Cleaning bathroom walls

[Falconfield]

This might seem ridiculous but it is starting to bother me a bit and I'd like to check what is 'normal'.

So every week I clean my bathroom, so far so normal. However I read something a few years ago about how when you flush the toilet particles can get on the walls etc. So I started to clean all the walls of my bathroom about once a month. I've realised it has now escalated to washing the walls every week. I either use a flash floor mop or antibac wipes and will clean down the painted and tiled parts of the walls.
I have come to realise I might have a problem. I'm not sure if it's normal to clean bathroom walls every week? But I literally feel like I have to do it and feel it's grubby and i find it uncomfortable all week if I don't. It's a real, overwhelming need/compulsion and if I don't it really eats away at me everytime I go in there. It's also started to take the paint off the walls a bit.

So I suppose I'm asking, do others clean their bathroom walls, if so is once a week normal?

I think I subconsciously want people to say that they never wash their walls and its ok not to!

I don't, and I don't know anyone else who does, but I'm sure people do.

I have never washed my walls. I would stop for a month and see what happens.
My hunch is - nothing other than you have 10 mins free a week and use less chemicals in your house.

My

I think you’re asking the wrong question really. Your sentence “it's a real, overwhelming need/compulsion” is the thing I’d worry about on your behalf, not whether or how often other people clean their bathroom walls.

Can't you just put the toilet lid down before you flush

Drat!

My bathroom is fully tiled with white shiny tiles. I wash the walls about twice a year because they get dirty.

I am replacing the bathroom and there will be no shiny white tiles 😂. It's a pain in the bloody bum.

Exactly - everyone should be doing this anyway.

I only clean walls if there's obvious stains there, but in general no.

You need to put the toilet seat down before you flush and there’ll be no splashing.

Having said that, I do wash the wall that is nearest the loo in case the men of the family splash when weeing! But it’s just a spray and wipe once a week, takes ten seconds!

Thank you for the messages.

Yes ClaudiusTheGod, that's what's been playing on my mind a bit that maybe it is starting, or already has, escalated into something not healthy.

BadlydoneHelen, of course I close the lid as I'm sure everyone who uses my bathroom does as well, but it's the idea ofwhat if they didn't by accident. Also ot sort of doesn't matter it the toilet seat is down anyway it still feels better to clean the walls anyway. I'm not sure this is a good thought pattern.

I used to clean both office and hospital loos. Never cleaned the walls.

I wipe down the bathroom walls every 2-3 years. Dust builds up gradually on walls, so I wipe every wall in the house on occasion, but very, very infrequently.

I agree with PPs that the “compulsion” to wash your walls is something to look into.

Yabu for using disposable wipes, terrible for the environment.

Washing walls each week sounds like a waste of time to me, but each to their own.

I do wash the tiles in the bathroom, because I noticed that humidity plus dust create some kind of layer which annoys me. I never wash painted walls though. I think you’re only 50% unreasonable 🤪

I do want to make it clear that I close the toilet lid as does everyone else in the house (usually).
It's just that it doesn't feel clean and there is an element of just in case. I feel like I need to do it to have done it properly and unless it's done properly it's not right.

DH cleans our walls a couple of times a year, but only because the tiles go dull from shower condensation.
A weekly obsession is definitely OTT and something to work on, I would think.

I never clean any walls unless there is a visible mark to remove.

If you're worried about particles from flushing the loo, you could close the lid before you flush and train your family to do the same.

Even if there were poo particles on the wall, they aren’t going to leap into your mouth. And even if they did, unless someone has a stomach bug, they won’t make you ill.

So, no, I don’t wash my walls.

I have never washed my bathroom walls…. This is not normal - unless there is actual visible dirt.

You don't really have to bother as my wife generally does that which is quite not so normal but she does so i can't deny that people do generally wash the walls and also as these days my wife is not able to do all cleaning, she insists me to help. Just to escape from all these work i chose to book the service online which helps me to clean the bathroom, walls and the deep cleaning. I must say they do it really well. I have booked it from PRNV services. If you have to do all these, i would recommend to go with this, so that you can escape😜

Like others, I wipe down the walls only if there’s a mark, and same with the tiles. Closing the loo seat is fine.
I think you’re perpetuating an unhelpful thought process, this is particularly telling..

It's just that it doesn't feel clean and there is an element of just in case. I feel like I need to do it to have done it properly and unless it's done properly it's not right.

Just in case what? Do have a look at some material about OCD, as there’s lots of help out there for reframing your thought patterns. Good luck.

I would worry that that's quite an unhealthy process.

Unless you're going around licking your bathroom walls, it doesn't actually matter that there might be poo particles on them. They can't jump into your digestive system and make you sick just by existing.

I wipe down the tiled walls when ever I clean the bathroom. But I don't clean them every week, (No time)

I'd better stop licking the toilet walls. They sound very dangerous.

I am a housework slob and wash bathroom/toilet tiles down maybe 4x a year.

Washing the walls once a week is not so bad providing your complusion is not escalating, so you need to decide this compulsion will remain as a discrete activity, or whether it will lead to you doing other unnecessary cleaning tasks.

If it's just one weird little foible, then crack on. Maybe find a way to make it quicker, like one of those window washer-wiper things, or an anticbac spray designed for tiles, so you can get it over with.