How I keep my apartment clean with a cat

I’ve been struggling to keep my apartment clean. It’s a small space, but that dust piles up! I don’t know where it all comes from.

On top of that, I have a cat, and we are both very sensitive to strong smells and many cleaning products.

So I use very basic and minimal cleaning supplies to keep my apartment clean. I’ll also show you a bit of how I organize my cleaning routine so I don’t forget about anything.

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Cat-friendly cleaning products I use:

The air purifier collects a lot of dust and hair. I use it on the allergen setting. I’m not sure if it’s large enough for the space that we have. I bought it in 2019 and I don’t know if the air is technically cleaner. But the filters are always super dusty and full of hair when I change them so it must be doing something.

Lubluelu sent me the vacuum for free a few years ago. I use the vacuum to clean Jericho’s condos and carpet scratcher. It comes with several attachments. And one of them is a narrow hose-shaped attachment that’s perfect for cleaning his furniture and under the radiators.

before and after cleaning carpet cat scratcher with lubluelu vacuum

I used the vacuum to clean Jericho’s condo for the first time ever. Took about 10 minutes to clean the whole thing. The canister was full of dust and hair! Now I vacuum his furniture every 4 weeks as part of my monthly tasks.

before and after cleaning cat condo with lubluelu vacuum

The steam cleaner is very nice because I like that I’m cleaning with just hot water. No chemicals or strong smells. Jericho spends a lot of time running and rolling around on the floor. So I like that I can just clean with hot water.

I got my cleaning routine from That Awkward Mom’s YouTube channel (video above). She has children and a house. So a lot of her routine tasks don’t apply to me. But her routine structure is amazing and has worked well for me the last few months.

I created mine by making a list of everything that needs to get cleaned room by room. Then I divided it up so that I’m cleaning somewhat equal amounts every day. Once I knew I had a good routine going, I created a printable in Canva (I use the free version) and then used a self-laminating sheet so that I could mark it up as I complete tasks.

apartment cleaning schedule print out jess and jericho caticles.com

I will say though, as my schedule changes, I do change this around. So the printout says I do the floors and laundry on Thursday. But I actually moved that to Sunday. And sometimes I clean the bathroom and litter box on Wednesday instead of splitting it up.

But the point is, I have everything that needs to get cleaned all on one sheet. So if I decide to move things around, it’s ok. It’s much easier to see it all on one sheet. The weekly tasks are no problem for me because that’s been part of my routine since I got Jericho in 2017.

It’s the monthly tasks that I need to keep track of. These are the things that often pile up.

I don’t have a dishwasher, washer, dryer, garage, or any private outdoor space in my apartment. I don’t even have a microwave (which is fine because I wouldn’t use it anyway).

So my cleaning is pretty minimal. But the printout schedule is still incredibly helpful because lots of the monthly tasks often get overlooked.

By the way, I worked as a cat sitter for three years before I started my online business. I’ve scooped hundreds of boxes, tested nearly every cat litter, and have seen all types of litter area setups. And I fine-tuned a litter cleaning routine that keeps the smell out.

So I highly recommend checking out my litter cleaning hacks next!

How I keep my apartment clean with a cat jess and jericho caticles.com