How to Keep Your Room Clean

Co-authored by Ashley Moon, MA

A clean room can help you feel calm and relaxed and at peace when you’re at home-- and keep your parents or roommates from bugging you to clean your room! Although keeping your room clean might seem like a hard chore, adapting the right habits will make it quick and easy.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Deep Cleaning

1
Pick up clothes from the floor and bed. Clothes lying around on the floor, bed, and hanging over chairs can make even a clean room look dirty.
Collect clothes from around the room and sort them into a dirty and a clean pile.
Place dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. Fold and put away clean clothes.^{[1]
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Tip: Don’t forget to look under the bed, on the closet floor, and on top of furniture when you're collecting.
2
Collect and take out garbage. When you're busy with work, school, and other things, it can be easy to let garbage pile up in your room.
Go around the room with a garbage bag
and pick up wrappers, food, old papers, and any other trash you find around the room.^{[2]
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- When you’ve collected all the garbage, empty your bedroom garbage bin into the bag and take the bag down to wait for collection day.
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3
Clear away plates and utensils. Keeping plates, cups, and old food in your room can attract bugs, cause spills, and make your room messy. Collect anything that belongs in the kitchen and take it downstairs to the sink or dishwasher. Items to watch for include:^{[3]
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Items to Look For
- Plates and bowls
- Knives, forks, and spoons
- Glasses and mugs
- Food packets and food cans
- Food storage containers
4
Wash your linens. Strip the comforter, sheets, and pillow cases from your bed. Throw all washable linens into the hamper and take the linens to the laundry room for washing.
- If you can do a load of laundry on your own, wash your linens in the washing machine using your regular cycle. Otherwise, leave the linens for an adult to wash.
5
Make the bed with fresh linens. Grab a fresh set of linens for your bed, or wait until yours are washed and dried. Pull a fitted sheet over the mattress first, followed by the top sheet and any blankets you regularly use. Put the pillow cases back on the pillows next, then place the pillows on the bed. Lastly, pull the blanket, comforter, or duvet up and over the pillows.
- Make your bed daily.
  You don't have to redo the fitted sheet and pillow cases, but you should redo the top sheet and blankets.
- Change out your bedding every couple of weeks. If it is very hot and you are sweating a lot, you may need to change your bedding more often.
6
Clean up your desk. Bedroom desks are magnets for messes because that’s probably where you read, do your school work, and spend time on the computer. To tidy up your desk:^{[4]
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How to Clean Up Your Desk
Get rid of loose papers: Pick up all the papers, notes, and other loose sheets that are lying around.
Organize your papers: Organize and file the papers you want to keep in binders, folders, or file cabinets. Throw useless paper away. It is a great idea to reuse paper in different ways if you can.
Organize writing tools: Collect your pens, pencils, and other writing tools and store them in a cup, pencil case, or special drawer.
Clean up your books: Put away any books or magazines that are lying around. Give useless magazines to paper recycling centers.
7
Organize your night table. Your night table is probably a dumping ground for anything you’re doing right before bed, like reading, listening to music, taking off accessories, and other stuff. Clean off your night table and put away anything that doesn’t belong there.^{[5]
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- To keep your room looking clean and neat,
  store common bedside items, like tablets and books, inside the drawers of your night table
  rather than on top of it. Keep the top of the night stand for some simple items, like a lamp or a single picture.
8
Organize your dresser. Your dresser may also be a dumping ground for books, toys, accessories, jewelry and knick-knacks. Put jewelry back in a case or drawer, return books to the shelf, toss out garbage and junk that’s accumulated, put makeup back in the vanity or makeup case, and put accessories and other objects back where they belong.^{[6]
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- Keep your dresser organized. Make sure that your clothes are neatly folded; don't just stuff them into the drawer.
- Every so often, it would be a good idea to completely clear out your dresser. Separate out the items you no longer use, and put everything else back into the drawers.^{[7]
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  Expert Source
  
  Ashley Moon, MA
  Professional Organizer
  Expert Interview. 30 August 2019.}
9
Organize your closet. Closets tend to be where you throw everything that you don’t want to deal with right away, and now it’s time to address all those things. Tidy up your shoes, hang up clothes, throw out junk, and organize the shelves.

How to Organize Your Closet
Make it a routine: Go through your closet once or twice per year, and clear out the items you no longer use.
Use wasted wall space: Make blank wall space functional by installing towel bars, shelves, or hooks to hang accessories.
Raise your clothes rod: Open up some space by hanging your clothing rod higher on the wall. This can allow you to put a dresser or shoe rack underneath your hanging clothes.
Thoughtful placement: Put the items that you reach for first in the most accessible parts of your closet. This can help you get ready faster.
Get slimmer hangers: Consider investing in special, thin hangers for both tops and pants that can make your clothes take up less space.^{[8]
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10
Dust everything. Use a
duster or damp microfiber cloth
to dust corners and wall joints, the ceiling fan, light fixtures, shelves, where the wall and ceiling meet, and all the furniture in your room.
- As you dust, pick up objects that are obstructing your work, such as a lamp on the dresser, and dust underneath them.^{[9]
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11
Vacuum the floor. Use a vacuum to suck up dirt and dust from a carpeted floor, or use a broom or vacuum to clean up a tiled or wood floor. Use special attachments on the vacuum to clean the corners where the floor and wall meet, the baseboards, and other cracks and crevices.
- Don’t forget to move furniture so that you can clean under and behind the bed, dresser, and desk.^{[10]
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12
Clean the windows and mirrors. Spray the mirror with window cleaner, or with a solution of one part vinegar and three parts water. Use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe the mirror dry. Repeat with all the interior windows in the room and any dusty or dirty picture frames.^{[11]
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- Keep your window cleaner handy so that you can clean your mirror as needed or whenever it gets dirty. This is especially useful if you have nosy pets or kids.
EXPERT TIP

Filip Boksa
House Cleaning Professional
Filip Boksa is the CEO and Founder of King of Maids, a U.S. based home cleaning service that helps clients with cleaning and organization.

Filip Boksa
House Cleaning Professional

The secret of deep cleaning is attention to detail, not the products you use. Start a deep cleaning in one part of the room and work your way around clockwise from top to bottom. Pick up clothes and clutter, remove the trash, change the linens, and dust everything. Don't forget to wipe down the doors, baseboards, and decor. Finish by cleaning the floors and don't miss under the bed.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Keeping Your Room Organized

1
Make your bed every day. One of the most important things you can do to keep your room clean is making your bed every morning when you wake up. Straighten the top sheet and tuck it under your pillows. Straighten and fluff your pillows. Straighten the blanket or comforter and pull it up and over your pillows.^{[12]
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- Once your room has been thoroughly cleaned, keeping it clean is the simple part.
  It’s all about doing a few things every day,
  like making your bed, to maintain the cleanliness.
2
Hang up your clothes when you get home. Many people like to change into comfy clothes when they get home after a long day at school or work. When you do this, hang up your coat, throw dirty clothes in the hamper, and fold and put away clean clothes that you're going to wear again.^{[13]
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- After a long day, it can be tempting to come home and just throw your coat and clothes on the floor or bed. But if you want to keep your room clean after all that hard work, you have to put your clothes away.
3
Put dirty clothes right into the laundry basket. Never leave dirty clothes on the floor, on the bed, or lying around in the bathroom or laundry room. When you take off dirty clothes,
throw them right into the hamper.^{[14]
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- To make this job easier, consider leaving a few laundry hampers around the house in areas where you regularly change, like in the bathroom, in your closet, and near your dresser.
4
Put away clean laundry immediately. It can be just as easy to leave your clean laundry piled in a basket instead of putting it away. But again, this will quickly lead to a messy room, and it'll cause wrinkles in your clothes. When your clothes are fresh from the dryer, fold them neatly and put them away, or hang them back in the closet.^{[15]
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- This also includes things like linens and towels.
5
Don’t eat in your room. Having food in your room can attract bugs, cause spills, leave crumbs all over the place, and lead to a buildup of plates and cups in your room. Instead,
make your room a food-free zone,
and do all your eating and snacking in the kitchen.
- Take plates, cups, utensils, and food waste back to the kitchen immediately if you ever do eat in your room.
6
Purge clutter regularly. One of the biggest contributors to a messy room is having too much stuff. To prevent this, go through all your things, including clothes, toys, accessories, and other items and decide what you want to keep and what you want to sell, donate, or throw away.^{[16]
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Expert Source

Ashley Moon, MA
Professional Organizer
Expert Interview. 30 August 2019.}
- To help you decide what to keep and what to get rid of,
  ask yourself what items you haven't used or worn in over a year. If you haven't used something in over a year,
  there's a good chance you can get rid of it without missing it.
- Good items to sell or donate include clothes, toys, shoes, and books. Only throw things out if they're broken, have holes, or can't be reused or recycled.
7
Find a place for everything. When you have stuff that you don’t have a place for, you tend to just leave things lying around, because there's no special spot where you can put it back when you tidy up. Go over each item in your room and make sure each one has its own special spot.^{[17]
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- Use baskets or other storage containers to keep extra stuff organized if you don’t have a spot for it.
- Create a random drawer in your desk or dresser for small objects that have no fixed place.
8
Return things to their rightful place when you're done with them. Once everything has a special spot in your room, tidying up will be easy, because you'll know where everything goes. Here are some ideas for putting things back:^{[18]
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- Put books and magazines back on the shelf when you're done reading them
- Hang up clothes in the closet when you're done wearing them
- Put toys back in the drawer or on the shelf when you're done playing
- File away papers and notes in a drawer or binder when you don’t need them
- Return office items, like pens and paper clips, in the desk drawer when you're done

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Developing Good Cleaning Habits

1
Make a list of daily chores. Keeping your room clean is about getting into a good routine, and there are some things you should be doing every day. Make a list of these daily chores, and post the list somewhere visible. Set aside about 10 minutes every day to address these cleaning tasks. Daily chores should include:^{[19]
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- Making the bed
- Putting away clothes
- Tidying up toys, papers, and other items
- Throwing out garbage
2
Create a cleaning schedule for weekly chores. On top of your daily chores, there are other cleaning tasks you should address regularly. Make a list of all those tasks, and make a schedule where you tackle a different weekly cleaning task each day of the week.^{[20]
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Sample Weekly Chore Schedule
Monday: vacuum and dust
Tuesday: strip the bed and wash the linens
Wednesday: wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry
Thursday: clean the mirrors and windows
Friday: take out the trash
Saturday: tidy up the desk, dresser, and night table
Sunday: clean and organize the closet
3
Wash your linens weekly. Pull the blankets, top sheet, fitted sheet, pillow cases, and other linens from your bed. Throw them in the hamper and take them to the laundry room for washing.
- It’s important to wash your linens weekly to control dust, dirt, and other allergens.^{[21]
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4
Do laundry as soon as you have a full load. It can be easy to just let the dirty laundry pile up for weeks. However, keeping your room clean means staying on top of dirty laundry. As soon as you have a full hamper or enough for a load of laundry, get to the laundry room and wash a load.
- Some people find it easier to follow a set schedule when it comes to doing laundry. For example, some people do their laundry in the beginning of each month.
5
Keep a garbage can in your room and use it. Garbage is one reason rooms get messy quickly. To stop this from happening, keep a garbage bin in your room, either beside the bed or desk, and make sure you always throw trash out rather than leaving it lying around.
- As soon as the garbage can is full, take it to the garage or shed until collection day.
6
Vacuum and dust weekly. Use a damp microfiber cloth to dust all the surfaces in your room, including furniture, fixtures, fans, pictures, shelves, and tables. Vacuum the floors and baseboards to suck up dirt and dust.
- If you have pets or allergies, vacuum and dust two to three times a week.
7
Don’t put off cleaning. Ignoring your cleaning duties for just a few days can create an overwhelming list of chores. Before you know it, your room will be messy again and you'll have a major cleaning job on your hands. Once you create your daily and weekly cleaning schedules,
keep to it to make sure your good cleaning habits sink in and stick.
- If you miss a day of cleaning for whatever reason, address the chores you missed as soon as possible the next day to prevent duties and messes from building up.
- Try to turn cleaning into a game if you really don't like it. Challenge yourself to clean your room as fast as possible and try to beat your previous best.

Cleaning Checklist

Sample Cleaning Checklist

Expert Q&A
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Question

How can I keep my bedroom smelling fresh?

Ashley Moon, MA
Professional Organizer
Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.

Ashley Moon, MA

Professional Organizer

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Get rid of any trash, food, or dishes in your room. Wash your dirty laundry and bedding and put away your clean clothes. Then, quickly wipe down all surfaces with a microfiber cloth and all-purpose cleaner. Finish up by vacuuming and mopping your floors with a floor cleaner.
Question

How can I keep my room clean and organized?

Ashley Moon, MA
Professional Organizer
Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.

Ashley Moon, MA

Professional Organizer

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

One thing that will really help you keep your room clean and organized is to get rid of all the clutter. It takes twice as long to clean when there is clutter because you have to move around objects as opposed to just wiping surfaces.
Question

How can I clean my room in 5 minutes?

Ashley Moon, MA
Professional Organizer
Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.

Ashley Moon, MA

Professional Organizer

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

If you only have a few minutes, throw your dirty clothes and bedding into the laundry hamper. Next, walk around your room with a trash bag and toss out stray trash or knick-knacks you no longer need. Then, put all food items back where they belong.