House guests - ideas for keeping toilet/bathroom fresh!

[sotiredfornow]

Bit of a random query but does anyone have any tips for keeping a bathroom / toilet fresh ? We have house guests for a month and we're all sharing one bathroom! Lovely!

I notice some people use those clip over the bowl things which work with each flush. Any other ideas?

What do you use fragrance wise? Reed diffusers? Pot pourri?! I'm clueless!

I expect best way is to make sure it's clear of non essentials. Wipe down all surfaces at least once per day and change hand towel and bath mat each day. Towels dried outside weather permitting so that damp doesn't build. Also open window as much as possible. Make sure there is covered rubbish bin with liner for easy emptying. Also a box of matches and some air freshener for smells.

Reed diffusers and pot pourri etc are good to a point but if its the really pongy smells that you are thinking about, perhaps make sure that the windows are openable (maybe in the warm weather leave them partially open as much as possible) and if you have an extractor fan, make sure they know how to use it...a matter of fact 'this is how you switch it on and off' should hopefully suffice.

The odour eliminator sprays can be more effective than the air freshener type, but nothing beats fresh air in my opinion

I hate those toilet bowl clip things. They get in the way when you actually clean the loo and don't really do the job of keeping the bowl clean very well either.

What works for me is having a stack of microfibre cloths in the bathroom. I use a fresh one each day, wipe round sink and toilet, swish around toilet bowl with the brush (yes, yes). Cloths get thrown in a 60 deg wash once a week. I only use cleaning products every other day, but with lots of people using the bathroom I would probably up that to every day.

I read a good tip on here recently for keeping the bathroom clean with a newborn (but also relevant here) - just do a bit of cleaning when you go to the loo yourself. So the first time you go, wipe round the sink, then the next time do the toilet. That way you get it done without having to remember to go and do it, as it were.

Smell-wise, yy to window open as much as possible. We had some of those drinking-glass-sized candles from Ikea with vanilla scent in our bathroom for ages. Never lit them, but the scent was pleasantly strong.

Bleach the loo frequently and keep a bottle by the loo for people to use. definitely keep a window open where possible.

Don't use over-the-rim devices. They get soiled (boak) and also sometimes fall off and cause blockages.

Look for Parazone Bleach Blocks that go in the cistern and slowly dissolve. They are not coloured. You will be gratified to see, when you open the lid in a month or two to drop in a new one, that they also slowly dissolve limescale, and you will see the inside of the cistern is cleaner. It also unblocks scale from the waterways in the rim, and keeps the inside of the pan smoother.