Bathroom Cleaning Secrets You Should Know

After 14 years of being in the cleaning game, I must admit that I still don’t like cleaning the bathroom. Despite this, I have found some bathroom cleaning secrets that have helped me master the job. Here are a few little time savers that make a big difference in a small space!

Toothpaste Splatter

Whenever I watch people brush their teeth in the movies or on TV, I always find myself yelling at the screen, saying, “No, no. You’re not doing it properly. Your dentist would scream at you!”. When you’re brushing you’re teeth it’s supposed to be foamy and if you’re looking straight at your gorgeous morning face in the mirror, as they do on tv, then you’re going to get toothpaste all over the place! The tip here is to always look down into the sink while you’re brushing your pearly whites. That way your spits and splatters go straight down the drain and not all over the counter.

Toilet Bowl Cleaning

Here, you’re going to want to push the water in the bowl down the chute with a plunger. This will allow you to expose more of the bowl and give it a more thorough clean. Spray or treat the area with whatever product you’re using and give it a good scrubbing, finally flushing the bowl. It’ll then fill back up to its regular level, fresh and clean once again!

Let the Product Do the Work

I have been talking about this for years and years, but I do realize there are about 8 billion people on the planet, so there must still be some that I have yet to convince! When you use a product on a surface that’s dirty or scummy, spray the surface first and let the product sit for 5 to 10 minutes, before you go back to scrub and clean. This process is called pre-treating or marinading, in bbq terms, and it allows the product to really work on the grime and do the job it’s supposed to do. If you let the product do its thing and pre-treat surfaces first, it will save you a lot of time and effort!

Vacuum First!

The bathroom, at least in my house, is no fun place to be after I’ve styled my hair, which is why I make sure to always vacuum and sweep before I go and mop the floors. Otherwise, I just end up pushing a wet mop around the bathroom with a big, old, disgusting pile of hair underneath. Yuck! Always remember to dry-treat your floors or clean them first, and then mop after!

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Get the Kids Involved

There is no harder or more willing worker than a child looking to earn some extra allowance. I know this because I was essentially employed by my parents to clean the house every weekend as a kid, for a good sum of money, at least that’s what I thought when I was 12. Anyhow, when I look back on it now and think about it, that money was truly an excellent motivator to get working.

If the bathroom is a real sore spot for you, put some money on the table and hire your kids! If the kids have their own bathroom, or if you all share one, this is a great way to teach them how to clean and let them earn some money while they’re at it!

Whiten and Brighten

You shouldn’t have to suffer in your shower looking at dirty grout lines. Here’s a quick and easy fix! Make a paste of 2 parts baking soda and 1 part hydrogen peroxide, and apply it to the discolored grout. Let it sit for about 10 to 15 minutes, then scrub it well with a cleaning toothbrush and rinse it clean. Between the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, pre-treating, and scrubbing, this remedy will whiten and brighten your grout lines in a flash!

Here are some more DIY cleaning recipes for all your cleaning needs!

Turn the Fan On

If you’ve been one to complain about mold or mildew in your shower, or that pink stuff growing on your shower curtains or in your toilet bowl, it is a surefire sign that there is too much moisture in your bathroom. This is a great time to take a look at your bathroom fan and make sure it is running correctly. To help get rid of moisture try turning on the fan before you go into the shower and then leave it on for about 30 minutes after your shower, if not 60 minutes!

If you don’t have a fan, just open that window wide and let the bathroom air out entirely. You want your bathroom to feel bone dry and not like a tropical destination every time you shower. The humidity in there should be like the humidity in the rest of your house, otherwise, you’re going to start to see mold and mildew growing and bubbling up.

Corral The Clutter

Trays aren’t just cute things from design blogs, they’re actually really useful for spaces like a bathroom, where you need to gather and organize all of your products into one little area. Before I used a tray, my stuff was just all over the place, all of the time. I struggled to organize and I only had 1 or 2 bathroom products. Now that I use a tray, everything is exactly where it needs to be and it’s not making a mess everywhere. We use a tray in our master bathroom. Chad has his and I have mine, with our little bottles of products and creams all nicely organized.

Towel Catch-All

When you’re about to embark on a dirty or messy job in the bathroom, doing your hair, putting on makeup, shaving, or whatever else you need to do, consider putting a towel down on the counter and even one on the floor. That simple act of putting a towel down first, whether it’s a waffle weave on your counter or a full-blown, full-size towel on the floor, will save you tons of time and grief. Simply bundle up the towels after using them and then throw them in the wash. It’s a huge time saver!

The Wipe Down

I’ve spent a long time talking about using a squeegee after your shower because it’s so important to do. It not only removes leftover moisture but also cleans any body oils, dead skin, or shower products still lingering on the shower walls. This process will make things much easier down the road and is an essential task. Now, I have talked about this with shower walls but have never mentioned it in regard to the tub.

If you’re someone like me, who likes to have a bath and use one or two different facial treatments while you’re soaking, then you’ll find that after you drain the water, there is some oily residue left over. If you happen to take a lot of baths in a week, then you might notice that over time, there is a buildup of this residue that turns into a gross, grey ring around the tub.

The key here is to have a clean, microfibre cloth ready beside your bath so that when you’re tub is draining, you can give it a quick wipe down. It takes so little time and makes a big difference in how clean and fresh your tub area looks!

I’m so glad to be supporting you on your journey to a cleaner life! If you just can’t get enough bathroom cleaning tips, make sure to check out more of our bathroom cleaning articles!