Skip to main content

Monday Motivation: How To Keep Your Bathroom Clean

You've worked hard all month to get your bathroom organized.

First, you took inventory of how your bathroom functions.
Then, you organized the medicine cabinet.
Then, you cleaned out the cabinets and drawers.

Now that everything is purged and organized, how do you clean it and keep it that way? 


tidybrownwren.blogspot.com
                                                                

I think the secret to a clean bathroom is to do it frequently.  Of course, no one wants to hear that, but the truth of the matter is that a little bit of mess is easier to clean than a whole lotta mess.  Follow me?

Here are some tips to help you make the task more manageable:

     1.  Keep cleaning supplies handy.  Nothing slows momentum quicker than having to retrieve cleaning supplies from another room.  I keep a roll of paper towels, a bottle of Sparkle cleaner, a canister of Borax, and a sponge under each bathroom sink in my home.  I also have a toilet brush in a covered container, tucked behind each toilet.

     2.  Every two days (or every day if a lot of people use the bathroom) follow these steps:
             A.  Spray sinks and mirror with Sparkle cleaner and wipe with a paper towel.
             B.  Sprinkle Borax into toilet bowl and swish with brush.
             C.  Spray toilet seat and toilet surround with Sparkle cleaner and wipe with another paper towel. 
             D.  Squeegee water off of the shower surround with a small squeegee after each shower.

There!  You just completed a quick, 2-3 minute clean-up that will keep most of the germ police away and makes your bathroom presentable most of the time.

     3.  For your weekly cleaning:
             A.  Sprinkle Borax onto your wet sponge and scrub your sinks, counters, and tub and shower.  Rinse with water and polish with Sparkle cleaner.
             B.  Vacuum the floor, shake rugs, and mop floor with sparkle cleaner and a mop.  If your bathroom floor is small enough, you can simple wipe it down with cleaner and a paper towel.
             C.  After putting Borax into the toilet, let it sit for several hours before brushing and flushing.
             D.  Set out fresh towels.
             E.  Refill soap dispenser if necessary.


     4.  Every month:
             A.  Vacuum the exhaust fan
             B.  Wipe baseboards
             C.  Clean fingerprints from walls, door, and trim
             D.  Take a few minutes to straighten out the cabinets and drawers, tossing anything that is expired
             E.  Take inventory of any items you will run out of soon and add them to your shopping list
             F.  Wash bath mats if necessary.

Here are a few tips I've found to make cleaning surfaces easier:
     1.  Polish your shower stall with car wax or Gel Gloss every 6 months or so.  It will cause the water to bead up and dry quicker, leaving less water spots.  It also keeps soap residue from clinging to the surface, making it easier to clean.  *Caution*- Do not polish the bottom of the tub/shower.  It will make it slippery when wet. *Another Caution* - This is a chemical product.  Be careful.
     2.  Polish your sink top with Gel Gloss to keep toothpaste  from adhering to the surface.
     3.  There are products that say they will keep your mirror from fogging up, but I've never found them to be rather short lived and eventually left streaks when I tried to clean the mirror.  If you have a solution, please share your thoughts.
     4.  Shower curtains should be made out of a quick-drying fabric.  Avoid liners made with PVC as it releases harmful chemicals.

Just a note. . . I prefer to use homemade cleaners that don't have strong chemicals to clean my home.  Please feel free to replace the items I suggested with whatever cleaning solutions you desire. 
.

Comments

  1. Well, thank you for this post. I am trying to clean green. I did not know that I could use borax in the toilet and on surfaces. Silly me. Thanks again for the wise words ;-) Off to the bathroom~!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the schedule - its nice to have a schedule to follow that actually will work! I can't wait to try the Gel Gloss. Have you found the gel gloss anywhere local?

    Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sheri,
    I've had the same bottle of Gel Gloss for 10 years or so but I've seen it at Lowe's and Home Depot in the kitchen cabinet/counter section.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never heard of Gel Gloss before...I was thinking RainX might work on the mirror? We use it on steam room doors at the gym that we clean. It seems to work pretty well. Although we are in there after everyone is gone so I'm not sure how it performs with the fogging.

    You know, it's funny. I make cleaning schedules like the one you posted here for my company all.the.time. (and stick to them!), but I just can't manage to make one for my house. I fly by the seat of my pants LOL

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - nope.  Walking? - can&

A Designer's Secret For A Taller Bed

  Several years ago Hubs and I spent almost a year looking for a bedroom set that we both loved.  He wanted clean lines and dark wood.  I wanted curves and a "tall" bed.  Of course, there was no perfect bedroom set but we were able to compromise on a set that we both liked.  My main wish was for a bed that I could "climb up into".  The problem with that wish was that most of the "tall" beds were four poster beds and Hubs was not in the mood for that.  We found a Thomasville bed on display at a local furniture store and it fit the clean lines that Hubs wanted and it was "tall"  enough to suit me.  The problem was that once we received the bed we ordered in our home, it wasn't as tall as I had remembered it being.  My heart sunk!  I went back to the furniture store to look at the display.  Their bed was much taller than our bed.  Hmmm. . . what was different? I got nosey and lifted up the comforter on the bed.  It revealed their secret

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.