German Cleaning & Tidying Vocabulary
This set covers the everyday chores of cleaning a home: der Besen, der Staubsauger, and der Lappen alongside verbs like wischen and staubsaugen. One thing that trips people up is that German splits "clean" into several verbs depending on what you're doing: reinigen is the general, slightly formal word for cleaning, wischen is specifically wiping a surface, and spülen is for rinsing dishes or washing something under water. English just says "clean" for all of it.
Learn these 15 words
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All 15 words
to dry off
Kannst du bitte das Geschirr abtrocknen? — Can you please dry the dishes?
plural: die Besen
broom
Der Besen steht hinter der Tür. — The broom stands behind the door.
plural: die Eimer
bucket
Fülle den Eimer mit warmem Wasser. — Fill the bucket with warm water.
plural: die Lappen
cloth
Nimm den Lappen und wische den Tisch. — Take the cloth and wipe the table.
plural: die Mülleimer
trash can
Der Mülleimer in der Küche ist voll. — The trash can in the kitchen is full.
plural: die Schwämme
sponge
Der Schwamm liegt in der Spüle. — The sponge lies in the sink.
to vacuum
Er staubsaugt das Wohnzimmer am Montag. — He vacuums the living room on Monday.
plural: die Staubsauger
vacuum cleaner
Der Staubsauger ist kaputt und muss repariert werden. — The vacuum cleaner is broken and needs repair.
- wischenA2
to wipe
Sie wischt den Tisch nach dem Essen. — She wipes the table after eating.
remove
Der Müll muss dringend entfernt werden. — The garbage must be removed urgently.
plural: die Putzmittel
cleaning product
Wir brauchen neues Putzmittel für das Bad. — We need new cleaning product for the bathroom.
- reinigenB1
to clean
Wir reinigen die Fenster einmal im Monat. — We clean the windows once a month.
to sort out
Bitte sortiere die Wäsche nach Farben. — Please sort the laundry by color.
- spülenB1
to rinse, wash
Hast du das Geschirr gespült? — Did you rinse the dishes?
to wash / soak / rinse
Das Wasser schwemmt den Schmutz weg. — The water washes away the dirt.
How to learn this set
Notice that staubsaugen is literally "dust-suck" (Staub + saugen), and der Staubsauger, the vacuum cleaner, is just that verb turned into a noun with -er tacked on. That pattern of verb-to-agent-noun also shows up if you think of der Staubsauger as "the thing that does the staubsaugen." For the objects, group them by what you'd actually grab off a shelf: der Besen, der Eimer, der Lappen, der Schwamm, der Mülleimer are all masculine, so drilling them together as a "der" cluster of cleaning tools is more useful than mixing them with the verbs.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between putzen and reinigen?
Putzen is the everyday, casual word for cleaning (putzen die Wohnung, das Fenster putzen). Reinigen is more formal or technical and shows up on product labels and in professional contexts, like eine Wunde reinigen or ein Reinigungsmittel.
Why is der Staubsauger masculine?
It's built from Staub (dust, masculine) plus the agent suffix -er, and nouns ending in -er for a person or device are almost always masculine, following the same pattern as der Fahrer or der Computer.
What does spülen mean exactly, and is it the same as waschen?
Spülen means to rinse or wash with water, most often used for dishes (Geschirr spülen) or rinsing something clean. Waschen is broader and covers washing clothes, hands, or your whole body, so spülen is the narrower, water-specific term.
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