Talk to me about cleaning the bathroom - Page 2

[texaspeach]

baking soda and/or vinegar get most things pretty darned clean in the bathroom. about once a month I use a bit of barkeepers friend on the tub and toilet to get them really sparkling.

for floors I just use hot water and vinegar and scrub on hands and knees - it's a small room!

[lunar forest]

So I'm moving into a new (to me) house on saturday, and I was there last night cleaning and I had the coolest idea and it worked out so well.
There's a glass block window in the bathroom and the grout is dark and nasty-dirty. After trying a few thigns with very little success I made a thick paste of baking soda and water and smeared it on the grout with a toothbursh, and very lightly misted it with vin.water. I let that sit a while and when I came back I generously squirted vin.water ot it and scrubed like crazy on the grout. I sprayed again and let it sit for a few hours and then showered it off. It looks great! I'm so happy.

[Zach'smom]

I vacuum all the the stray hair and dust off the sink, counter and tub before I clean. Then everything gets cleaned with vinegar and baking soda. The floor gets cleaned with vinegar and water and an old cloth diaper.

[wednesday]

Originally Posted by Ksenia

I have started to use the same tools (ordered from the author's web site) and approach as in Speed Cleaning, and I find that it gives fast and satisfying results .

I'm a big fan of Speed Cleaning as well, it made a huge difference in how I approach cleaning my house and has made me a lot more effective in way less time. I don't use their products but I do use the same tools/methods.

[becoming]

I use Clorox's Green Works line of cleaners. I quickly clean the inside of the toilet 2-3 times a week, and I deep clean everything (toilet, tub, shower, sinks, vanity) once a week. I also clean out/straighten the bathroom cabinets & drawers on that same day.

[sewingmama]

I swish the toilets once a day when I happen to be in there, I wipe down our bathtub when I shower (and the other, less-used tub a few times a week or so), and I wipe the sinks once a day when I'm in there. Takes just a few seconds each, just plain water, and then it looks pretty good most of the time. I'll vacuum as needed when the vacuum is near the bathrooms anyway, and I'll mop as needed. I sometimes use one of those mops with the foam pad and sometimes I'll scrub on my hands and knees (does a better job, and our bathrooms are pretty small). Once a week, I'll wipe everything down with the Merlin's Magic recipe from Clean House, Clean Planet (water, Dr. Bronner's soap, and maybe some tea tree and/or or lavender oil); vinegar and water works well too, and that's what I use on mirrors. I have a specific day a week where I focus on the bathrooms, so that I know they're clean, and then the little touch-ups pretty much every day are really easy.

[lunar forest]

Originally Posted by becoming

I use Clorox's Green Works line of cleaners. I quickly clean the inside of the toilet 2-3 times a week, and I deep clean everything (toilet, tub, shower, sinks, vanity) once a week. I also clean out/straighten the bathroom cabinets & drawers on that same day.

The clorox green line is not actually safe or "green" at all, btw. A friend of mine called to complain about their marketing as evironmentally friendly and safe when they are not such thing and they assured her that they were NOT marketing it that way. They "don't want to give people that impression; it would be misleading" ya think?! crazieness.

[Ruthiegirl]

Hmmmm...this thread makes me think that I should be cleaning my bathrooms more often.

[MonkeyPrincess]

Originally Posted by doubledutch

i keep everything in the bathroom so it takes minimal effort.

eta: i clean the floors when they're really nasty and/or we have people coming over. obviously, since i had to add this as an after-thought.

at the eta comment.

And I agree with keeping seperate supplies in the bathroom, that definitely helps to keep it clean.

[wendinbill]

I have a bunch of homemade cleaners from the Clean House, Clean Planet book. I also love Merlin's Magic! I use the Baby Elephant scrub for my tub, which is getting very nasty often now that we're strictly using bar soap. : I spray the walls to the shower down with vinegar/water. I clean the toilet, sink, faucet, floors with vinegar/water. I keep all that in the bathroom-all peppermint scented. For the toilet I sprinkle in some baking soda, and then a squirt of Dr. Bronner's. Swish with the brush, wipe off the rim, seat, tank, etc. (not in that order!) It's never clean enough, though. I shed like a mofo.

[greentara_mama]

I use Vermont Soaps Liquid Sunshine for cleaning almost everything. I love the smell and it is organic! It is great for wood floors, toilets, tubs and more. I use it on a scrubbie for the tub, put it in a spray bottle for the toilet, etc. Sometimes I use Ecovers toilet bowl cleaner for the toilet- we have 3 boys here and , well, you know how that goes. My 6 YO likes to clean the toilet- and it is nice that he can safely do this with the VT soap spray and a rag.

[spughy]

I stagger my bathroom cleaning - do the toilet and sink when the toilet looks like it needs it, the bathtub before DD has a bath because I can't stand to put her in an even slightly dirty bathtub, and then do the floor and counter when I feel like it. I never do the whole thing at once - I figured out pretty early on that I didn't need that kind of pressure. Except sometimes if someone I really want to impress comes over, or if we have a party - although last time I did that nobody actually used the bathroom, and I was so pissed off.

[dflanag2]

How much?

So what ratio of vinegar and water do you put in a spray bottle? I did this recently and maybe I used too much water, it didn't seem quite right. How about on the floor?

I like the idea of scenting w/peppermint, wendinbill. Do you just use peppermint extract?

I also feel like I need to use so much baking soda on the tub. How much do you use? Do you sprinkle it in the tub before cleaning, or apply it to your scrubber?

[Benji'sMom]

Well now I feel horrible, I clean the bathroom when the shower gets mildewy!

Off to hire Merry Maids...

[Scribe]

OK, I paid attention when cleaning our bathrooms this weekend so I could come back and post here. This is what I did for a "deep clean," but all of the non-bolded steps are the same as a "normal" clean, which I try to do weekly (but honestly, more like every two weeks).

Step 1: Fill the bathtub up with hot water and a couple of good slugs of bleach, let sit for 1/2 hour, then drain.

Step 2: Put the towels and bath mat in the wash machine.

Step 3: Spray down the shower walls (tile) with vinegar and water solution.

Step 4: Sprinkle some Bon Ami in the toilet.

Step 5: Vacuum the dog and cat hair off the floor with the hand vacuum.

Step 6: Scrub down the shower walls and bathtub with a sponge, then rinse with removable shower head. Consider trying to clean the grout and decide not to. After the tub is clean and rinsed, close it off with the shower curtain.

Step 7: Remove everything from the glass shelves, spray them with vinegar water (1:3 ratio), wipe them with a rag. Put everything back on them in a more orderly manner.

Step 8: Spray down the mirror with the same vinegar solution and wipe with the same rag.

Step 9: Spray down the sink and counter with the same vinegar solution, wipe with the same rag.

Step 10: Clean the toilet with the toilet brush.

Step 11: Clean the outside of the toilet, all the way to the floor, with the vinegar solution and the rag from the glass.

Step 12: Using a second rag and the vinegar solution, clean the floor and baseboards.

Step 13: Remove the towels and bath mat from the wash machine and hang them to try.

Step 14: Put clean and dry towels and mat back in the bathroom.

[Peppermint Leaf]

I used to clean my bathroom while DS was in the bath tub every night (when he was a toddler) -- however now that he is a teenager I dont think he would appreciate it

[spughy]

Originally Posted by Decluttering Nut

I used to clean my bathroom while DS was in the bath tub every night (when he was a toddler) -- however now that he is a teenager I dont think he would appreciate it

Ooo, good idea! Why didn't that occur to me earlier??? I sit on the toilet and try to look interested while DD plays until the water gets cold... I could use that time productively. (um, I should point out that my DD is NOT a teenager, I should get a couple years of this tactic in.)

[BarefootScientist]

We have two bathrooms and every time I clean them I start wishing we'd bought a house with only one.

Every day I wipe the sink, counter, and toilet with a rag and some vinegar and water (1:4 vinegar: water). I also just kind of spray some in the toilet and swish the toilet brush around in there if it looks like it needs it.

Every other week or so I do a more thorough cleaning - mirror, toilet, beat the rugs, sweep and mop (I use either baking soda and water or a commercial floor cleaner to mop). To clean the toilet bowl I like to pour some vinegar and bs in there and swish around.

I wipe down the shower in our downstairs bathroom after I shower (sometimes ). I hardly ever clean the tub upstairs because we don't use it that often.

[wendinbill]

Originally Posted by dflanag2

So what ratio of vinegar and water do you put in a spray bottle? I did this recently and maybe I used too much water, it didn't seem quite right. How about on the floor?

I like the idea of scenting w/peppermint, wendinbill. Do you just use peppermint extract?

I also feel like I need to use so much baking soda on the tub. How much do you use? Do you sprinkle it in the tub before cleaning, or apply it to your scrubber?

I use 50/50 water/vinegar, with about 20 drops of pepperment essential oil. I've never used extract, I'm not sure it's the same? I keep an old coffee creamer bottle filled with baking soda (also scented with peppermint!) in the bathroom. I just sprinkle it in there-never measure. Then a squirt of Dr. Bronner's peppermint. I just use a washcloth, working on the tub. I spray the walls with the vinegar/water mix, and wipe them down with the same rag. Then rinse it all with hot water, and I leave my curtain open so it dries. HTH!