Quick and Dirty Tips ™

When it comes to cleaning, the bathroom is the room that can be overwhelming to clean. It’s a small room, but it gets dirty fast, especially if you have kids or are active outside. It can be quick to get through if you keep up on the light cleaning like I describe in my episode, How to Keep Your Bathroom Clean Without Cleaning. Whether you’ve been keeping it up or have let it fall behind, today’s episode will give you the steps I use to train my Moxie Girl staff to follow when they are cleaning a client’s bathroom. Follow these 4 easy steps and your bathroom will be back to sparkly condition in no time!

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Step 1: Clean the Shower and Tub

Of all the things that need to be cleaned in a bathroom, the shower and tub can be the most overwhelming and time consuming. That’s why I recommend cleaning them first to get it out of the way before you lose your steam.

To clean your shower, you want to start with the walls. Spray one wall at a time with shower cleaner. Let it set for a few minutes according to the shower cleaner’s instructions, then use a scrubby sponge to scrub down the wall. Scrape any dried shampoo or conditioner clumps from the wall with the sponge. If you use bar soap, use a plastic scraper to chisel the dried soap out of the dish and the wall surrounding the soap dish. Use a plastic cup to rinse the walls, and finally wipe them dry with a dry rag. Repeat this process on all the walls until they are all clean.

By this point, the basin of the shower should be damp. That’s helpful for your next step. Sprinkle it with a non-abrasive cleaner like Comet. Use a scrubby sponge or scrub brush to wash the floor of the shower until the dirt, grime, and soap scum disappear. Rinse the cleaning agent down the drain and wipe with a dry towel. Remember to wipe the top of all the shower walls as well as the outside of the tub and shower doors as well. Those spaces collect a lot of dust and water spots, but a quick wipe with a damp rag is usually sufficient to make those disappear.

If your tub is separate from your shower, repeat all these steps in the shower too. In both showers and tubs, pay special attention to the corners and any small ledges. Soap scum and mold like to gather in those crevices. If you aren’t able to wipe or scrub it away, fill a small spray bottle with bleach and spray it on the mold. As it dries, it will kill the mold and bleach away the soap scum staining.

Finally, it’s time for the finishing touches. Grab a paper towel to gather all the hair and gunk from the drain. It can be slimy, so unless you have a strong stomach, trust me on the use of a paper towel instead of your bare hands. The last step is to use glass cleaner to shine the fixtures and clean any glass doors in your shower. Take a step back and admire your sparkling shower and tub.

Step 2: Clean the Toilet

Now that the shower is clean, it’s time to move on to the toilet. As soon as you walk over to your toilet, flush it to make sure you are starting with clean water and pour in your toilet bowl cleaner. If you use cleaners like bleach or Comet, use the brush to swish the cleaner up around the bowl. You are going to let it set for a few minutes, so no need to scrub yet, just get the cleaner all around the bowl.

Then, grab your rag and spray it with a little disinfectant. Starting at the top of the toilet, wipe down the outside of the bowl. Remember to get the top and the bottom side of the lid, the top and bottom of the seat, the front and sides of the bowl, as well as the base where it attaches to the floor. Check the hinges where the seat and lid attach to the base. If there is gunk around the hinges, spray them with disinfectant and use an old toothbrush to scrub that gunk out before wiping it again with the rag.

Now it’s time to the worst part: the bowl. Since the cleaner has had a little time to work, hopefully it was able to release some of the stains and spots. Use a toilet brush to scrub up under the rim of the bowl, all around the bowl, and down into the hole where the water flushes. If you’ve been doing this on a regular basis, you probably have a nice, clean bowl. If you have hard water stains and a ring in your toilet, it’s time to get out some gloves and a pumice stone. Use the pumice stone just like an eraser to make the stains and ring go away. It takes a little time and elbow grease, so it will probably motivate you to clean your toilet more often moving forward!

See also: How to Get Rid of Hard Water Stains

Step 3: Clean the Sink

When doing a Spring Clean on a sink, I like to remove everything from the sink and the counter. That way I can spray it down with a disinfectant before scrubbing it with a non-scratch scrubby sponge. After you wipe down all the obvious dirt and grime, pay special attention to the ring around the sink drain, and anywhere you have soap sitting as there is usually a little extra effort required for those spots. After all the dust and gunk is loosened, rinse it with a wet sponge and knock all the hair and stuff on the floor (you’ll vacuum it up at the end). Finally, wipe the counter with a dray rag to give it a smooth appearance.

Before putting everything back on the counter, spray your mirror with glass cleaner and wipe it with a paper towel. Use that paper towel to shine up the fixtures and your sink area is done.

Step 4: Clean Baseboards and the Floor

Once your sink, toilet, and shower are clean, it’s time to move to the baseboards, particularly the baseboards that get wet. Baseboards that stay dry are relatively easy to dust clean. A dry rag will knock the dust on the floor. Baseboards that get wet, like the ones below your hand towels, next to your shower, and around the toilet, will need extra attention. The easiest way to get the dried-on dust and grunge off is to spray the baseboard with your sanitizing spray and wipe with a sponge or rag. Work in 12” sections until all the baseboards are clean.

Finally, it’s time to move to the floors. Use your vacuum to suck up all the hair, dust, and junk that you’ve knocked off all the other surfaces. If you have bath mats, you can vacuum them or toss them in the washer and dryer if they are looking grungy (just check the tags to make sure they are safe for the dryer).

That’s it!

Congratulations, you’ve made it through the 4 steps of cleaning your bathroom. Now, pour yourself a cup of tea, draw yourself a warm bubble bath, and enjoy the sparkle before somebody messes it up again. To avoid having to do this massive cleaning job, simply don’t let your bathroom get dirty. Check out how in my episode on How to Clean Your Bathroom Without Cleaning.

Do you have any clean bathroom tips? Share your stories and tips on my Facebookwall, or tweet me @thedomesticceo.

Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.

Shower and Tub, Toilet Bowl Brush andCleaning Supplies images courtesy of Shutterstock