How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom

How to deep clean the bathroom - These simple and easy, step by step instructions will show you the best way to clean the sink, toilet, walls, and more.

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On my bathroom sink, I see 4 bottles of hand soap, a garden glove, pony tail holders, baby soap, Tucks pads, sunburn spray, contact lens solution (there are no contact lens wearers in my household), hair mousse, aftershave, mouthwash, prescription medicines, paper towels, sunscreen, several tubes of toothpaste, and much, much more.

Clearly, our sink is a problem.

I wipe our sink regularly since my husband's whiskers routinely fall all over the place when he shaves.

Please note: I am not complaining! I am glad that he shaves. I don't mind cleaning up the whiskers.

Though I wipe it, I don't do a deep cleaning often enough, and I certainly don't purge the crap often enough. Here's my spring cleaning plan for this mess -

How to Clean the Bathroom Sink

As with the toilet, this should be done weekly. If your sink and counter are especially dirty, you may consider using a disinfectant to during or after the cleaning.

1. Take everything off of the sink and counter space.
2. Use an all-purpose cleaner and a clean towel to wipe the entire counter, paying close attention to the area around the faucet. Don't forget to wipe the edges, too.
   If soap scum or hard water stains are a problem, soak the affected areas in undiluted white vinegar for an hour or so.
3. Use an appropriate cleaning product to wipe the faucet. I use my homemade all-purpose cleaning solution, but depending on your sink, you may need something else.
4. Return the items that belong on the counter to the space. Put things that don't belong there some place else.

Deep Cleaning the Sink

1. Check the sink, faucet, and plumbing for leaks or cracks. Take this opportunity to address your drippy faucet if you have one. It's always better to take care of a minor problem before it becomes a catastrophe.
2. Purge. Go through your shampoos, styling products, bubble baths, make-up, and all of the other lotions and potions hanging around on your sink, counter, and elsewhere.
   Get rid of anything you don't love.
   Get rid of any you haven't used in the last couple of months.
   Get rid of any that are expired or have been open longer than recommended.
   For guidelines on when to toss different kinds of products, check this list on About.com.
3. Deep clean the sink. Use vinegar to soak away any stains or hard water deposits. Scrub as necessary. If you can't remove the stains or deposits, buy a heavy duty cleaning product. Use cotton swabs or bamboo skewers to remove debris and gunk from cracks and crevices.
   
4. Wash the soap dish. I personally do this every other week, but not everyone does. If it's been a while, give your soap dish a good scrubbing.
5. Clean out the vanity. Don't forget the vanity and area under the sink while you're cleaning. Remove everything. Wipe it off inside and out and replace only the items that belong inside.

How to Clean A Toilet

• In my homemade cleaning products post, I explained that you can use full strength white vinegar to clean your toilet. That will take out soap scum, hard water stains, and a lot of general grime.
• In the Homekeeping Handbook, Martha Stewart explains that you can use ¼ cup of full strength bleach to clean your toilet, as well.
• I prefer these days to use a cleaner with a little more oomph than vinegar or bleach, so I have been using method's toilet bowl cleaner that I get from Grove Collaborative. It works better than the homemade things I've tried, and it's organic, not tested on animals, and vegan.

In any case, you should clean your toilet at least once a week.

1. Pour in the cleaner, taking care to get it up under the rim, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then swish it around with a toilet-cleaning brush. Make sure you've gotten any gunk that is left inside, especially up near the rim.
2. Wipe down the handle or button first, then the seat (top and bottom), lid, and rim with a Clorox wipe (or a disinfecting cleaner). DO NOT drop the Clorox wipe into the toilet. They can really mess things up. Throw it in the trash.

Done!

Deep Cleaning Your Toilet

Before you do the quick cleaning above, follow these steps to spring clean your toilet.

1. Clean the outside. I use a Clorox wipe because it's easy, but you can use your favorite all-purpose cleanser and a rag.
   Starting at the top of the toilet, wipe down the tank, lid, bowl, and pedestal. (If you start at the bottom, drips will fall down onto the parts you've already cleaned.)
2. Check for gunk. That's the highly technical term for all of the dust and dirt you usually miss. Check around the handle, under the edges of the base, and any other spots on the toilet that might collect nastiness.
3. Consider a repeat cleaning. If your toilet has gathered more soap scum, dirt, or mess than you can remove in a few minutes' soak with vinegar or bleach, clean it a few days in a row. If that doesn't work, throw it out and buy a new one. (That was a joke. Actually, we did throw ours out and bought a new one, so maybe it wasn't entirely a joke.)

No matter how clean your toilet is, always flush it with the lid shut.

Keeping the lid down will prevent any wayward spray from landing on your sink, hairbrush, or toothbrush.

Deep Cleaning The Rest of Your Bathroom

1. Remove everything from your medicine cabinet, if you have one. Purge the items you no longer use or are expired. Clean the shelves before replacing the items you decide to keep.
2. Remove everything from your linen closet, if you have one. Get rid of towels and washcloths that have holes in them or are otherwise worn and beyond their prime. Clean the shelves before replacing the items you decide to keep.
3. Scour the tub. Use a product that's appropriate for your home's bathtub. Be careful, as some products are too abrasive and can scratch delicate materials. I use a Magic Eraser. Never use vinegar on grout!
   If there is any mildew, use a diluted bleach solution or a specialty product to remove it.
   If you have a shower curtain, take it down and wash it. If you have a door, use vinegar to remove any film.
   Don't forget to clean the faucet and soap dish.
4. Clean the mirror. I use vinegar and water, but you could try a number of different glass cleaners or another homemade solution. Do a good job on the mirror; everyone who enters your bathroom will be looking at it.
5. Wipe down the walls if you have washable paint. At my house, the wall next to the toilet and the wall next to the shower get grungy, so I wipe them with a Magic Eraser. It has dramatically shortened the lifetime of the paint job, but at least it's clean.
6. Wash the curtains, if you have them, or dust the blinds. While they're down, wash the window, including the sill and top of the window.
7. Dust. If you're at all like me, you may not have dusted in a while {two or three years}, and the shelves and light bulbs and the top of the shower have gathered some dust. Get it out of there.
   Also, don't forget to dust the ceiling and the corners, where cobwebs like to gather, and the fan and register covers.
8. Pick up anything that belongs in another room, and put it in a box or basket until you're able to put it away. Don't take it to put it away now; you'll slow down your cleaning progress!
9. Wash the throw rugs and bathmat. Hang them in the sun to dry. Sunlight will remove any odors and may even help with stains.
10. Sweep and mop the floor. Don't just do the middle of the floor. Get into the corners and get rid of any dirt that might have accumulated there. Use an old toothbrush or even cotton swabs if necessary.
11. Empty the trashcan, and then wash the empty can with a disinfectant.

It won't take long to give your bathroom a thorough spring cleaning, but it will go a long way in making a room you're in many times a day feel nice and cozy!