Come on – no matter how old or scruffy your bathroom is, we all LOVE it when it’s sparkly shiny clean and smelling good. But how to clean a bathroom so that your bath, loo, shower and sink are squeakingly clean?
Well – sadly there’s no magic wand, but there are definitely easier ways to do it (and no, it’s not all about spraying awful chemicals that make it impossible to breathe, either).
It never ceases to amaze me just how fast the place turns into a health hazard, either. With three boys in the house, the toilet is a perpetual battle zone (sorry, but any mother of boys knows this is fact). With myself and my daughter having long hair, unclogging the shower plughole is a constant need. Limescale builds unnecessarily quickly, and the grouting darkens with mildewy spots if I take my eye off it for more than a week.
So we had a chat with the experts at BathroomTakeaway, and they’ve given us some fab pointers on how to clean a bathroom – and they’d also like to point out that a good place to start is when you purchase a new bathroom. Did you even know that easyclean shower enclosures were a thing? No, me either.
So – want to know how to clean a bathroom? It’s time. Stop ignoring the weird grey stuff in the corners, and grab your marigolds; we’re going in for a deep clean.
How to clean a bathroom
1. Strip It.
If it’s full of the last ten year’s almost-finished moisturiser, discarded conditioner and never-to-be-used old suntan lotions then you can’t possibly clean it. So the first task in the how to clean a bathroom list is to clear everything out.
Dump whatever isn’t in use (recycle all that plastic, people), pass unopened gift packs of toiletries to the charity shop (or keen sisters/friends), and send your old towels to the local dog rescue.
Then it’s a quick and easy basic once-over; dust walls and ceiling with a soft broom, and use a microfibre cloth and hot water to swish over every surface. Yes, even under the toilet.
2. Shine It
You don’t need most stinky & expensive ‘bathroom cleaner’ chemicals. Pick up a traditional water spray bottle from a DIY store (or simply rinse thoroughly an old one that used to have household cleaner in it). Fill with a mix of white vinegar and water (50/50 split), and just spray it onto all shiny surfaces – sink, shower doors, mirrors, its good everywhere. Don’t worry, the mild vinegary smell evaporates almost instantly. I wipe around everything with a damp microfibre cloth, then finish mirrors and glass with a soft dry cloth (I actually use an old muslin from when the kids were babies!).
3. De-scale it
I live in a hardwater area – limescale is the shiny-chrome-tapped bane of my life.
Use an old toothbrush to get the worst of the build up clear, and then head back to the kitchen cupboard for the vinegar. If it’s only a little, a cloth soaked in white vinegar will rub it away – if you’re battling a big build up, then soak a kitchen towel in the vinegar and wrap it around the area overnight. Rinse and wipe clean.
For the shower nozzle, I warm some vinegar in a wide shallow bowl in the microwave, then lay my showerhead in it – the nozzles are clean and clear in an hour or two (PS – did you know that boiling vinegar in your kettle will also completely descale your kettle with zero leftover taint from nasty de-scaler chemicals, too?)
4. White the grout!
(okay, that’s not grout, but come on. HEDGEHOG cuteness!)
Mix up a bicarbonate of soda paste (3 bicarb to 1 water) and apply to the grout. Leave for 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse. A toothbrush dipped in bleach should tackle any stubborn spots – be sure to rinse it thoroughly when you’re done.
5. Shower grunge
Don’t ignore that weird dark gungey stuff around the shower track – you might want to bring out the toothbrush & vinegar spray to get into the awkward bits for a real deep-down clean.
And to keep a glass shower door smear free, invest in a squeegee from a pound shop and keep it in the bathroom.
6. And finally let’s tackle that toilet.
For this bit I do use an anti-bacterial spray – not sure if I really need to, but in my head the toilet needs the extra zapping.
Spray everywhere (lift the lid and the seat too, plus behind the pedestal. Leave it to do it’s anti-bad-germs magic for 10mins, then wipe clean with a damp cloth.
I also throw a 3/4 cup of bicarb in the bowl at bedtime on the day I’ve cleaned – a quick scrub around with the toilet brush in the morning and the bowl is super-clean. And I do keep a bottle of Harpic Toilet Limescale Remover in the cupboard for when it gets very bad (though it’s stinky-strong, so I don’t like using it much).
7. Unclog under the shower
If you’ve got long hair, you’ll be familiar with the skanky job of pulling clumps of it out of the shower plug. But there’s always that slimey black residue in there. So boil the kettle, take it upstairs and slowly (carefully!) pour the hot water into the shower tray to clear that in the lower reaches that you can’t get to.
8. Enjoy it
Put the items you wish to keep back in the cabinet and on the shelves. then light a candle, run a bath, lie back and enjoy. You’ve earned it.
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