How to Clean Bathroom for a Healthier Living Environment
Cleaning a bathroom is one of the house chores that most people always frown upon. Most people have this perception that cleaning a bathroom is a daunting task. Well, the truth of the matter is that it isn’t. We all should know how to clean the bathroom, irrespective of how difficult it may be. No matter how you perceive it, cleaning your bathroom is a task that you cannot avoid, whether you are living alone, with a partner or if you have a roommate.
Given the things we put our toilets, showers and tubs every day, they deserve to be cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Thankfully, with these tips and tricks, you can clean your bathroom in half the time and with less effort. You don’t have to hire a specialized cleaner or buy high-end cleaning chemicals. We will show you how you can use everyday items in your house that will tell you how to clean your bathroom like a pro. These are the best ways regarding how to properly clean a bathroom.
Requirements
Before we get to our amazing bathroom cleaning tips, let’s first have a look at all the items that you will require. The items that you will require are just ordinary items, some of which you already have in the house. These items include:
✔ Mouthwash
✔ Screwdriver
✔ Vinegar
✔ Cotton balls
✔ Baking soda and bleach
✔ Alka-Seltzer tablets
✔ Baby Oil
✔ Rubbing alcohol
Steps on Cleaning Your Bathroom Efficiently
#1- Start with the Toilet Bowl
The first area in your bathroom that needs special cleaning attention is the toilet bowl. Here is how you can keep your toilet bowl clean and inviting:
✔ Use a Mouthwash
According to experts, using a mouthwash to clean your toilet bowl can help to retain it to its former glow. It will remove any stain on your toilet bowl and give it its white color back. Pour a quarter of a cup of the mouthwash into your toilet. Leave it for 30 minutes before you scrub the toilet. Allowing the breath freshener to settle gives it time to dissolve all the stains and kill germs.
➜ RELATED: Baking Soda For Cleaning - The Accessible And Effective Household Cleaner
After the 30 minutes is over, it’s now time to brush up. Your brush should have strong bristles for it to do a good job. A curved toilet bowl brush is the best since it is capable of reaching up and under the rim of the toilet bowl. It will scour away any hidden deposits. Once you are satisfied that your toilet bowl is now clean, you can now flush the toilet to wash away the cleaner.
✔ Get the Hard-to-Reach Spots on your Toilet Bowl
A toilet bowl is easily one of the things in your house that is the dirtiest. Now that you have cleaned inside the toilet bowl, you shouldn’t think that you are now done with the bowl. You should also clean under it. Spots under the tank usually accumulate a lot of dirt. Cleaning such spots is tough since they are difficult to reach.
You can get a little help from your toolbox. Use a screwdriver to reach those nooks and crannies under your toilet tank. You should ensure that you have covered the end of your screwdriver with a disinfectant.
#2- Cleaning Your Bathtub
You need your bathtub to be in top condition so you can always sooth away your stress in a hot bath whenever you feel like it. Keeping your bathtub clean requires dedication towards cleaning it. You have to do the cleaning in the right way, and regularly. Stubborn stains, mildew, soap scum and grime can sometimes take away the shiny look from your bathtub.
All you need to clean your bathtub is vinegar and cotton balls. Here is how you can go about it:
✔ Prepare a solution of warm water and vinegar. You should mix them in an equal ratio. Fill a spray bottle with the solution.
✔ Spray your tub surface and leave it for about 15 minutes.
✔ Use the cotton balls to wipe the surface of your bathtub.
✔ You can then rinse the bathtub with clean water.
❖ Removing Mild and Tough Stains from Your Bath Tub
For heavier stains, you will need to use the vinegar as well as baking soda, which is a natural cleaning classic. Follow these steps to get your bathtub looking good as new.
✔ Sprinkle baking soda on your tub and then spray the vinegar and warm water solution that you had used earlier.
✔ Allow the mixture some ten minutes for it to bubble and dissolve all the suborn stains.
✔ Scrub the tub with cotton balls until you have a paste on the tub surface.
✔ Leave the paste to sit on the bathtub surface for 15 minutes. You should then wipe the paste and rinse the tub using a lot of clean water.
❖ Unclogging Your Bathtub Drain
If your bathtub drain is clogged, there’s a solution for that. Just drop some Alka-Seltzer tablets on the drain and then pour a cup of vinegar. Leave it to sit for ten minutes. You should then pour boiling water down the drain to wash all the blockage down. The obstruction will disappear just like that.
#3- Cleaning the Sink
Just like your toilet bowl, your bathroom sink also sees a lot of action. It is a workhorse in your bathroom. Keeping it clean should therefore be among the top to do list as far as doing your home cleaning chores is concerned.
Whenever you use your sink, the soap deposits and the food stains all build up to make your sink look dirty. Depending on the type of sink you have, you will use a cleaning method that suits it. Acrylic based sinks are usually easy to clean since they are more stain resistant. Porcelain and other types of sinks are also not that hard to clean.
✔ Pour hot water in your bathroom sink up to a few inches.
✔ Add a cup of vinegar to the sink.
✔ Rub the mixture around the surface of your sink. Use a piece of cloth or the cotton balls and scrub the surface of your sink. Let everything sit for 15 minutes.
✔ Rinse the sink with clean water and allow it to drain.
#3- Banish Dirt from the Grout on Your Walls
Next, your attention should now be turned to making your bathroom walls sparkling clean. Grout, which is usually the material that is used to fill the gaps between the tiles, only looks good when its clean. Dirt easily get stuck between the crevices. This can make your bathroom wall to look dirty. You can either use baking soda or vinegar to remove any stain on your bathroom wall.
➜ RELATED: How To Clean Tile Floors With Vinegar, Baking Soda, And Lemon
❖ Using Baking Soda
Besides dissolving stains on your bathroom tiles, baking soda will also help to reduce the buildup of mold on your walls by absorbing moisture from them. Here is how you can use baking soda to clean your bathroom walls.
✔ Add two tablespoons of baking soda to a liter of water and stir until it is fully dissolved.
✔ Add the solution to your spray bottle.
✔ Spray the solution on your bathroom walls. Give extra attention to the grout between the tiles.
✔ Use a clean rag to scrub the wall.
✔ Leave everything to sit for 15 minutes.
✔ Rinse your walls with clean water and let it dry.
❖ Using Vinegar
You can also use vinegar to give restore your bathroom walls back to their original color. If you want good results, you can combine vinegar with baking soda. You can follow the same steps as the one above.
➜ RELATED: How to Clean With Vinegar - Amazing Remedies and Cleaning Hacks for Homeowners
#4- Bleach Your Marble Surfaces
Now that your bathroom wall, bathtub and sink are sparkling, it’s time to move to your marble surfaces. Soak a paper towel in bleach and place it on the stained area on your marble surface. Leave it for around 30 minutes. The stains should be gone by the time you remove the soaked paper towel from the marble surface.
#5- Cleaning Your Bathroom Mirrors
Your bathroom mirrors too deserve to be clean. You may find it quite challenging to clean your mirrors. This is because after every shower whenever you wipe your mirror down, when you come back to your bathroom, you probably still find streaks on it. You shouldn’t give up on your mirror. Here’s how you can get a streak free bathroom mirror. This cleaning method also works on glass shower doors. You must also be interested in knowing how to clean bathroom tiles as well as how to clean bathroom floor.
What Doesn’t Work on Mirrors
-
Wiping your mirrors with a towel after you shower.
-
Using a piece of paper to wipe your bathroom mirror.
-
Cleaning using paper towels.
-
General cleaning products that are not specifically meant for cleaning glass.
Stop Mess on Your Shower Glass Door and Mirror
❖ Before you deal with the fingerprints and streaks on your shower mirrors and glass door, you would want to first remove any gunk, dirt or grime from your mirror. We also know that you might come across some dried-on hair spray or toothpaste splatter on your mirror. Soak some cotton balls in rubbing alcohol. You should then scrub away any buildup on your glass surfaces.
❖ Time to bring on the magical vinegar! Mix vinegar with water equally and pour it in your spray bottle. Spray down your glass door and mirror. You should be careful not to overspray. Just spray lightly to avoid creating a mess on the areas that you have already cleaned, such as your walls.
❖ Grab a clean and dry piece of cloth. Fold it into half. Place the cloth on the top right corner of your mirror and slide it towards the left. Repeat the same at a lower angle until you have cleaned the entire mirror.
❖ Take a look at your mirror at different angles and see if there are still any streaks or residue left on the mirror or your shower glass door. If so, spray the vinegar lightly on the spots and wipe it clean using a piece of cloth. You should do this quickly before the mirror dries up.
At the end of cleaning your shower mirrors and glass door this way, you will never worry about gunk or streaks again!
#6- Cleaning Your Shower Head
While cleaning up your bathroom, you should also clean your shower head to prevent it from getting clogged. Here is how to go about it.
❖ Use a scrubber sponge to get off any dry debris on the shower head.
❖ Mix a cup of vinegar with a cup of water and pour it inside a plastic bag.
❖ Remove your shower head and put it inside the plastic bag. Allow it to soak for 15 minutes. If you don’t want to remove the plastic bag, put it around the shower head and secure it so that the shower head is immersed in the solution.
❖ Remove the bag and then wipe the shower head using a piece of cloth to remove the loosened deposits.
Once your shower head is clean, you can then make it shine using baby oil. Take a piece of cloth and dab a small amount of baby oil onto it and use it to clean the shower head. You can also do the same for your faucets and your sink.
#7- Cleaning the Floor
It’s time to wind up your cleaning. Your bathroom floor should be the last area to be cleaned after you have ensured that everything else is sparkling clean. Whether your bathroom floor is made of rubber, vinyl, wood or tiling, cleaning is easy with the following steps:
❖ Clear your bathroom floor of any objects so that you can have full access to the entire bathroom floor space. Remove any mats or furniture.
❖ Grab your mop and fill your bucket with warm water and then add three cups of vinegar.
❖ Dip your mop head into the bucket and wring out any excess water.
❖ Start out at the far end of your bathroom and mop it while working your way towards the door. Ensure that you pay close attention to the corners.
❖ Once you are satisfied that your bathroom floor is now clean, dry it off using a towel to avoid slipping or build-up of mildew.
Why You Should Treat Your Bathroom as the Most Important Room in Your Home
Your bathroom should be on top of the list of the most important rooms in your house. Unfortunately, most people tend to overlook the importance of their bathrooms and neglect them. Here are some key reminders of why you need to regularly clean and maintain your bathroom so that it stays in top condition:
❖ It’s the Most Frequently Used Room
Everyone in your house together with your visitors will always use your bathroom. From the minute your family members wake up in the morning to the time they retire to bed, your bathroom will be put to use. This room serves many purposes – bathing, showering, preparing for the day, and many more functions.
❖ It Establishes the Value of Your Home
Whenever someone is looking to buy a home, one of the first things they always consider is the number of bathrooms in the house and their overall design. Cleaning your bathroom like a pro makes it stay in top condition all the time. This will increase the value of your home so that if you want to sell your home, you can always get a good price for it.
❖ Place of Solitude
As a homeowner, your bathroom is a place where you can always be in whenever you want some time to be alone. It’s a place where you can recover from your stressful day, relax in a hot tub, have a warm bath and unwind from a long day. With a clean bathroom, you can create the best environment at home.
❖ If not Maintained, it can be Costly
Since your bathroom gets used a lot, it needs to be cleaned regularly. You also need to know how to clean bathroom wall tiles. To avoid costly repairs, you need to always stay on top of things. For example, if you let your bathroom wall tiles get dirty and discolored, you may need to replace them entirely, which can be costly.
Conclusion
Cleaning your bathroom is a household chore that you cannot run away from. In fact, it isn’t that difficult the way you might think it is. You can clean your bathroom like a pro so that its always sparkling. Just follow our tips on how to clean a dirty bathroom and you will be amazed at how easy it is. Soon, you will enjoy cleaning your bathroom.
How often you should be doing the cleaning will depend on whether you live alone or have a family with kids. If you are living alone, it means that your bathroom is not frequently used. You can do the cleaning once every few days. It’s a different story if you have kids. In that case, your bathroom will require a daily cleanup. You may also incorporate the services of the best vacuum cleaners in the world just in case to even make your work easier.
Do you have friends or family members who seem to find cleaning their bathroom challenging? Share these tips with them and make their lives easier.