You'll be surprised how much you can get done
Here’s How the 5×5 Cleaning Method Makes Your House Sparkle—Almost Effortlessly
Published on Feb. 05, 2025
Cleaning used to be an all-or-nothing proposition for me. I would tackle the whole house at once, for hours at a time until it was done. Everything looked glorious—well, at least for a few days, anyway. Then, the clutter and dust would return, as it always does, and I would wait to summon up enough strength to go into beast mode again.
It was exhausting. I knew there had to be a better way. I tried doing a room a day, which is an awesome way to tackle a deep clean before the holidays. But for regular weekly cleanings, this method just felt like I was doing massive amounts of dusting, vacuuming and reorganizing all the time. So I decided to find a way to break cleaning tasks down into smaller doses to make it more manageable—and to help me stay more motivated.
I’ve always been a fan of the Pomodoro method for work—tackle a task or project for 25 minutes, give yourself a five-minute break, then repeat the process. I’ve used it for cleaning too, but I came across a variation on TikTok that works even better: the 5×5 cleaning method. If you haven’t heard about this trend, keep scrolling. It could make even the most dreaded chores a lot less stressful.
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What is the 5×5 cleaning method?
The 5×5 cleaning method is a popular technique often credited to CleanTokker The Secret Slob, with inspiration taken from The FlyLady’s 15-minute decluttering method. Here’s how to do it:
- Choose five zones in your home. They could be within one larger room or throughout several rooms.
- Set a five-minute timer, then start decluttering/organizing/cleaning the first zone.
- When the timer goes off, stop what you are doing. Move to a new zone.
- Repeat the process four more times.
- At the end of the fifth and final timer, give yourself a pat on the back. You’re done—at least for today.
I’m not a fan of super-intense workouts, but I understand the draw of HIIT workouts—high intensity for a few minutes, followed by rest. The 5×5 cleaning method is basically the cleaning schedule equivalent of a HIIT workout, but you’ll also get a clean(er) house while you burn a few calories.
Why do people swear by it?
Put simply, it’s effective. No, you won’t clean your entire house using the 5×5 method—but that’s the point.
“I think the biggest thing with this method is to let go of perfectionism and just approach it with curiosity. Like, ‘What can I get done in five minutes?'” says Shara Ryan, a professional home organizer who offers organizing and cleaning advice on her blog, Simply Renewed Living. “And then, there’s no shame in it if you don’t get that done in five minutes.”
Hear that? There’s no shame in it if you can’t complete it in five minutes. And guess what? You won’t always clear (or clean) the zone you set out to do. The goal is to make a dent in decluttering or break down a larger task into bite-sized pieces.
In fact, if the idea of identifying five zones is too overwhelming for what is essentially a half-hour period of work, then choose five tasks you’ve been putting off—anything from emptying the dishwasher to vacuuming the living room.
@theadhdhousewife Reply to @j3ff333 #5x5cleaning #5x5cleanup #5minuteclean #cleaning #cleaningtiktok ♬ original sound – Olivia The ADHD Housewife
Olivia the ADHD Housewife has also extolled the virtues of the 5×5 method on CleanTok, and she got others on board too. Commenters on her video praise the technique, saying it makes tasks go “from overwhelming to manageable,” and rhapsodize over how much they love it.
That said, one commenter mentioned that cleaning or tidying in only five minutes sounds overwhelming. It can be, but don’t dwell on it. Go easy on yourself! While the idea is to not spend too much time on each area, I wouldn’t say you’ve failed if you hit reset on the timer to stick with a task a minute or two longer—especially if it’s finally done and you’re just standing around, admiring your work.
Which cleaning situations work best with the 5×5 method?
You can really adapt the 5×5 method to your cleaning needs, whatever they are. It can work in just about any place in your home where you can identify five different zones (or tasks) that need some TLC.
That said, it works especially well in homes with open-concept floor plans. In our house, the kitchen flows into the dining room, which means it can be a scene after dinner (and shhh, sometimes into the next morning if neither my husband nor I felt up to a more complete clean the previous night).
It’s also a great way to get started on a deeper clean. Cleaning always goes faster when the space and surfaces are decluttered, so if you do a 5×5 session just to declutter and organize, you’ll likely finish cleaning faster than you would if you had to stop at every surface to declutter before dusting.
When is the 5×5 method less effective?
Now, if you’ve gotten way behind in housekeeping (no judgment, we’ve all been there), then the 5×5 method might not get you huge results in the time allotted. As such, it’s not a great method if your house is really a mess or you need to do a deep clean. Sure, you might be able to scrub the kitchen sink in five minutes—in fact, I’m living proof that you can do it well in five minutes—but it’s really better used on tidying-up days or as prep for that deeper clean.
You could also do the 5×5 method daily, especially if things have gotten a bit out of hand in your household. That’s not to say you have to spend 25 minutes a day cleaning and tidying for the rest of your life. But do it daily for at least a little while, and you’ll start to develop a habit of keeping your space neater. “If you want to develop that habit, don’t take a day off,” says Ryan.
But that doesn’t mean exhausting yourself either. She goes back to the HIIT-workout analogy, reminding us that sometimes you have to stick to stretching for a day or two and take a break from the more intense stuff. “I think doing this method can help retrain the brain [to think], Hey, it’s OK that it’s not all perfect, and I’ll get to that [task] tomorrow,” she adds.
How the 5×5 cleaning method worked for me
I work from home as a freelance writer, and I’d be lying if I said that I don’t get distracted during the day and take a break to scroll on my phone. Breaks are good, but doomscrolling is not, so I have traded those five-minute breaks into 5×5 sessions.
Sometimes, I’ll have time to do the whole five of them in one half-hour time slot—yes, sometimes I take a break to gulp some water or even yell, “I did it!” in between zones. (Highly recommend you try it.) If I’ve got the time and energy, I might even do another 5×5 set in the afternoon. I’m constantly surprised by what I can get done in five minutes, and it’s motivating to do more.
For example, after instituting the 5×5 method in my home for about a week, I learned that I can do any of the following tasks in just five minutes:
- Scrub the kitchen sink
- Clear and clean the kitchen counters
- Empty the dishwasher
- Decant our dog’s food delivery
- Organize a kitchen cabinet or the junk drawer
- Break down boxes for recycling
- Organize the desk and bookshelf in my home office
- Vacuum a room
- Put a load of clean laundry back where it belongs
If I choose any of these tasks to focus on in a 5×5 session, I get a lot done in a short amount of time. Personally, I like using the 5×5 method for decluttering and organizing purposes because it makes an actual cleaning session go much faster when I get to it. And now that I declutter faster, my house is staying cleaner and tidier on an ongoing basis. Talk about motivation!
Other tips to maximize the 5×5 method
The main thing to remember about any cleaning method is that no matter how popular it is on CleanTok, it has to work for you. But I would really urge you to give the 5×5 method at least one try (or five, depending on how you look at it).
With practice, you’ll start learning how much you can get done in just five minutes and plan accordingly. Here are some other ways to maximize the 5×5 method:
- Keep cleaning products at the ready before you start.
- Live with family or roommates? Enlist help and delegate tasks.
- Don’t be afraid to take a breather. This is meant to energize you, not exhaust you.
- Listen to upbeat music or a riveting podcast or audiobook—but make sure you can hear that timer when it goes off.
Here’s my slightly offbeat tip if you prefer podcasts or audiobooks: Bump up the reading speed to 1.5x. The speaker’s voice sounds urgent, making you move faster and with purpose. Whatever gets your home clean, right?
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Sources:
- Shara Ryan, professional home organizer and cleaner at Simply Renewed Living; phone interview, Jan. 31, 2025
- The Secret Slob
- The FlyLady
- Olivia the ADHD Housewife
