Rid your bathroom of lingering germs with these bathroom cleaning tips. Everything from how to descale a shower head to the simplest (and least gross) way of cleaning the toilet, consider this your ultimate bathroom cleaning guide.
The process of deep-cleaning your bathroom isn’t as difficult as you think. Follow these professional-recommended steps to make your bathroom clean, spotless and free of germs.
How Gross Is the Bathroom?
Your bathroom can be disgustingly gross. With these super-effective techniques, you can fight germs like never before.
Rule #1 for how to deep clean a bathroom? Be sure to keep it dry. As you clean, ensure you dry all surfaces thoroughly after the cleaning.
Whether you divide your antibacterial blast into small sessions or complete your bathroom deep cleaning in one swift sweep, implementing these changes every few months will be like flushing your worries down…well, you know.
- Descale the Shower Head
Why: The showerhead may be a reservoir for Mycobacterium avium, a pathogen linked to pulmonary disease. Turning on an unclean shower can send millions of germs straight into your lungs.
What to do: Start from the top: Pour a generous amount of white vinegar into an empty plastic grocery bag (enough to submerge the showerhead’s nozzle completely) and secure it in place for overnight soaking. Take it off in the morning and run the water to rinse.
2, Clean the Shower Curtain or Doors
Why: Those germs from your shower head (and your body) can stay in your tub.
What to do: You can spin your plastic shower curtains and liners in the washing machine using your normal detergent and some old towels that help wash away mildew and soap scum. Rehang to dry.
Make a paste for shower doors by mixing a few drops of distilled white vinegar with one cup of baking soda. Apply it directly to the door (it’s quite thick, so it will stick). Leave it for at least one hour, and then rub it with a microfiber towel. Rinse and buff dry with a fresh, dry microfiber towel.
The tub is less of an issue, a weekly scrubbing is typically enough. However, if you want to add more gleam, fill it with hot water and then drain. Use a bathroom cleaner, and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before scrubbing.
To keep it in place, wipe condensation from all surfaces after showering and leave the windows open for an hour every day to reduce the room’s humidity level.
- Refresh Dingy Grout
Why: Grout is porous and extremely susceptible to the growth of bacteria.
What can you do? Dip a grout brush in straight bleach, then scrub any discolored areas; rinse well. Be sure to ventilate the room.
Seal grout every six months to prevent moisture and grime from infiltrating.
- Clean Bathroom Countertops, Walls, and Ceilings
Why: Soaps (and the dirt and skin cells they shed) leave behind a microscopic film.
What to do: Spray walls, countertops, and ceilings with an all-purpose cleaner and turn on the shower, cranking the hot water until steam builds (about 5 minutes).
Turn off the water and close the door on your way out allow the steam and the cleaner to mix for 20 minutes. Then wipe down all surfaces using a clean, dry cloth. To reach high spots, use a clean, dry microfiber mop. Wipe the tile floor as well, but only after you’ve completed the rest of the dirty work.
To reduce watermarks on ceramic tile, you can apply a layer of car wax once a year. The water will build up and then fall off. Mildew-resistant paint is also a great option for untiled walls and ceilings.
- Get the Toilet Sparkly Clean
Why: When viewed in slow motion, a flushing toilet looks like a fireworks display. Because germs can linger in the bowl even after flushing, bacteria, like E. Salmonella and E. coli, can fly into the air, and land on the handle, the seat, and other surfaces.
What to do: Pour a cup of baking soda into the bowl. Allow it to sit for a few minutes, scrub it, and then flush. Still seeing spots? A damp pumice stone is rough enough to remove the limescale and mineral deposit stains but gentle enough not to damage surfaces.
If you’re experiencing extreme grime accumulation (or acute toilet-crevice trepidation), you should invest in a small, light-duty electric pressure washer. It lets you blast hard-to-reach areas, such as the spots where hinges meet the seat from an appropriate distance. Begin with the lowest setting, and you’ll be amazed by the results.
Close the lid when you flush, and use the vent fan (it absorbs the bacteria before they can settle). Start now if you’re not already storing toothbrushes or contact lenses inside the medicine cabinet.
- Clean the Bathroom Sink
The sink drain wins for the highest bathroom bacteria count, topping even the toilet seat.
The best thing is that you don’t require heavy-duty cleaners to make the bacterial stew go away. What is the best way to clean your bathroom sinks? Pour white vinegar or baking soda down the drain and flush with hot water.
For faucets, you can use disposable disinfecting wipes, which significantly reduce bacteria. (In contrast, clothes may just transfer germs from one spot to another).
If you must use clothes, you must be meticulous about where each one is employed and stored. Once the handles are cleaned, floss the faucet (yes, you read that right). The stringy material is great for removing that narrow, dirty space where the base of the faucet and the taps meet the sink.
- Wash Hand Towels the Right Way
Why: Many share them, and they hold moisture, that’s a recipe for bacteria stew.
What to do: Use the sanitizing option if your machine has one (or bleach them). Replace with clean towels every 3 to 4 days.
Lay wet towels out on a bar where air can circulate instead of hanging them on an unintended hook, where folds begin to form. Be sure to wash the towel bar, as it can also be a source of bacteria. Also, avoid hanging wet towels close to the toilet.
- Degerm the Bathroom Vent
While it helps reduce mildew and mold, the fan also breathes an assortment of airborne particles which can linger on the blades and the vent.
What to do: To begin, flip the circuit breaker. Remove the cover, and soak it in warm water and dish soap. Use the vacuum nozzle attachment to clean the fan blades. Wipe with a damp cloth. Clean the motor and other corners and crevices using a clean, stiff paintbrush and suck up the debris with a vacuum. When it’s completely dry, replace the cover.
Then, put the fan on a switch timer (a simple task for a handyman) and run it during every shower for 30 minutes afterward to keep the moisture (and the energy consumption) at bay.
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- Clean Your Bathroom Cleaning Tools
Without this deep cleaning, your toilet brush could end up being the perfect place for the growth of bacteria.
Take care of the toilet brush and clean it after each use. Place the brush handle between the already-cleaned seat and the basin to hover over the bowl. Pour bleach over the bristles. Let stand for a while and then douse it with a pitcher of clean water. Next, fill the brush canister with warm, soapy water and let sit; dump the dirty water into the toilet.