Cleaning the bathroom is a task to be feared, at least we thought it was. Frustrated with having to deal with gooey faucets and grimy walls, we decided to see what the pros had to say. You’d be surprised to know that it only takes 7 tips to have a sparkling clean bathroom, and it’s not as exhausting as you may think it would be. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Brush Your Tiles

It’s safe to say that the tiny grooves between tiles are the shame of every bathroom around the world. They’re impossible to clean, for one. Secondly, what cleaning tool is as thin as the grout between your tiles? To answer our own rhetorical question, an old toothbrush is the perfect size. As for your chemical of choice, we suggest you sprinkle some baking soda on the “infected” area, then follow that with cleaning vinegar and put some elbow grease in the scrubbing. To better apply the cleaning vinegar, put it in a spray bottle, then mist the grout and leave it for a while before you scrub off the dirt. These ten minutes of waiting should be enough for the chemicals to react, breaking down the grime and dirt.

2. Vinegar Soak

Another common bathroom problem that most of us suffer from is dirty faucets. Not just dirty, but blackened with tar, gooey, and a little green at first, but then it dries up, turning your faucets into the stuff of nightmares. What do you do about that breeding ground for bacteria? Nothing much. Get a few rags or paper towels even, dip them in warm vinegar, then wrap them around your faucets. Wait an hour, or more if needed, then remove the rags and wash with water. What makes vinegar such an effective cleaner is the fact that its pH (a measure of acidity/alkalinity) is about 2.5. Meaning, it’s highly acidic which allows it to break down dirt, grime, mineral deposits, and even kill bacteria.

3. What to Do with a Toilet Seat?

If you’ve arrived at what you believe is your breaking point when it comes to the horrendous port-a-potty fumes coming off of your toilet seat, don’t lose hope just yet. There is a way, but it will take a little dedication. First, you need to go to the store and get a toilet bowl cleaner and another solution for regular surfaces. Then, coat the inside of your toilet bowl with the cleaner and let sit. After that, it’s time to get your tools and unscrew your toilet seat. Take the seat screws and submerge them in a bowl of vinegar and baking soda. As for the seat and the toilet itself, clean both with detergent. You’re also going to want to clean the walls around the toilet because it’s most likely that the pee found its way there, too. Lastly, scrub the toilet bowl and rinse the screws, then re-attach the toilet seat. Voilà, no more pee smell.

4. Go Top-Down

For some, cleaning is a lot more than something that you have to do. It’s a science, almost an art, even. That being said, we present to you the top-down technique. When you’re cleaning your bathroom, you’re usually dealing with a lot of mess: grime, tar, detergents, urine, vinegar solutions, etc. For those who value efficiency, follow the footsteps of professional house cleaners and start your cleaning from the top. In other words, start as close to the ceiling/vents as possible, and clean the floors last. That way, with each phase of your cleaning process, whatever muck you rinse away won’t end up dirtying a cleaned surface. In the end, once all the muck and grime have been washed away to the bathroom floor, give it a good clean.

5. Putty Knife for Soap Scum

What do you get when you combine hard water and soap? Soap scum. It’s that disgusting white layer that forms over your bathroom tiles, especially around your shower/tub. If you’ve tried removing that layer before, you’d know that it’s quite immune to scrubbing. What to do? Use a putty knife to scrape it off, but make sure to do that before you get water on the walls because the scum is easier to scrape when dry.

6. Unclog Your Showerhead

No one likes a dirty showerhead, and the same goes for when it’s clogged. The cure for both cases is vinegar. Take a Ziploc bag and fill it with apple cider vinegar, then sling it over your shower head and tie it with a rubber band. After a one-hour soak with the showerhead fully immersed in the vinegar, you’ll find that the dirt and the minerals blocking the holes have dissolved. It’s the same method used with the faucets, except for the fact that apple vinegar has a less pungent smell than white vinegar. In the cases of heavy blockage, you might find that there’s still mineral residue in the holes. If that happens, use a toothpick to unclog the remaining holes. 

7. Labels Matter

More often than not, there are multiple rags and sponges lying around the house. Some new, some old. Can you tell the difference? If you can’t, that’s a real problem right there. A rag for your bathroom floor can’t be used to clean your wooden bookshelves after it dries up. Sponges can’t be used interchangeably between sinks and dishes, either. Because those cleaning rags are a hotbed for microorganisms and bacteria, it’s never a good idea to use them so liberally. To differentiate between the clean and the horridly dirty sponges, grab a pair of scissors and cut one corner off of the dirty ones. It’s a quick and easy way to separate the usable sponges from the unusable ones. 

All in all, cleaning bathrooms is all about understanding the type of dirt you’re dealing with, and learning how to defeat it. Most cleaning solution recipes are either made of vinegar, baking soda, and water, or a combination of either. Sometimes, an essential oil is added to the mix to improve the smell. As we’ve said before, cleaning your bathroom might have been a daunting task, but not anymore. Who would have thought that all it takes is the stuff you can find in your kitchen cabinet?