To ask how to clean the bathroom.

[BathroomSOS]

Name changed for obvious slobby reasons.

For a long time I have been suffering from anxiety and depression and other members of my family are physically unwell/ disabled so the house for a while wasn't the cleanest.

Over the last few months I've been increasing how much I've been doing. Firstly the front room every few days, then the whole kitchen and front room, i cleaned the whole conservatory top to bottom over a vast number of days as it had become a junk room essentially.

My point is whilst I know this is a slovenly question I am an improving sloven(?) But the one room I've always tried to avoid is the bathroom just because the thought of the germs disgusts me, and others have cleaned it non routinely but I'd like to add it to make it regularly cleaned as hopefully after the first time it won't be so bad.

Its mostly the toilet im concerned about.In the house we have Dettol bathroom cleaner and Harpic. Do I use the Dettol spray on the outside of the toilet and Harpic inside? Or the dettol spray inside and out and then Harpic? I believe I can use the dettol spray for the bath, sink and tiles?

Honestly, there's no need to over-complicate it.

Bleach inside the loo itself - round the bowl and under the rim. Then just leave that while you're doing the rest of the bathroom. You can leave it overnight if you like.

You can then use the cleaning spray of your choice on pretty much every other surface, including the outside of the loo.

If you want your taps and mirrors etc to be nice and shiny, give them a polish afterwards with a dry microfibre cloth.

Laiste · Today 10:11

@MrsSkylerWhite how did you get the paste on? Did you just press it in with your fingers”

painted it on with a pastry brush on the floor 😁 but it did need rubbing in with fingers on the walls.

Thank you :)

Make sure not to use bleach and any kind of limescale remover in the bathroom at the same time. Together they give off very bad fumes.

I don't use sponges, because they don't lasr, so it's wasteful. I use a non-bleachy bathroom spray and I have a load of those very thin but textured microfibre cloths. They are great for general cleaning and wiping, but they are particularly good on anything you want shiny! I leave the spray on the shower screen for a while before using the cloth.

For the loo, I just use toilet roll and bathroom spray on the outside, then squirt bleach around the inside and leave it for half an hour before flushing. We live in a soft water area, so no limescale at all.

This but also wipe the wall/tiles around the toilet too if you have boys at home.

Yes

I would suggest not bleaching the toilet at all. A lot of harpic left for an hour and brushed will do everything that the bleach could do anyway. And it will do it better - bleach often lightens limescale and doesn't remove it.

I have to say I hate the idea of any single use product like wipes. (Toilet paper excepted!)
We keep a bag full of cleaning cloths made from old t shirts, towels etc that can be washed out but also don't feel so bad about chucking out really yucky ones.
I also use toilet paper on the loo then flush it down, like others have said.
A spray bottle filled with white vinegar is your friend - use frequently till you've got rid of your limescale, then as and when needed and try to get the other members of the household to clean up after themselves e.g. wipe round the washbasin after they've used it, squeegee down the shower glass/tiles etc., depending on their abilities/disabilities. It shouldn't be all down to you!
I am lucky that my OH is very tall and one house we rented the ceiling of the loo was too low for him to stand up to pee and he has sat down to do it ever since so no extraneous splashes! (As an aside, his doctor also told him that it was healthier especially for older men who may have an enlarged prostate because it makes it easier to completely empty the bladder and so avoid possible UTIs ... sorry, a bit off topic!)
Using even cheap bubble bath helps prevent a tidemark in the bath and can also be used for cleaning it!
I'd be wary of using Cif or similar except where there is no alternative as it will gradually take the suface shine off.
If you have bad limescale in your loo bleach will whiten and disinfect it but not remove it so it will quickly discolour again. Chuck a whole bottle of cheap white vinegar down and leave it as long as possible, not easy with several people using it! A litre bottle of Coke works well too!
Sounds like you've worked really hard and made a great start, well done!
We recently moved into an old house and the toilet was also the thing I was most dreading doing (a stranger's dirt always seems dirtier than your own, doesn't it?) but now after a few weeks it's actually looking almost like new, so it is possible!
Sorry, long post!
Good luck with everything x

Wipe the toilet seat with a Dettol wipe. Lift the seat and do the same underneath. With a fresh Dettol wipe clean the pedestal. Put bleach under the rim then spray all over the loo with Zoflora. A white sponge scourer with anti bac spray on will do then bin. I clean the bath and sinks with Flash liquid. Mop the floors with Flash also.

This is what I tend to do when I clean the bathroom (I have ADHD which means time blindness and so it often goes quite a long time between cleans).

Wear some clothes I don't mind if they get stained. (Not 100% necessary but makes me feel better if I'm doing a big clean).

Bin bag - pick up all the rubbish. Empty containers, tissues, loo roll tubes etc. If I'm feeling especially green then I might collect the recyclables first and separate them. If not - everything in the black bin. Change bin bag in the bathroom bin and put the contents of the old one in the bin bag. Keep this bag here for now.

Laundry basket - collect all clothing, towels, bath mat, dump in basket. Remove from room.

Hoover - preferably a small handhend one - to get rid of the dust all over the floor. Makes the rest less frustrating.

Get a microfibre cloth or other cleaning utensil (e.g. disposable J-cloth or sponge.

Start with sink - as this tends to be the "cleanest" thing in the bathroom.

Take everything off the sink (toothbrushes, creams, soap etc) and put in a pile e.g. on a towel on the toilet lid. (Can now hoover dust + fluff off sink if practical)

Using warm water and some kind of surface spray (e.g. Dettol) wipe down the whole sink + taps etc.

Bring back the items that should live on the sink, wipe/clean them one by one with the warm water, dry and place where they should go.

Repeat process with any shelves/cabinet near the sink.

Repeat process with bath/shower, if cleaning those.

Get bowl to hold hot water, bring this down to floor level. Clean floor, using warm water + dettol spray again, going in a circle with the area around the toilet last. When cleaning area around floor, also do outside of toilet bowl. I might clean the bin and the toilet brush holder if these seem absolutely grim - probably in the bath, using the shower, to minimise the chance of any splatter (sorry!!!)

Last of all is the toilet itself, as it feels like the dirtiest object to me. You can just rinse your cloth etc really well, or you might want to replace it after doing some of the floors. But this is what I tend to do.

Open toilet and spray the rim and underside of seat with dettol. Put seat down, spray seat + underside of lid, put lid down, spray top of lid (and the back of the pan). Run hot water in sink, rinse out cloth, wipe toilet lid. Open lid, wipe underneath lid and on seat, open seat, wipe under seat and around rim. (Rinse cloth as needed during this).

Place cleaning cloth into the bowl used earlier or in the bin bag if throwing away.

Drain water in sink and run an extra sinkful to swish around with hands to rinse any germs from toilet cleaning.

Last of all, use toilet brush to push as much water past the U-bend as possible. Now get your Harpic and squirt under the rim and all around the bowl. Close toilet, wash hands and leave the bathroom. Throw away the rubbish, take cleaning cloth in its little bowl to washing machine and wash at 60C or higher (can do with towels, bedding, etc, or just empty as a cleaning cycle).

At least 20 mins later but as long as possible, go back to loo and scrub the harpic with the toilet brush, as much elbow grease as you can manage, then flush. Replace bath mat, towels with clean ones.

If you have very thick limescale in toilet you might not be able to clear it using this method - you need some kind of strong acid to dissolve it. Don't mix different bathroom cleaning chemicals, especially bleach. You can try vinegar overnight in the toilet bowl - you might need to repeat a few times if it's very thick. It will smell absolutely terrible as the urine, bacteria etc seep into the limescale and then get released, but once you've cleared it once it's easier to keep on top of it.

Harpic inside the bowl, and Dettol everywhere else. I'd forgo Harpic and use bleach. White vinegar mixed with a bit of water and essential oils is a nice, natural alternative to glass cleaner.

I wouldn't use them on the same day though, mixing chemicals is a bad idea.

The reason I was bemused by the hoovering, because I actually shark my laminate and carpets,plus the bathroom floor is tiled with a rustic effect,it's easier to sweep,that trying to manuver a vacuum cleaner round behind the door, toilet and basin .

After seeing my DD shower screen am very glad I went for a curtain in the end.

Some helpful advice on this thread. One thing I would just add that you might find useful - apologies if it's already been mentioned - Andrex do flushable wipes. So any small/wipeable stains on the toilet seat you can literally just wipe and flush and it's gone!

As you can see OP everyone has their own way of doing things! I'd have a look on YouTube, there are lots of cleaning videos which show how to do things plus help to motivate you.
Good luck!

Once you've sorted the sanitary ware out invest in a Karcher window cleaner for the tiles glass screens and windows - you'll be hooked on cleaning when you see the difference

Not read all PPs but there is something called DUCK Fresh Brush available Amazon and Asda etc. - for cleaning toilets. It has disposable pads so you don't need to use usual toilet brush repeatedly.

A sonic scrubbing brush is invaluable for cleaning grout and getting into corners.

Dose it really work? Can it be used on outside windows?

YY this is not always practical depending on the tools you have access to. I do find if I have a normal hoover + hose and crevice attachment, then it's worth doing, with the handheld one even easier. But if I only had the big one I didn't always bother tp get it out.

Definitely on any windows tiles mirrors - one of the few things I could sell if I worked in sales!

Tbf you can use the detol everywhere. You don't need all the separate products they tell you you do.

I use a multi purpose bathroom spray for everywhere including inside the loo and a bit of cif lemon for the bath and the shower tiles to scrub off the soap scum and dead skin residue.

Occasionally a bit of bleach on an old toothbrush around the sealant/grouting for the mould.

You know what - i've lived in houses with glass shower screens and lived in houses with shower curtains. My verdict is:

Glass shower screens look posh and lovely only when new and/or kept absolutely spotless. And by spotless i don't just mean the panel, i mean NO crusty limescale deposits all along the base of it, round the hinges of it and in the rubber thing along the bottom of the glass. You become blind to it because it's a pain to clean.

Shower curtains (the nice soft ones. i like white) look a bit naff, yes, but chucked in the hot wash once a week they come out perfectly clean, smelling fresh, and they harbour no cracks or crevices or hinges or seals where limescale and soap crud build up. You can easily and cheaply get a set of new rings if they get manky, or a whole new curtain with rings is only about 8 quid.

AND you can pull them far enough over to stop the water coming out when splashy people are having a shower!

AND when your dc barge in to the bathroom your FIL doesn’t catch an eyeful of you naked in the shower because you’re hidden behind a curtain not a glass screen!

If you have an old stretched scrubby mit (exfoliation) add as extra layer over your marigold glove. Then apply your cream cleaner to the shower glass in circular swirls (ideally to music) rinse with shower head and Tah Dah.

For the finishing touch, squeegee or dry with microfibre cloth. You can get into nooks and crannies with your gloved hand/fingers. Pre apply white vinegar to remove limescale if needed.

For the outside shower enclosure glass put the dirty towels down to soak up the rinse water then bung them in the wishy washy system.