Clear Lists
Get the app →
Church Cleaning Checklist
A daily, weekly, monthly and annual round for the sanctuary, restrooms, nursery and kitchen.
A real, editable checklist below — tick, tap a line to rewrite, drag to reorder.
Tick the circles, tap any line to change it, drag the dots to reorder.
Saved in this browser. Send it to Clear to keep it on your phone.
Most of the sources split church cleaning into daily, weekly and monthly rounds, with a few annual jobs on top. Volunteers with changing schedules then know which round they're on. Daily work covers the sanctuary, restrooms, door handles and nursery. Monthly and annual jobs cover vents, carpets and the outside. The list assumes a typical building with a sanctuary, nursery and kitchen, so skip any room you don't have. It leaves out which products to buy and whether to hire a professional service.
Why these items are on the list
- Dust high, floors last. Start at ceiling level and finish on the floor, so dust doesn't land on clean surfaces.
- Check the week's event schedule. Pick an activity-free time so cleaning doesn't get in the way of services or programs.
- Vacuum sanctuary floors and aisles. Jan-Pro puts this on the daily list, before and after services.
- Wipe pew backs and armrests. Use an EPA-registered disinfectant. JAN-PRO says hundreds of people touch these shared surfaces in a single service.
- Wipe door handles and light switches. Push bars and push plates count too. They're touched constantly.
- Clean and restock restrooms. Restock toilet paper, towels and soap before every service, not after someone runs out.
- Empty trash, replace liners. Do public spaces, restrooms and any classroom that was used that day.
- Spot-clean entry glass. Check doors and entry points for fingerprints before people arrive.
- Reset and disinfect nursery toys. Do it after each use, and follow the disinfectant's stated contact time.
- Wash up the kitchen after meals. Dishes, counters with a food-safe sanitizer, stovetop and floor after every food event.
- Mop hard floors. Part of the weekly round. Spills still get mopped right away.
- Dust pew tops, sills and ledges. These collect dust over several days, which is why they sit on the weekly list.
- Deep clean restroom fixtures. Weekly job. Include around and behind the toilet bases.
- Disinfect fountains and coffee stations. Everyone shares them, and they're on the weekly round.
- Spot-clean carpet stains. Tackle them before they become permanent.
- Clean HVAC vents and return grilles. A monthly job that cuts down on dust building up.
- Wash altar cloths and choir robes. Monthly, as needed, for anything washable.
- Clean under and behind pews. Lift chairs and heavy items and clean beneath them. Monthly.
- Dust light fixtures, clear cobwebs. Monthly where you can reach safely. Anything above normal reach needs proper access equipment.
- Deep clean oven and fridge. Monthly kitchen job: ovens, refrigerator interiors and hood filters.
- Check drains and plumbing. Report slow drains or leaking fixtures properly, rather than just noticing them.
- Book professional carpet extraction. Annual job for sanctuary and fellowship hall carpets, best around lower-attendance periods.
- Pressure wash walkways and entrances. Annual exterior job. Many churches fold it into a spring clean.
- Add a sign-off line. Ziva Cleaning suggests date, time, initials and any issues noticed, so the next volunteer knows what happened.
Share the list with the volunteers on rota and everyone can see what's already been ticked, which saves the "did anyone do the nursery?" text.
When to use it
Use it for each service week, and again for the annual deep clean, which many churches plan around Easter.