Spongi
Roommate Chore Chart: 4 Rotations That Work
By the Spongi team · Updated · 6 min read
Every shared house starts with good intentions and a rota on the fridge. By November the rota is out of date, the bin has been “somebody’s” job for a week, and the group chat is full of messages starting with “whoever left…”.
The rota isn’t the problem. The system behind it usually is. Below are four rotation systems that work in practice, what each one suits, and the house rules that keep them going after the first month.
What counts as a shared chore
Start by agreeing what’s on the chart at all. Private rooms are off the table: if someone wants to live in a nest, that’s their nest. The rota covers:
- Kitchen: dishes left in the sink, counters, hob, fridge, floor
- Bathroom and toilet: sink, toilet, shower, mirror, floor, towels if shared
- Living room and hallway: tidying, vacuuming, mopping
- Bins and recycling: inside bins, taking them out on collection day
- Shared supplies: toilet paper, dish soap, cleaning products, bin bags
- Occasional: fridge clear-out, oven, windows, the yard or balcony
That last group is where houses fall apart. Nobody owns the fridge clear-out, so the mystery container in the back stays there until someone moves out.
Pick a rotation
1. Rotate by room
Each week, each person gets one area: kitchen, bathroom, living room and hallway, bins and supplies. Next week everyone moves one step.
| Week | Kitchen | Bathroom | Living + hall | Bins + supplies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex | Jo | Sam | Robin |
| 2 | Robin | Alex | Jo | Sam |
| 3 | Sam | Robin | Alex | Jo |
| 4 | Jo | Sam | Robin | Alex |
Works for: three to five people. Everyone gets every job, so nobody gets stuck with the toilet forever. Watch out for: the areas aren’t the same size. Kitchen weeks are heavier. Balance it by pairing a heavy area with a light one, or accept it evens out over a month.
2. Rotate by person, task by task
Every chore has its own rotation. The bins go to the next person each collection day, the bathroom moves on every Saturday. It’s more granular and fairer for chores with different rhythms.
Works for: houses with chores on very different schedules (daily dishes, weekly bathroom, fortnightly bins). Watch out for: it’s too complex for a paper chart. You need something that tracks each rotation separately, which is where an app helps.
3. Fixed chores
Everyone picks the chores they mind least and keeps them. One person always does the bins, another always does the bathroom.
Works for: small houses with clear preferences, or couples sharing with one other person. Watch out for: hidden imbalance. Write down minutes per week per person once, and check it’s roughly even. The chore split calculator works for two people; for larger houses, add up the minutes per person by hand.
4. Monthly group clean
Once a month, everyone cleans together for an hour or two, ideally with music and something to eat after. This handles the jobs nobody owns: fridge, oven, windows, skirting boards.
Works for: on top of any of the above. It’s not a replacement for weekly chores. Watch out for: picking a date. Put the next one in the calendar at the end of each session.
How often should each chore happen?
Agree on frequencies before you fight about them. This is a reasonable starting point for a shared house of three to five people:
| Chore | How often |
|---|---|
| Dishes (own dishes, same day) | Daily, each person |
| Wipe kitchen counters and hob | Daily, whoever cooked |
| Kitchen floor | Weekly |
| Bathroom and toilet | Weekly |
| Vacuum living room and hallway | Weekly |
| Take bins out | Every collection day |
| Restock shared supplies | When low, by whoever’s on supplies |
| Fridge clear-out | Every 2 weeks |
| Oven, windows, skirting boards | Monthly group clean |
Two rules that prevent most fights: everyone washes their own dishes on the same day, and whoever cooks wipes the hob.
House rules that stick
A rota without rules is a suggestion. Keep the rules few and specific.
Swaps are allowed, silence isn’t. If you can’t do your week, swap with someone and update the chart. A swap is fine. Disappearing is not.
One deadline per week. For example: weekly chores are done by Sunday 20:00. A clear deadline avoids the “I was going to do it tomorrow” argument.
Fines only if everyone agrees. Some houses use a small fine for missed weeks that goes into a pot for a takeaway. It works in some houses and poisons others. Vote on it.
Monthly check-in. Ten minutes at the start of a house dinner: is the rota working, does anything need to move, is anyone moving out?
The roommate who doesn’t clean
Every house gets one eventually. A few things help before it turns into a cold war:
- Talk in person, about one chore. “The bathroom was skipped the last two weeks you had it” is specific and fixable. “You never clean” isn’t.
- Ask what’s in the way. Night shifts, exams, a different standard of clean, or they genuinely forgot. Each has a different fix.
- Offer a concrete change. A different chore, a different day or a swap for something they don’t mind.
- Make it visible, not personal. When the rota is on everyone’s phone with a record of who did what, it’s not one housemate policing another. The record does the talking.
If none of that works, it’s a house conversation about whether the living situation works, not a chore conversation. The full playbook, with scripts, is in how to split chores with a roommate who doesn’t clean.
Free printable chart
Copy this into a note or print this page (navigation won’t print). Fill in names across the top and areas down the side, then move names one step each week.
| Area | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | ||||
| Bathroom and toilet | ||||
| Living room and hallway | ||||
| Bins, recycling and supplies | ||||
| Monthly group clean | Date: |
A paper chart works best when someone owns it. Updating the chart is a chore too, so put it on the rota.
Automate the rotation
Paper charts fail for boring reasons: nobody updates them, they don’t remind anyone, and they can’t tell you who’s late. A shared app fixes all three. In Spongi, every housemate joins with a link or QR code, each chore gets its own rotation, reminders go to whoever’s up, and late chores can go on the Shameboard, which lists chores, not people. Read more about how Spongi works for roommates.
For the fairness side, especially in a house with couples, read how to divide household chores fairly.
FAQ
How do you split chores fairly with roommates?
Agree which spaces are shared, list the chores for those spaces with how often they happen, then pick a rotation system so the work moves around the house. Use one shared record of whose turn it is and check in once a month.
What is the best chore rotation for roommates?
Rotating by room works well for three to five people because each week has clear, equal-sized jobs. Fixed chores suit houses where people have strong preferences. A monthly group clean on top catches the jobs nobody owns.
What do you do when a roommate doesn't clean?
Talk to them in person, about one specific chore, not about their character. Ask what gets in the way. Agree on a concrete fix such as a swap or a different day, and make the rota visible so it's not one person policing another.
Should roommates clean their own rooms on the rota?
No. Private rooms are each person's own business. The rota covers shared spaces and shared jobs only: kitchen, bathroom, hallway, living room, bins and shared supplies.
