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you don’t have to totally ditch the idea of the one-hour cleaning method if you want to give it a try.

Instead, make it work for you. Maybe it’s devoting 15 minutes at the end of the night or first thing in the morning so you can slowly tackle those jobs that you’ve wanted to take on for months, or maybe it’s only using this method once a week or once a year. Whatever you do, don’t even think about letting a well-meaning cleaning routine add another ounce of mom guilt to your shoulders.

Don’t Sweat It

Some things stick, and some don’t, but most importantly, I’ve found that the key to keeping a clean and tidy home tends to be less about staying true to a particular routine and more about flexibility. If something isn’t working for you, especially a cleaning routine of all things, there’s no shame in letting it go. Finally, landing on a process that achieves your goal of a (mostly) neat and tidy home is going to be all about how it works for you—not the other way around.