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Cleaning the bathroom is never fun — some roommates and couples fight about it, while others take turns, while still others hire a maid to do it. Sometimes, the prospect of scrubbing a toilet that you may or may not have made messy is just too much for all of us. But, the more everyone avoids cleaning it, the worse the whole situation becomes.
But what if I told you it’s easy to get your bathroom in tip-top shape? We did some digging and found some relatively painless ways to prevent the bathroom from becoming the grossest place in the house. Here are some tips on how to keep the bathroom super clean every day, whether you have company dropping by or not. You deserve it.
1. Soak Your Shower Head In Vinegar
To get your shower head so clean that you can see your reflection in it, there’s no need to use any expensive cleaners. You can just soak the shower head in a mixture of vinegar, baking soda and water, according to this step-by-step tutorial from HGTV. We also included this trick in our very own collection of shower hacks that you should check out if you want to make the most of your bathroom time.
2. Use Sandpaper On Stains
Have a hard-to-remove stain on a solid-surface synthetic tub or sink? Try ultra-fine sandpaper. After scratching away the stain, simply buff the area with a clean cloth and you’re all set, according to Consumer Reports. Good as new.
3. Use Baby Oil On Chrome
Need your chrome sink to shine? Try baby oil. Put some on a soft cloth and your faucet or other chrome and stainless steel surfaces will be good to go in no time. This surprising tip comes from Reader’s Digest. But if you don’t have any baby oil lying around, there’s another easy way to clean those shiny bathroom surfaces …
4. Try Vinegar On Chrome, Too
At his website, home improvement icon Bob Vila also suggests vinegar as a great way to clean chrome. Just mix the vinegar with water in an even ratio and use a cloth, sponge or toothbrush to restore the sparkle. He just warns not to dilute the vinegar too much or it won’t work.
5. Lemon Juice Paste Cleans Water Stains
If there’s a blue-green stain on your enamel surfaces, your faucet may be leaking, according to Consumer Reports. To clean that up, mix together a paste of lemon juice and borax and rub it on the stain. After several minutes, use a plastic scrub pad on it, then rinse with warm water. Buff dry and it should look good as new. Make sure to fix the faucet, too!
6. Squeegee Your Shower & Tub After Every Use
This sounds like a lot of work but “Today” swears you can knock it out in less than a couple minutes every time you shower. In an online story, the program recommends investing in a bathroom squeegee and using it to wipe down the shower doors, walls and floors to remove moisture after each use. This will keep mildew from every growing and make your full-on cleaning days much easier.
7. Remove Toilet Stains With Vinegar & Borax
Once again, vinegar comes to the rescue when it comes to cleaning your bathroom’s worst surfaces. The acidity in vinegar is fantastic at getting rid of stains, and we like the method suggested at How Stuff Works. Just add three cups of vinegar to the toilet and scrub away unwanted marks with your toilet brush. You can also use vinegar as a preventative measure by adding two cups to the toilet bowl each month, the website states.
Borax powder apparently works against toilet stains, too, but you should turn off the water supply to the tank first. Then, put the powder on the stains, clean the toilet and leave it be for about 30 minutes with the residual borax. Afterwards, turn the water supply back on and flush the toilet — and it should look as good as new.
8. Regularly Clean Your Toilet Brush
After using your toilet brush, it needs to be cleaned in order to get the most out of it. After each use, Apartment Therapy suggests spraying it with disinfectant and letting it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing it with hot water. If it’s been a while since you cleaned your brush, the website recommends soaking it in a mixture of bleach and water for an hour before rinsing and letting it air dry.
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