12 Cleaning Hacks for a Gleaming Bathroom
Let’s face it: No one likes cleaning their bathroom (I hear you out there, person insisting they love it; I am indeed calling you a liar). But just because it’s unpleasant doesn’t mean it has to be difficult – or take a long time.
My wife and I swore when we moved into our nice, new house that we were going to learn to be those people with the ridiculously clean bathrooms. It didn’t come naturally to either of us (blame our respective upbringings). But thanks to a few new tricks and techniques we’ve learned, keeping a pristine bathroom isn’t nearly the life-ruining chore that we feared it would become!
I steered clear of some of the more obvious bathroom cleaning tips when I put this list together (you should already know that you need to occasionally sweep and mop your floor). Instead, I focused on some of the more unusual hacks that even your neat-freak grandma might not be familiar with (feel free to share this article with her).
1. Clean Shower Heads With a Sandwich Bag
Nothing ruins a nice, relaxing shower like mineral deposits making a mess of your desired spray setting. Luckily, you can make that sputtering shower head work as good as new using white vinegar and a plastic bag.
Fill a sandwich bag – or a quart-size for larger shower heads – with white vinegar and place it over your shower head, using rubber bands to hold it in place. Leave it for at least a couple of hours (or overnight for even better results). Be careful when removing the bag, or you’ll end up with a face full of vinegar (speaking from experience)!
2. Pour Boiling Water Down Your Drains
Is your shower drain prone to frequent clogging? Pour a saucepan’s worth of boiling water down your drain once a week to help wash away the hair, grease, soap residue, and other gross stuff that can clog or slow down your drain.
This isn’t just for your bathtub and shower drains – a weekly boiling water infusion can also help prevent clogging and slowing for your sink and even your toilet.
3. Fix a Slow Drain With Vinegar and Baking Soda
If your sink or bathroom drain is already slow and boiling water isn’t quite up to the task, give baking soda and vinegar a try before you reach for the kind of harsh chemicals you need gloves and a face mask to use.
Start by pouring a few tablespoons of baking soda powder down the drain, then chase it with an equal amount of white vinegar. Leave the mixture to work its magic for about 20 minutes before rinsing with warm water (side note: it’s not a bathroom tip, but I’ve used this same method on my kitchen sink, and it works wonders).
4. Squeegee Your Shower After Every Use
You can help fight soap scum and mildew before they happen with this simple hack: use a small squeegee to wipe the walls (and glass door, if applicable) before you get out of the shower.
This will greatly reduce drying time, and you’ll be amazed at how much less soap scum and mildew you need to deal with as a result.
5. Rinse Your Shower/Bathtub With Vinegar and Water
To take your preventative powers to the next level, fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar.
Use this solution to spray down the inside of your shower and bathtub at least once a day (post-squeegeeing, if you’re using both methods). This solution will help prevent soap scum from forming and will kill mildew before it happens.
6. Clean Your Glass Shower Door With Cooking Spray
I know this one sounds insane, but hear me out. I just recently moved into a house with a walk-in shower, so I’ve been dealing with a glass shower door for the first time. Trust me when I say that even with regular squeegeeing, those boys love to get gross!
I found this tip online and was skeptical, but now I’m a true believer. Spray down your glass door with a thin layer of non-stick cooking spray, wait 10 minutes, and wipe clean with a cloth. The soap scum and mildew come right off!
7. Air Out Your Shower Curtain
If you check mildew’s birth certificate, nine times out of 10 it will have listed “your shower curtain” under “birth location.” The folds in a shower curtain are the perfect place for moisture to hide and turn into smelly, unsightly mildew.
Make sure your wet shower curtain is thoroughly aired out – pull the curtain to its full length, leave the fan on for a while, and open a window (if possible). The aforementioned vinegar and water spray will also be of great use in this struggle, so make sure you’re getting a good coat on the curtain!
8. Prevent Mirror Fogging With Shaving Cream
This is another one that sounds too out there to be true, but I tested it out, and, to my shock, it works! Coat your bathroom mirror with a thin layer of shaving cream and wipe it off with a clean cloth after about 10 minutes.
The surfactants in the shaving cream will prevent fog from sticking to the mirror the next time you shower. Trust me on this one, it’s science.
9. Wipe Down Surfaces With Vinegar and Baking Soda
Mix equal parts white vinegar and baking soda to create a foaming solution that’s perfect for wiping off bathroom countertops, your sink basin, the toilet, and anywhere else you find dirt, grime, mildew, or mineral deposits.
This cheap and eco-friendly solution is just as effective as the expensive bathroom cleaners. It also has numerous uses outside the bathroom (looking at you, kitchen surfaces).
10. Use a Toothbrush To Reach Those Small Spaces
Ah, but what of those areas that are too tight for you to use a cloth? I’m talking about the space behind your faucet, the tracks of your sliding shower door, and even between your faucet and its knobs.
Use that old toothbrush you were about to throw out (do NOT use it on your teeth after) to apply your baking soda/vinegar solution and give it a good scrub. This works wonders on hard-to-reach mineral deposits. To make this task even easier, use an electric toothbrush.
11. A Salted Lemon Is Your Best Scrubber
If mineral deposits are still giving you trouble after using vinegar and baking soda, then have I got the tool for you!
Cut a lemon in half, and cover the exposed part of the fruit with salt. The acid in the lemon and the coarse salt will scrub those mineral deposits right off, especially the ones on your faucet, shower head, and other metal bits.
12. Eliminate Hard Water Toilet Rings With Borax Paste
If you have hard water like I do, then you’re well familiar with those gross, unsightly rings that form in your toilet. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record here, but regular use of your vinegar and baking soda paste inside the bowl will go a long way toward preventing this.
However, if it’s too late for prevention, you might need something a little stronger to make those rings disappear. Add some water to borax powder until it forms a paste, and then use your toilet brush to scrub your toilet bowl until it’s sparkling white!
11 Poor Hygiene Habits Americans Don’t Know They Have
Americans believe in cleanliness, but we may not be as hygienic as we think. These eleven habits reveal where many Americans fail in the hygiene department.
11 Poor Hygiene Habits Americans Don’t Know They Have
24 Things You Never Knew About McDonald’s
There’s no doubt McDonald’s has left a mark on popular culture. Here are 24 facts about the burger giant that few Americans know about.
