How To Clean The Bathroom

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I delayed writing this “how to” because I hoped my broken foot would be healed and I would be able to add some good pictures and videos. Turns out my broken foot is taking longer to heal than hoped, so I won’t be able to do that. BUT, I’ve cleaned many bathrooms several thousands of times over the years, so I think I’ve got it down enough to write about it. And geez, who wants to see a picture of a toilet anyways, am I right?! The picture above is a photo I edited from my Master Bathroom Home Tour.

{If you are following along using my Home Management Planner, cleaning the bathroom is listed as a once per week house keeping task in the weekly view planner. In the Home Management Insert, I also suggest giving the bathroom a good deep cleaning twice a year (along with rotating through deep cleaning all the rooms in your house instead of Spring Cleaning).}

I’m going to go ahead and make this clear: I believe in using plenty of rags when I clean. The idea of a dirty rag spreading germs while I *think* I am cleaning haunts me. I put a huge stash of clean rags in my cleaning bucket before I make my cleaning rounds. I also take around a bucket to throw dirty rags into as I finish using them. This bucket of rags is then washed on the sanitize cycle and dried on high heat so my rags are ready to go the next time I’m ready to clean. As I clean random things throughout the week, I also throw them into this bucket and wash the bucket after bathrooms are cleaned. Make sense? Hope so.

So let’s get to all of this “how to clean the bathroom” stuff …

How To Do A Good Weekly Bathroom Cleaning

The order you do things matters when you clean a bathroom! Because if you go in the right order, you make efficient use of your time.

When you regularly clean your bathrooms, it becomes so easy! I can clean the four bathrooms in my house in less than an hour, sometimes even less when I’m in hyper-mode. What feels like deep cleaning as you start this habit, over time it becomes just as routine as wiping a kitchen counter.

Also, I have links at the bottom to the cleaners I use, but I want to explain WHY I use these cleaners. I found Shaklee when I was looking for cleaners that I could use with my kids around. At the time I started using Shaklee I still had my three girls home during the day and I needed to be able to clean the bathroom with them around. I didn’t want to use my precious alone time cleaning toilets! I found Shaklee and have never gone back or been dissatisfied. The cleaners work very well and are completely natural and safe to use around my children. Another bonus is these products are safe for my kids to USE as well. (And there was that one time that one of my girls sprayed her sister in the eye with window spray and it didn’t even hurt her or make her eye sting. So there’s that.) Yay for cleaning kids! Though I should note that I’ve not taught my kids to clean toilets yet, even though they’ve practically begged. Maybe I’m being a control freak, but I just don’t want those icky germs handled by my children until I’m sure they understand how NOT to spread those germs. Ya know? Anyhow, onto the cleaning …

Here’s how you do it:

1. Start breaking down any soap scum in the tub, shower, and sink: Spray *Basic H (degreaser dilution: 1.5 teaspoons Basic H concentrate per 16 oz. water) all over the tub and sinks, then let it soak while you go back to cleaning other things.
2. Start the sanitizer activating and whitening on/in the toilet: Spray **Basic G (spray dilution: 3/8 teaspoon Basic G concentrate per 16 oz. water) down all over the toilet, inside and out, and on the floor right around the toilet.  Drizzle ***Nature Bright into the toilet bowl water. I’d estimate around 1 Tablespoon Nature bright, but more or less depending on how much water in your bowl and how dirty is the bowl.
3. Sanitize commonly touched places: Spray Basic G directly onto a fresh cleaning rag and wipe down the door knobs and light switches.
4. Refill Hand-Soap Containers: Lay that cloth onto the bathroom counter and use it as the surface to put the hand soap containers while you refill them. Keep your extra soap in your bathroom cleaning buckets and top off the soap containers during your regular cleaning. Discard that rag into the dirty rag bucket.
5. Clean Mirrors & spot clean walls/cabinet fronts: Use a fresh cleaning rag and Basic H (window dilution: 1-2 drops Basic H concentrate per 16 oz. water). Spray the mirrors and wipe top to bottom, side to side. Do not spray more than you need, because you just create more wiping work for yourself. Use this rag to spot clean walls and cabinet fronts.
6. Clean Counters & stuff on the counter: Spray Basic H (all-purpose dilution: 1/4 teaspoon Basic H concentrate per 16 oz. water) onto the counter and use the same rag from cleaning mirrors to wipe the counters clean. Do not wet your rag, which just leaves you with streaks and high chances of spreading germs! The cleaner has all the water in it you need to clean the counters. This is when you would wipe down soap containers and toothbrush holders and anything else on the countertop.
7. Clean Sinks and Faucets: Spray Basic H (all-purpose) on the faucets and wipe them down until they are shining. Now clean out the sink until it shines. Do not forget any ridges. You may wet your rag for this step and use ****Scour Off for any hard to clean spots.
8. Clean Tub and/or Shower: By now this should be easy. Spray additional Basic H if the previous spray has dried. Wipe, wipe, wipe, including faucets. Rinsing is optional. For any difficult build up for those just starting to regularly clean their tubs, use Scour Off.
9. Clean Toilet Bowl: Use a toilet brush and scrub the toilet bowl. I spray the brush with Basic G over the toilet bowl before I store it again, so it doesn’t grow legs and arms in between cleanings.
10. Clean Toilet: Give the toilet another spray of Basic G, which is really just to make the surface moist again for easier wiping. Use a fresh rag and start wiping the least gross places first and places where human skin touches. Next, wipe down the grosser places on the toilet. At anytime during the toilet cleaning, get a fresh rag if you just *need* to. {Example toilet cleaning wiping order — lid, flusher button/handle, toilet back, toilet lid, top of toilet seat, bottom of toilet seat — fresh rag — sides of toilet seat, base of toilet and floor directly around toilet, top non-watery edges of toilet bowl.}
11. Empty and Change Garbage Bag.
12. Replace towels and hand towels with fresh ones.
13. ~~~ I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t clean my floors when I clean my bathrooms, because I assign “Clean Floors” as it’s own weekly household task. I clean my bathroom floors on Floor Day. Life is easier this way.

Deep Bathroom Cleaning

Though I listed this after the Regular Weekly cleaning, I should say that I suggest to do this BEFORE the steps listed above. These steps combined with the previous steps give your bathroom a deep clean. You’ll want to do this about twice per year.

1. Take down shower curtain and liner, then wash in your washing machine on a gentle cycle. Do not put in dryer unless directions specify. Hang back up to dry when clean.
2. De-Clutter drawers, cabinets, bath/shower area, and shelves.
3. Vacuum, then wipe down drawer interiors and cabinet interiors.
4. Wipe down baseboards (you can do this step during the wall spot cleaning step above if you wish).

I am paid when you purchase these cleaners from my Shaklee shop at any of the links below. Hopefully that fact just makes you more excited to buy them. 😉

*Basic H: The most all-purpose cleaner and the one I couldn’t live without. Used in different dilutions, it can do a million things, including cleaning windows, counters, floors, and even greasy spots. In un-diluted form it also takes off sticker stuff residue and cleans stains. {Click to buy Basic H HERE.}

**Basic G: I use Basic G for all my bathroom cleaning and sanitizing needs. It is more effective and safer than bleach, and it doesn’t harm colors. As it kills germs and bacteria that cause smells, it acts as a deodorizer. Score! {Click to buy Basic G HERE.}

***Nature Bright: Nature Bright is an abrasive powder that is normally a laundry additive to whiten and brighten. Nature Bright is a powerful stain remover for laundry and carpets. I like using it to clean my toilet bowl too. {Click to buy Nature Bright HERE.}

****Scour Off: A fresh and fruity smelling abrasive paste that is good for difficult to clean places. It takes off all the aluminum stains in my white porcelain kitchen sink. This stuff is amazing. {Click to buy Scour Off HERE.}

*****Hand Wash: This cleans really well, but is gentle on hands and nature and doesn’t leave you with any soap scum. {Click to buy Hand Wash HERE.}

******Buy the entire cleaning kit HERE. When you order the cleaning kit, membership is free. Shaklee membership is just a savings benefit. There are no monthly minimums or strings attached. You get to be a member free for the rest of your life! The benefit of becoming a member is lots of savings for you and special member-only events! (The benefit to me is that when you become a member from one of my links, you stay MY member, and whenever you order now or in ten years, you get your discount and I get paid. Thank you!)

So, that’s it. That is the mysterious way to clean a bathroom!!!

Now, time to get your hands dirty … or not, I mean, touch the rags, not gross stuff … but go ahead and clean your bathroom now.

From my home to yours,
Mary