Diwali Cleaning Checklist: Room-by-Room Plan

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Diwali falls on Sunday, 8 November this year, with Dhanteras on Friday, 6 November (Hindu Tone festival calendar). That leaves a little over three weeks, which is enough time to clean the whole house properly without wearing yourself out in the last weekend.

This checklist splits the work into ten sessions of two to three hours each, room by room. If you are shorter on time, there is a three-day version near the end.

If you already did a big clean before Navratri, you are ahead. Use our Navratri home cleaning guide to see what you covered, and skip straight to the rooms that have slipped since.

Before you start: three rules that save hours

Declutter before you clean. Every item you remove is one less thing to dust, wipe and put back. Spend the first session sorting, and keep a separate bag each for donate, sell to the kabadiwala, recycle and throw. Our list of things to throw away before Diwali covers what usually goes and where each item should end up.

Work top to bottom. Ceiling fans, cobwebs, light fittings and the tops of almirahs come first. Dust falls, so floors are always last.

Dry before wet. Dust and vacuum a surface before you wipe it with a damp cloth. Wet cloths on dusty surfaces leave muddy streaks that take twice as long to remove.

Supplies to gather on day one

Collect everything in one bucket or caddy so you are not hunting for a cloth halfway up a ladder.

Jhadu, pocha and a bucket
Six to eight microfibre or old cotton cloths
An extendable duster or a broom with an old cloth tied over it, for fans and corners
A sturdy step stool
Rubber gloves and a cloth mask for dusty jobs
Dish soap, baking soda, white vinegar and lemons
Your usual floor cleaner and bathroom cleaner
Old toothbrushes for grout, taps and corners
Large bags for donations and scrap

One safety rule you should not skip

Never mix bleach-based cleaners with vinegar, ammonia or other cleaning products. Bleach reacts with acids and ammonia and can release toxic gases, which is why Health Canada advises using bleach on its own, with gloves, and with windows open (Health Canada advisory). Many bathroom and tile cleaners contain bleach, so read the label before you follow one product with another in the same space. Rinse with plain water in between.

The 10-day Diwali cleaning plan

Each day is one session. You do not need to do them on consecutive days; most families spread them over two or three weekends.

Session	Focus	Main jobs
1	Declutter	Sort every room into keep, donate, sell, recycle and throw
2	High places	Fans, cobwebs, light fittings, tops of almirahs and doors
3	Fabrics	Curtains, cushion covers, bedsheets, diwan covers
4	Bedrooms	Wardrobes, under beds, mattresses, side tables
5	Living room	Sofa, TV unit, showcase, windows and grills
6	Kitchen, part 1	Cabinets, dabbas, masala shelf, fridge
7	Kitchen, part 2	Chimney, stove, tiles, sink, floor
8	Bathrooms	Tiles, taps, geyser, exhaust fan, drains
9	Puja corner	Shelf, idols, brass and silver items, diyas
10	Entrance and balcony	Main door, nameplate, balcony, final mop of the whole house

Room-by-room checklist

Session 1: Declutter the whole house

Go room by room with your bags. The usual suspects are old newspapers, empty boxes from last year’s gifts, broken appliances, expired medicines, clothes no one has worn in a year, and kitchen items you have duplicates of.

Expired medicines need care. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s guidance recommends take-back points run with chemists’ associations, and lists only a small set of drugs that are safe to flush (Down To Earth summary of the CDSCO guidance). Ask your local chemist whether they collect them before you put anything in the bin.

Session 2: Fans, cobwebs and high places

Switch off fans at the mains. Slide an old pillow cover over each blade and pull it back, so the dust stays inside the cover instead of falling on you.
Clear cobwebs from ceiling corners, behind doors and above windows.
Wipe tube lights, bulbs and fittings once they are switched off and cool.
Dust the tops of almirahs, the fridge and kitchen cabinets. Lining these tops with newspaper afterwards makes next year easier.

Session 3: Curtains and fabrics

Take down curtains and check the care label before washing; some lined or embroidered curtains need dry cleaning. Wash cushion covers, diwan covers and bedsheets on the same day so you can hang everything out together. Mattresses and pillows benefit from a few hours in direct sun, and a vacuum or a firm beating before they go back on the bed.

Session 4: Bedrooms

Empty one wardrobe shelf at a time, wipe it, and put back only what you wear. Our guide to organising clothes in a closet by category helps if the wardrobe needs a full reset.
Pull out everything stored under the bed, vacuum or sweep, then return only what belongs there.
Wipe side tables, switchboards and door handles.
Clean mirrors and dressing tables last so dust from other jobs does not land on them.

Session 5: Living room

Vacuum the sofa, including under the cushions, and spot-clean stains with mild soap and water. Test any cleaner on a hidden patch first.
Dust the TV unit, showcase and every decorative piece. This is a good moment to put away anything that crowds the shelves before Diwali decorations go up.
Clean windows and grills. Soapy water and a toothbrush handle the grills; newspaper or a dry microfibre cloth gives glass a streak-free finish.
Wipe switchboards and remote controls with a barely damp cloth.

Sessions 6 and 7: Kitchen

The kitchen takes two sessions in most Indian homes because of grease on the chimney, tiles and cabinet tops. We have a separate kitchen deep cleaning guide for Diwali with the full method for the chimney, fridge, gas stove and masala dabba.

The short version: empty and wipe cabinets one at a time, wash and dry steel dabbas before refilling them, clear out expired food from the fridge, degrease the chimney filters and stove, and finish with the tiles, sink and floor. If you want to rethink storage while the shelves are empty, our list of kitchen organiser items for Indian kitchens is a good starting point.

Session 8: Bathrooms

Scrub tiles and grout with your bathroom cleaner and an old toothbrush. Rinse well.
Soak shower heads and tap aerators in a vinegar and water mix to loosen hard water deposits, then rinse. Skip this step if you have just used a bleach-based cleaner in the same bathroom.
Wipe the geyser body, mirror and cabinet.
Clean the exhaust fan with the power off.
Clear hair from drains.

Session 9: Puja corner

Remove everything from the puja shelf, dust the shelf and wipe it with a dry cloth. Clean the idols and frames according to their material. Brass, copper and silver each need a different approach, and polishing some items can damage them; our guide to cleaning brass and silver puja items explains which method suits which piece.

If the puja corner itself feels cramped, the storage ideas in our puja room organisation guide work just as well for Diwali.

Session 10: Entrance, balcony and the final mop

Wash the main door and wipe the nameplate, door frame and bell.
Sweep and wash the balcony, and repot or trim plants.
Clear shoes from the entrance and keep only the pairs in daily use there.
Do one final sweep and mop of the whole house, starting from the room furthest from the main door and working towards it.

Short on time? The 3-day version

If you are starting late, focus on what guests see and where the puja happens.

Day 1: Declutter the living room and entrance, dust fans and high surfaces in those areas, and wash cushion covers.
Day 2: Wipe kitchen counters, the stove and the fridge, and clean the guest bathroom.
Day 3: Clean the puja corner, the main door and the balcony, then mop the whole house.

Bedrooms and wardrobes can wait until after Diwali.

Natural cleaners: where they work and where to avoid them

Baking soda, vinegar and lemon handle a lot of Diwali cleaning. A baking soda paste lifts light grease from tiles and steel. Diluted vinegar cuts through hard water marks on glass and taps.

Keep acids off natural stone. Vinegar and lemon can dull the polish on marble, kota and granite floors and counters, so use plain water with a mild pH-neutral cleaner there instead. And never combine homemade cleaners with bleach-based products, as covered above.

If you are interested in moving more of your routine to gentler products, our piece on switching to organic products covers what to look for on labels.

After Diwali

Wax drips, oil marks from diyas, rangoli powder and cracker residue all need a quick clean-up in the days after the festival. We cover each of these in our post-Diwali cleaning guide.

Frequently asked questions

When should I start Diwali cleaning?

Three to four weeks before Diwali gives you time to do one room per session without rushing. This year that means starting by mid-October.

What should I clean first for Diwali?

Declutter first, then clean from the top of each room to the bottom. Fans and high surfaces come before furniture, and floors come last.

How can I divide Diwali cleaning in the family?

Assign whole rooms or whole tasks rather than splitting one job between several people. Children can sort their own toys and books, wipe low shelves and fold cleaned fabrics.

Can I use vinegar on marble floors?

Avoid it. Vinegar is acidic and can dull marble and other natural stone. Use water with a mild pH-neutral cleaner.

What do I do with the things I clear out?

Give wearable clothes and usable household items to a donation drive or an organisation such as Goonj, sell paper and metal scrap to a kabadiwala, and hand old electronics to an authorised e-waste collector. Our things to throw away before Diwali post lists where each item should go.

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