People always ask me for bathroom cleaning tips. Well here's my answer - clean your bathroom thoroughly once a week and it will look like a brand new bathroom for years (our bathroom is 4 years old and - when freshly cleaned - looks as good as when it was first installed). Looking after your home takes time and effort (or pay a very-house-proud cleaner to do it) but doing it saves you money in the long term - plus it is far better for the environment if you try your best to look after what you already own, rather than having to buy new because an item (or entire bathroom) went mouldy or disintegrated through lack of care.
This is the bathroom cleaning method I refined when running my one-woman cleaning business...
You'll need...
* handcream (I use Lavera face cream as a nourishing hand cream, it comes in a tin from a company with good ethical credentials).
* rubber gloves (I use the biodegradable 'We Care' brand gloves - buy a size bigger than usual as their fit is rather small).
* tea tree oil (I use 100ml bottles with this spray top and a 500ml bottle to refill the small bottles with).
* cream cleaner (I refill an old Ecover bottle with 'SESI' Cream Cleaner as their supply chain is a 'loop' system, meaning the large containers you refill from are themselves sent back for refilling indefinitely).
* a washing-up dish brush - ours is an old IKEA one which used to be in the kitchen, I avoid bamboo or wooden dish brushes as they inevitably go mouldy.
* plastic jug for rinsing (if you don't have a flexible hose in your shower and / or bath).
* 3 or 4 old face flannels for wiping / drying surfaces (or other robust cotton cloths) - our flannels came from IKEA years ago.
* an old toothbrush (we use corn-starch toothbrushes in our house as the handles are plastic-feeling-yet-biodegradable, e.g. 'Jack n Jill' and 'The Natural Family Co.' brushes).
*antibacterial spray (I use an Eco Egg concentrated refill spray which isn't sold any longer, but 'Iron and Velvet' do a variety of postable plastic-free refill sachets of antibacterial surface spray).
* toilet cleaner (I use Splosh concentrated-refill-sent-by-post mint and eucalyptus toilet bowl cleaner).
* toilet brush - I use a black Ikea brush and an ingenious air-flow-encouraging holder from Very (or use a designated old dishwashing scrub brush, labelled 'toilet only' and after use, bleach it and hang it up to dry out of reach of small children).
* bleach spray (Dettol mould and mildew remover smells like a swimming pool and so is the least offensive-smelling bleach I've found) - as a cleaner I discovered that bleach really is the only way to keep the shower area of your bathroom looking brand new.
* bicarbonate of soda (non food-grade bi-carb from Wilko is cheap and is packaged in just a cardboard box) and white vinegar (available from refill shops once you have used up the original bottle).
* clean-soled (i.e. not worn outside) flip-flops or similar - I liked these Crocs sandals when I was a professional cleaner.
How to thoroughly clean your bathroom...
1. Tie back your hair if it is long enough. Put hand cream on (so you get a mini hand-pamper whilst cleaning) and put on rubber gloves (spritz the insides of the gloves with tea tree oil first to keep them fresh).
2. Open the window to ventilate the space (or if your bathroom has no window, put on the extractor fan and open up other windows in the house to create a draft).
3. Remove any 'stuff' from the sides of the bath - I wipe down these items with a damp cotton-flannel cloth and antibacterial spray and put them onto the windowsill (i.e. out of the way). I keep as few items as possible (just four as you can see in the photo below) on the side of the bath as moving lots of products takes time (plus being a few years into my 'Zero Waste' journey means that I've got very few products anyhow, yippee!)
4. Clear the bathroom floor (I put the bins and the toilet brush and the loo cleaner bottle on the lid of a plastic box before putting them out of the way on the landing - they'll get wiped down later once the cloth has finished being used for 'clean' wiping jobs). The items also act as a barrier - to try to stop anyone coming into the bathroom - the only bathroom in the house - whilst the cleaning is in progress! If the bin needs emptying and the liner changing then do that. We use biodegradable bin liners from Ethical Superstore. Always use a bin with a no-touch opening pedal device, or use an open bin (like ours) if you barely put anything in it. Using reusable period pads means nothing very nasty goes into our bin, and we have a separate bathroom-based recycling bin (for card, metal, TerraCycle items etc) stashed in the cupboard. So our bathroom bin isn't emptied weekly.
5. *If you have a bath made of 'normal' acrylic material* (i.e. not delicate enamel or stone) squirt cream cleaner around the bath and scrub it and the rim of the bath (especially in places where it touches a tiled wall - BUT don't scrub the silicone sealant as it will degrade the seal - the bleach spray will clean it shortly with no / minimal scrubbing) with a dishwashing brush, to remove soap scum - you won't always be able to see the layer of dirt but when you start scrubbing with cream cleaner you'll be horrified.
6. Scrub taps, plugs, plugholes, hair catchers and overflow holes with cream cleaner too, using the dishbrush and an old toothbrush. Also scrub any glass surrounds / shower screens with the cream cleaner and dishbrush too.
7. Rinse the cream cleaner off with the shower (or use a jug if you don't have a shower attachment) - you must scrub the cream cleaner off or it will leave a chalky residue. Rinsing it is not enough. Rinse and scrub. Use an often-rinsed-and-squeezed-out cloth around the very edges of the bath where using the shower would risk getting water on the floor. Also use the cloth on any glass shower screens to remove all of the cream cleaner residue and give the 'other' side of the shower screen a good wipe too. On my journey towards zero waste I have stopped buying overly-specific items for different cleaning tasks - if you want to you can clean the glass screen(s) with specialist products e.g. Iron&Velvet sell a glass cleaner. If you do use a glass cleaner, make sure it isn't full of chemical nasties as you will get covered in it when you (or your kids) next take a shower - eek!
8. Scrub the showerhead itself whilst you are at it - you don't want gunge to build up around the water jet holes and spray onto you - yuck!
9. Do the same to the sink (scrub with cream cleaner, paying special attention to the awkward bits) and rinse well using the tap to swish around the basin and a damp cloth (regularly rinsed and squeezed) to wipe around the tap(s) and tap area. You can now put the bottle of cream cleaner away.
10. If you have a bath panel, use the old toothbrush to scrub any dirt out of the join -use an often-rinsed-and-squeezed cloth to wipe away the rather frightening amount of dirt that will be trapped there!
11. Wipe down the side of the bath panel with a damp cloth and antibacterial spray - it will be dusty if you don't usually wipe it each week. It is an often-forgotten part of the bathroom in many homes.
12. Now spritz all external parts of the toilet with antibacterial cleaner spray - including the button / flush handle, the seat and the nooks and crannies of the seat, the pedestal base, the floor directly around the loo (especially if the toilet is used by men / boys!) and spray the wall (if tiled) next to the toilet. All antibacterial sprays needs to be left on for a few minutes to work.
13. FLUSH the toilet to remove any existing chemicals. This is VERY important as there will be antibacterial cleaner spray residue in the toilet bowl and we don't want to make a cocktail of chemicals when we add the toilet bowl cleaner. N.B. the eagle-eyed amongst you may notice I've removed the toilet seat in this photo- having a quick-release loo seat has been one of the best 'extra' spends we made in this bathroom as it is so easy to clean.
14. Once the toilet has finished flushing (and no more water is trickling in the bowl) squirt toilet bowl cleaner all around the underside rim of the toilet and scrub really well with a loo brush (under the rim, round the bowl and as far as the brush will reach towards the u-bend). Leave the cleaning fluid to soak (with the brush in situ) whilst you get on with other jobs.
15. Remove the shower curtain (if you have one and it is washing-machine compatible) and put it in the washing machine with at least 3 towels / tea towels (to balance the machine and to provide friction to scrub it clean) on a short wash at 40 C with 2 tbsp of Napisan and your usual detergent. If your shower curtain isn't removable then I'd strongly suggest getting these C-shaped hooks made by Croydex (i.e. branded ones which wont rust / break). If your shower curtain isn't washing machine compatible then I'd strongly suggest getting a thinner fabric one which is, such as this one from Ikea.
16. Make sure the bathroom is still well ventilated (and / or wear a mask with a HEPA filter in it) and that pets and kids aren't around. As long as you don't have an enamel-coated bath / shower tray, spray the emptied-of-stuff shower area (once you've done a PATCH TEST on your tiles before the first full use) with bleach spray and leave the room for 10 minutes (with a NO ENTRY sign on the door if needed) whilst it works its magic. Focus the bleach spray on the tiles which get splashed during the shower and the rim where the bath / shower cubicle meets the wall tiles. DO NOT stay in the room and breathe in the fumes, bleach fumes are incredibly bad for your lungs. At this stage I position the removable toilet seat in the bath and spray it from all angles with bleach spray too. Set a timer for 10 minutes and return only then.
17. After the 10 minutes, put your gloves back on and immediately rinse the bleach off VERY thoroughly, with the hose or with a jug, being careful not to get splashed by the bleachy-water (wear old clothes or an apron if you are clumsy). If you do this minimal-amount of bleaching weekly then there is no need to scrub. If it is your first time using bleach in the shower area for a while then you'll need to scrub with the old washing up brush - don't use the flannel with the bleach spray as it will 'bleach' it white in patches. If you don't have a flexible-hose shower in your shower cubicle or over your bath, then I strongly suggest getting one installed. If there is only a fixed shower head you will have to use a jug to rinse the tiles / enclosure and that takes ages and you get soaking and furious whilst trying to clean. If you are concerned about water marks, now is the time to dry down the glass shower screen(s) with the dry cloth. You can put the bleach spray bottle away.
18. Now give any soap dishes / soap dispensers a good clean with the dishbrush / cotton flannel. I've written a whole blog post about my top soap dish recommendations. On soap dispensers, focus on the handle where people touch and the underside of soap dispensers / soap dishes which can go slimy. If your soap has gone squishy (despite your best efforts to keep it above water) then swap it with another bar to let the soggy one dry out. Any broken bars can be out into a 'soap saver' bag and used in the shower to exfoliate non-delicate skin with.
19. Wipe other (non toilet-y) places where people touch often / dust collects e.g. door handles, light pulls and window handles, cupboard tops, on top of the shower rail, on top of the shower unit, the top of your shower timer (if you have one - if not I recommend getting one to save water and heating costs), along shelves (including wiping over anything sat on the shelves) and cupboard handles. Use the often-rinsed flannel and the antibacterial spray. You'll notice in the picture that on the cord light pull we have a thin piece of rubber tubing - stopping the string cord getting grotty and making it wipe clean.
20. Now wipe around the sink (you have already scrubbed and rinsed the sink itself) - so focus on the sides and front of the sink unit (especially any horizontal dust traps created by the handles).
21. Wipe down the splashback tiles behind the taps.
22. Remove any towels, flannels and facecloths from the radiator / towel holders and put them in the dirty laundry basket, so you know they all get laundered at least once a week (although I like to swap the hard-working bathroom towel for a fresh one every couple of days on top of this weekly blitz).
23. Wipe down radiators and towel rails with a damp cloth and then polish with a different cloth (a dry one). As you know, on my journey towards zero waste I have stopped buying overly-specific items for different cleaning tasks - if you want to you can clean the shiny surfaces with specialist products.
24. Place the fresh items on the newly polished towel rail / radiator. Sniff your 'clean' towels to check that they really are clean - if they smell 'musty' you may need to add Napisan to your laundry and deep clean your washing machine too. I never use scented washing machine additives as I want to know what my laundry smells like, I don't want any problem lingering odours to be masked. When polishing the towel radiator, I think a damp cloth and a dry cloth (without a specialist product) gives a good-enough result - which is cheaper and better for the planet. You may notice in the photo below that there is a silicone tube over the rail holding the kiddy flannel - it was never squeezed out enough and was risking making that radiator rail go rusty. So I used a short section of this tubing, sliced lengthways and held in place with a little No More Nails glue to successfully protect the chrome.
25. Wipe the doorframe (and wipe the door itself if needed - it will be dusty if this is something you haven't done in a while / ever).
26. Remove the items you earlier wiped and placed on the windowsill and return them to the (now clean) bath side where they live. Wipe down the windowsill and any items on the windowsill - again we keep the bare minimum of 'stuff' on the windowsill to save time when cleaning (just the toothbrush mug, the Dettol air freshener spray, a refillable tub of coconut oil and a decorative ornament).
27. Tackle your toothbrush holder - scrub it out (with one of the toothbrushes which live in it) and put mouthwash in to stand the brushes in (head downwards). We use Georganics mouthwash tablets as they come in a glass jar with a metal lid and last for ages - just rehydrate in a little water to make mouthwash as and when you need it! Two tablets go into the tooth mug water - a concoction which is changed a few times a week. Electric toothbrushes and electric toothbrush heads have lots of nooks and crannies where dirt can accumulate so check yours as it will probably need a good scrub.
28. Wipe any water marks / finger marks off the window and off the mirror (and off any mirrored cabinets) with a dry flannel cloth. As I said earlier, on my journey towards zero waste I have stopped buying overly-specific items for different cleaning tasks - if you want to you can clean the glass / shiny surfaces with specialist products e.g. Iron&Velvet sell a glass and mirror cleaner.
29. Now the 'clean' wiping jobs have been done, turn your attention back to the toilet (it has been sitting there for a while with the anti-bacterial spray covering it and working its magic). Flush the loo and remove the loo brush. Look at it. If it is grotty then invest in a new brush and a holder which allows it to air - meaning you won't have to buy new loo brushes regularly / put up with grot. Check the loo brush holder, spritz with antibacterial spray and rinse it out if it needs it - but do give the sink a good sluice with antibacterial spray and water afterwards.
30. Wipe the top of the toilet cistern and focus on the flush button / handle.
31. Regularly washing out the cloth (of course) and spritzing with a little more antibacterial cleaner, wipe down all external parts of the toilet (you'll notice the removable loo seat is removed for easier cleaning in the picture above), the base of the toilet, the wall tiles around the toilet and the floor tiles around the toilet. I also clean the outside of the bag which hangs next to our loo holding the reusable toilet roll (for wees only). Give the 'toilet area cloth' a final rinse and then put it ready to be machine washed at at least 40 C with your normal laundry detergent and Napisan.
32. Now tackle the plugholes and where they lead (so they can soak while we turn our attention to the floor). Spoon (approximately) 2 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda followed by (approximately) 2 tbsp of white vinegar (available from refill shops once you have used up the original bottle) into each plughole and leave to fizz for 5 minutes whilst you start on the floor.
33(a). If your bathroom floor is very overdue for a clean, you may need to hoover it before you wipe it. Use the hoover nozzle to get right into the corners of the room and afterwards wipe the nozzle and the underside of the hoover with the antibacterial spray on a cloth - so you don't spread bathroom nasties around the rest of the house via the hoover. Usually I don't like to use a hoover in a bathroom for this reason and if you wipe the bathroom floor every week then it shouldn't need hoovering again.
33(b). Spray the floor tiles with the antibacterial spray, leave the bathroom for 5 minutes whilst it goes to work - remember to boil a full kettle of water whilst you are waiting. Put on your clean-soled (i.e. indoor only) flip flops before returning into the bathroom, so you don't get cleaning product on your feet / slippers.
34. After the 5 minutes has passed and wearing your clean-soled flip flops, return to the bathroom CAREFULLY carrying a full kettle of just-boiled water. Rinse each plughole slowly and thoroughly with boiling water from a 1/2 full kettle. You MUST aim carefully when pouring the boiling hot water, aim exactly down the plughole as you don't want to crack the sink / bath!
35. Use a damp, fresh cloth (regularly rinsed out of course) to wipe the floor tiles to remove any dirt and dry them as you go, with a clean 'dry' cloth. (Make sure the 'dry' cloth hasn't been used for polishing anything with a shine-giving product on or it will make the floor dangerously slippery). Wipe down and dry the soles of your flip flops before leaving the bathroom after cleaning the floor, to remove any cleaning product residue from them.
36. Now use the rinsed-out wet cloth (used for the floor previously) and the antibacterial spray to wipe down the items you cleared off the bathroom floor earlier (bins, loo brush holder, bottle of toilet cleaner etc). Dry them with a 'dry' cloth and put them back to where they usually live.
37. If you notice that light fittings and extractor fans need a wipe then you'll need to reach them safely and clean them when they are turned off. I really don't like heights (even standing on a chair) so these bathroom fittings tend to get cleaned infrequently.
38. Wash your cleaning brushes thoroughly, wash and dry your rubber gloves and rinse-out and put the used cloths in the washing machine to be washed with your usual detergent and Napisan. Let your cleaning brushes dry out by an open window. Store your cleaning products up high, away from children / pets and make sure your gloves are 'open' and aired when not in use.
39. Enjoy your clean bathroom! Keep your bathroom looking nice all week by doing a 'Wipe Round Wednesday' mini-clean of the high-traffic areas (sink sides, bath sides and the loo).
