How to clean a really messy room fast

Do you ever walk into a room to clean it, get overwhelmed and think ‘this room is so messy, I don’t know where to start,’ then walk right back out? I’ve had that feeling (too many times) when I was in a rush and needed to clean a really messy room fast.

I don’t get that feeling anymore because I’ve learned how to keep my house clean and how to clean a room super fast. Here’s some tips and tricks I’ve learned through trial and error to clean up a messy room quickly.

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Text reads 'how to clean a really messy room fast - even if you're totally overwhelmed" on blue background. Image is of a very messy bedroom with clothes and other stuff all over the bed and floor

How long does it take to clean a very messy room?

The short answer is – it depends.

A messy room that is already organized to accommodate everything in it is easy to clean in 20-30 minutes or less. Under an hour at the most if it’s a really dirty room.

If you have things piled up everywhere because there’s nowhere to put them, it can take a few hours or maybe even a full day or more to clean an extremely messy room.

Rooms that are full of clutter, or the household dumping ground, may take longer than a day to organize the clutter before you can tackle cleaning it. It could take that long because you would need to find storage solutions and set them up before even beginning to clean your room.

It’s darn near impossible (and incredibly frustrating) to clean a very messy room when you have piles of random stuff in your way.

Text reads "How to clean a really messy room fast". Step 1 - Take out the trash; Step 2 - Put it all away; Step 3 - Dust & tidy up; Step 4 - Clean the floors; Step 5 - Final touches

How to clean your room fast

The best way to clean your room fast is to have a place for everything and everything in its place. The number one barrier to cleaning your room quickly is moving all the stuff! Picking it up, thinking about where to put it and then actually putting it away takes time. When you put things away as you use them, you save time cleaning.

How to clean a messy room

Before you start to clean a messy room, turn on your favorite upbeat music or your favorite podcast to motivate you to get going!

Take out the trash

Start cleaning your messy room by grabbing a garbage bag. Go through the room from corner to corner and throw out anything you don’t want or need – food wrappers, water bottles, receipts and other paperwork, packaging from new purchases – all of it!

After you’ve picked up all the trash you can find, place the bag just outside of the room you’re cleaning so you have somewhere to place any other garbage you generate while cleaning.

Put things back where they belong

Once again, start in one corner of the room and work your way to the other corner. Anything that’s in the room that shouldn’t be there needs to be put away where it belongs.

Put dirty clothes in the laundry – wash them while you’re cleaning to be more efficient. If you have a pile of clean clothes, hang them up or put them in drawers. If you don’t want them, throw them away or donate them.

Dirty dishes go in the dishwasher or, at least, in the kitchen sink to be washed. If there’s any food packages lying around, put them away in the kitchen cupboard or fridge or, if it’s empty, throw it out.

Toys should be put away where they belong. You may want to consider putting toy boxes in each room where the kids play with them to make cleaning them up easier.

Books should go back on shelves, TV trays should go back in their holder and keys should go where they live. Any mail you need to keep should be filed in its place.

If there are many things that belong elsewhere, use a basket to collect them to save time walking back and forth to different rooms. If you’re cleaning a really messy room with lots of clutter, you may need more than one basket.

Once you’ve finished this step, you should have a fairly clutter-free room to finish cleaning.

Dust and make the room look nice

Living Room: Clear tables, shelves or other surfaces and wipe them down with a damp cloth. Neatly arrange anything that lives on these surfaces the way you like them. Fluff up any cushions that need fluffing and fold any blankets that need folding.

Bedroom: Make the bed. Clear the surfaces of dressers and night tables and wipe them down with a damp cloth. Neatly arrange anything you like to keep on these surfaces. Put everything else away.

Bathroom: Clear those counters and wipe them down, along with the sink, toilet and tub. Put stuff away that shouldn’t be out on the counters. Arrange clean towels the way you like them. Don’t forget to clean your toothbrush holders.

Kitchen: Clear the counters and wipe them down, then arrange the counters the way you like them. Wash any dishes that are in the sink, dry them and put them away, or just put them in the dishwasher if you have one.

Clean the floors

If you have carpet, it’s time to pull out the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the carpet. Be sure to vacuum under all the things and remember to put the vacuum cleaner away when you’re done.

If you have hard floors, you need to sweep them before mopping. Once you’re done sweeping, you can give them a quick damp mop.

Final touches

Take a look around the room to see if it’s cleaned to your satisfaction. If not, put those extra items away where they belong and arrange everything the way you like it.

You can add some fresh flowers to brighten the room up, or use a room freshener to make it smell nice and fresh. Open the windows if it’s nice out to air the room out. Light some candles and enjoy your clean room!

Vector image of a really messy room before and after cleaning fast

How do I stop being so messy?

Can a messy person become neat? Yes you can! All you need is a little discipline and consistency so you don’t end up with a really messy house.

I was a messy person for the longest time. It took me years after moving out of my parent’s place before I had my house under control. I was always looking for the easy way out of cleaning. I became overwhelmed and did nothing.

After living in chaos for so long, I finally realized that organization is the foundation to cleaning a room fast – even a really messy room. If everything has a place, it should be in that place.

The next most important thing is maintaining that organization. If you take something with you every single time you leave a room and put it away, you will have less to do later.

If you wipe things down as you use them, like the bathroom and kitchen sinks and counters, you won’t have to do it while cleaning everything else.

If you clean your toilet every morning, you won’t have to worry about it when guests are coming over.

If you do your dishes (or run the dishwasher) every day, they won’t pile up and become a huge mess you have to clean.

Try these steps to cleaning a really messy room fast and see if it works for you.