Chinese New Year Cleaning Checklist: What to Clean and When

Key Takeaways

• Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, so a 4-week cleaning plan starts the weekend of 9 and 10 January and finishes by the eve, Friday 5 February.
• Clean in this order: declutter, high places, fabrics, kitchen, bathrooms, then floors last.
• Put the broom away on the first day. Tradition holds that sweeping on day 1 sweeps away the new year’s luck, so finish before the eve.
• Don’t park decluttered furniture in the HDB corridor. SCDF guidelines call for a clear escape passage.
• Spring Cleaning from Urban Company Singapore starts from S$399 and is done by a 3-man team with an auto-scrubber machine.

It’s the second week of January in a 5-room flat in Bishan. The in-laws are coming for reunion dinner, the ceiling fan has a grey fringe on every blade, and the storeroom is still holding last year’s mooncake tins. There are 4 weekends left. That is enough, if the jobs go in the right order.

When Should You Start Cleaning Before Chinese New Year?

Start about 4 weeks before, and finish by the eve. For CNY 2027, that means beginning the weekend of 9 and 10 January and wrapping up by Friday 5 February.

Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s public holiday list. Customs on the exact day vary: a Cantonese saying sets the 28th day of the last lunar month for washing away the old year’s dirt. Either way, splitting the work over weekends beats one marathon.

Weekend (CNY 2027)	Focus	Why this order
9-10 Jan	Declutter every room	Less stuff means less to clean in every later step
16-17 Jan	High places: fans, lights, aircon filters, cabinet tops	Dust falls down, so the top goes first
23-24 Jan	Fabrics and kitchen: curtains, sofa, mattress, fridge, oven	Fabrics need drying time; the kitchen is the longest job
30-31 Jan	Bathrooms, windows (inside), then floors	Wet areas and floors last, so they stay clean
Eve, 5 Feb	Quick wipe-down, take out the rubbish	Nothing left to sweep on day 1

What Should Be on a Chinese New Year Cleaning Checklist?

Everything you’d do in a deep clean, done top to bottom and room by room. It’s the once-a-year pass at what weekly cleaning skips. Here’s how deep cleaning differs from regular cleaning.

Room	What to clean	DIY or get help?
Living room	Ceiling fan, light fittings, curtains, sofa, under and behind furniture, TV console	DIY, but a long day
Bedrooms	Mattress, wardrobe tops and interiors, under the bed, aircon filters	DIY
Kitchen	Fridge (empty it first), oven and microwave, hood and filter, cabinet fronts, wall tiles	DIY for most; heavy grease on the hood takes time
Bathrooms	Tiles and grout, shower screen, toilet, floor trap, exhaust fan grille	DIY, with care around chemicals
Whole flat	Window tracks and inside glass, skirting, doors, floors last	The part most worth handing over when time is short

The sofa and mattress need the most drying time, so do them early in the day. These guides cover cleaning a fabric sofa without ruining it and cleaning a mattress, and when it’s past cleaning.

The kitchen takes the most hours. Empty the fridge before it fills with CNY goodies, and tackle baked-on grease with this easy method for cleaning an oven and microwave.

In the bathroom, if you use bleach, never mix it with other cleaning products, especially anything containing ammonia or acid. Open the window and run the exhaust fan.

What Should You Do With What You Declutter?

Donate, recycle or book a bulky-item collection, but don’t leave it outside your door. Old furniture and boxes in the common corridor are a fire hazard. SCDF’s fire safety guidelines for residential estates require a clear escape passage of at least 1.2 metres along the common corridor, and nothing at all on staircases. Your town council can tell you how to arrange collection of bulky items.

Old phones, chargers, batteries and bulbs shouldn’t go down the chute. Used household batteries and bulbs go into NEA’s e-waste bins, and NEA’s page shows the nearest collection point.

Why Can’t You Sweep on the First Day of Chinese New Year?

Tradition holds that sweeping on the first day sweeps away the good fortune that has just arrived. It’s the best-known Chinese New Year cleaning superstition.

Many families also avoid taking out the rubbish on day 1, and some extend the break for the first few days. It isn’t a rule, but it is a practical deadline: anything not cleaned by the eve waits until the visiting is over.

Do CNY Plants Need Any Care?

Yes. Change the water in vases of pussy willow and other cut stems at least once a week.

NEA notes that Aedes mosquitoes breed in clean, stagnant water as small as a 20-cent coin, and asks households to check for it at least once a week. Vases and pot plates left untouched through 15 days of celebrations are exactly that, so scrub the vase when you change the water and tip out pot plates.

What Can You Do Yourself, and When Is It Worth Getting Help?

Decluttering, wiping, washing aircon filters and mopping are all fair DIY jobs. Most of a CNY clean needs no professional at all. Help is worth it when:

• The whole flat needs a deep clean and the weekends are already taken.
• Kitchen grease and bathroom grout have built up over a full year.
• You’re hosting, and you’d rather spend the last weekend on the food.

Stay safe at height. Use a sturdy step stool, not a chair, and never lean out of a window to reach the outside of the glass.

The weeks before CNY are busy for cleaning services, so if you plan to book, decide early.

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Urban Company’s Spring Cleaning starts from S$399, with a 3-man team and an auto-scrubber machine, the same crew used for move-in and move-out cleaning. Every professional is background-verified and rated, and you see their profile before they arrive. See what Spring Cleaning covers and book in Singapore.

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