For most people, cleaning the bathroom is the least desirable household chore to complete. But if you maintain the upkeep of this room and understand the best ways to do so, you’ll be glad you took the time to do it.
Everything has a place
Before you start cleaning, consider how untidy your bathroom might be. Are there tons of items strewn about on the counter? Are the shelves in the linen closet an unsightly mess? Chances are, you have quite a few expired personal products that have managed to sneak to the back corners of cabinets. Just like you would with food going in your mouth, you don’t want to put anything on your body or ingest something that has been expired for months or years.
Go through everything in your bathroom and consider whether you actually need it or if you were just influenced to buy an “all-in-one miracle cream” by an Instagram post. Check on the state of your hand and body towels, brushes and combs, and other products to see if anything needs to be replaced or cleaned.
Once you’ve got everything that will be staying in your bathroom sorted, the next step is finding a place for all of it. If you’re lacking in counter space, consider purchasing an under-cabinet organizer with drawers that you can use to store items. You can also try using non-permanent adhesive hooks to hang things like your blow dryer, flat iron, and more — especially if you live in an apartment.
Use the right products
It’s important to understand what materials your bathroom surfaces are made of before you start spraying chemicals or other substances on them. Some abrasive bathroom cleaners are not ideal for certain surfaces or your skin, so you’ll want to take extra precautions if you do choose to use them.
While the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” may have comically endorsed using Windex® to clean and cure everything, this product and those like it should ideally only be used for glass surfaces like windows or mirrors.
Toilets, showers, bathtubs, and countertops should all be cleaned with a disinfectant that contains bleach, according to Paul Horowitz, MD, medical director of Pediatrics Clinic at Legacy Health System in Portland, Oregon. In addition to regular cleanings, University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba, PhD, recommends flushing the toilet with the lid down to avoid having polluted water vapor spreading bacteria around your bathroom.
Don’t forget commonly missed areas like the tops of tall cabinets, light fixtures, floors, and even the walls. If you frequently use hairspray or any other type of clear spray product, you could have built-up residue on your walls without realizing. But be sure to work from top to bottom on various surfaces in your bathroom to avoid having to clean something twice.
Set up a schedule
It can be daunting to think of all of the things you need to clean in your bathroom. Thus, avoiding the task altogether happens quite often. But if you create a schedule or plan of attack before heading in there, you’re more likely to succeed with its upkeep.
You don’t have to do a complete clean every time you decide to tidy up. Choose certain tasks to do daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly. For example, the floor may not need to be mopped every week (instead maybe every month or two) while scrubbing the toilet should be done once a week to avoid bacteria build-up.
Use a dry-erase board, sticky notes, or reminders in your phone to complete these tasks. Another method you can try is just getting as much done in an allotted time. Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as much as you can, and then move on with your day. Doing this will be better for the cleanliness of your bathroom than avoiding it completely.
With these tips in mind, cleaning your bathroom and maintaining its upkeep will be much less daunting in the future.