When you’re selling your home, cleanliness should be a top priority. From the living room to the bathroom, you’ll want potential buyers to be able to focus on the best qualities of your home, not a pile of laundry or dirty dishes in the sink. While keeping your home clean between showings can be challenging, you can use these tips to make it a little more manageable.

Have a daily routine

When you’re selling your home, a good mentality is to clean it like you have a showing every day. You should complete chores as you go, such as making your bed when you get up, washing dishes after you’re finished with them, keeping miscellaneous items from piling up on counters, and folding laundry after it’s washed and dried. You should also complete other tasks, such as vacuuming and mopping, as needed. To keep up with all the chores in your home, you can delegate tasks to other household members.

Declutter your space

Decluttering your home is one of the first things you should do once you’ve decided to sell it. The process helps depersonalize your home and can make your space seem larger. However, it will also help reduce the number of items you will need to worry about cleaning. Reorganize your items, and think about donating anything unused or unwanted. You can also begin packing by removing any items you do not need from your home and storing them in boxes neatly in your garage or storage space, or you can ask to keep a few things at a friend’s or family member’s home.

Eliminate odors

Few things can hurt a potential buyer’s perception of your home more than an unpleasant odor. Follow these tips to keep your home smelling as good as it looks:

• Do not cook anything with a strong aroma, such as fish
• Wash out trash cans after removing bags
• Avoid letting dirty laundry pile up
• Remove any dog beds or litter boxes
• Keep smelly shoes out of sight

Make use of baskets

Keep a basket in rooms where things tend to accumulate, like the living room or kitchen. If anything is out of place, store the item in the basket and put it away at the end of your day. Baskets are also helpful if you find out about a last-minute showing and need to put away a couple of items quickly. If you’re pressed for time, you can place the basket of items in the backseat of your car.

Check nightly

Sometimes you won’t know a showing will happen until a few hours beforehand. So take a few minutes every night before you go to bed to make sure nothing is out of place in your home. Complete any tasks you find, like removing mail from the kitchen counter or hanging a jacket in the closet.

Use one bathroom

If your home has multiple bathrooms, consider only using one to help reduce messes. You’ll be able to clean a single bathroom before a last-minute showing more easily. To keep your bathroom looking great, tackle these tasks every day until your home sells:

• Clean the bathtub
• Wipe down the sink
• Sweep the floor
• Scrub the toilet

Have a routine when you leave

Before leaving your home for the day, make sure you take care of a few simple tasks, such as flushing toilets, emptying trash cans, rinsing the kitchen sink, and checking all the rooms in your home. Additionally, take a second to close your door and reenter your home with fresh eyes to make sure everything looks good before leaving.

By keeping your home clean throughout the selling process, your house will shine when the next owner walks through the door for the first time.