Tips and a Printable Checklist for a Clean Bathroom

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What’s your least favorite household chore?  Previously I’ve discussed how much I dislike doing the dishes, but if I had to pick something that I like even less than dishes, it would be cleaning the bathroom!  But guess what?  It has to be done!  This year as part of my quest for a more simplified life, I’ve been coming up with ways to make housekeeping easier for myself.  Today I will share my latest and greatest cleaning weapon in my bathroom cleaning arsenal, the New Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber (and Disposable Scrubber Refills), and I’ll share some simple tips and strategies for maintaining a clean bathroom (with a printable checklist included).

The New Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber is the tool you need to clean the inside of your toilet, including under the rim!  It is a great alternative to bleach without the chemical smell. Plus, there’s no mess and no getting your hands dirty to get a deep clean!

The products are available at your local Kroger store on the cleaning aisle. Look for the Instant Redeemable Coupon right on the Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber: “Try Me Now! Save $2”.  (See the photo above). The coupon can be redeemed at the register upon checkout.

Now let’s talk about how easy the Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber makes it for you to clean the toilet.  When you get your Toilet Scrubber, it comes with the caddy and 5 disposable scrubbers.  Simply take out the package of scrubbers and open the top of the package.  (Note: the scrubbers are to stay inside the open package, per the instructions on the package, seen in my photo above).  After the scrubber package has been opened, simply place the package back in the scrubber caddy.  When you are ready to clean, open the caddy, take the scrubber wand, and stick in the top of the caddy.  A scrubber will pop attach to the wand in a snap!

Then you are ready to clean!  Once the scrubber comes in to contact with water, and you begin to clean the toilet, a blue colored cleaner will be dispensed as you clean.  No extra cleaners are needed!  It is a very easy, mess-free, one-step process!

Then once you’re done, you just hold your Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber over the garbage can and hit the release button to toss your disposable scrubber in the trash.  Then return the scrubber wand to the caddy.  It’s so easy!

Apart from simplifying toilet cleaning, I’ve developed other strategies to maintain a clean bathroom.  The number one tip I have is to clean your bathroom every single day.  Recently I’ve started making it a habit to “spot check” the bathroom every time I go in there, and clean one thing as needed.  This way the cleaning is broken up in to tasks that take only a few minutes at time; after you get in the habit of doing this, it doesn’t really feel like cleaning at all!

My first example is the sink.  someone has left toothpaste or shaving cream in the sink, I will break out the spray cleaner and wipe the sink out.  (This takes about 2 minutes, and I’ll generally try to do this once a day.)

I do the same thing with the toilet.  If I see something unsightly, I will get my scrubber out and clean the toilet.  Or If I see something on or under the seat, I will get out the spray cleaner and clean that up.  (Again, it takes about 2 or 3 minutes.  And this is something I do on an “as needed” basis, so it gets done about two or three times a week.)  And then once or twice a month, I will do a deep cleaning, tidying up the inside, the lid and seat, and the entire base of the toilet.

Aside from these messes that just happen, I have bathroom clutter to deal with.  I’m talking towels, clothes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shaving cream, razors, deodorant, and anything else that could ever get left out on a counter or floor!  At our house, we have 1.5 baths, and the “main bathroom” is in the middle of the house, which means it’s not only the place where everyone showers and the guys get ready for work and school, it is also the bathroom that our guests use.  This gives me all the more reason to be vigilant about cleaning up and eliminating the clutter.

To rid the bathroom of clutter, I once again, use the “spot check” method.  Every time I go in the bathroom, I make it a point to look around and see if there’s anything I should put away or take out of the bathroom.

Let’s talk about towels and clothes.  I encourage the guys not to leave towels and clothes in the bathroom. Everyone has a clothes hamper in his room, and I have a hamper for the towels in the laundry room.  But as you can imagine, people get in a hurry when they’re getting ready to leave in the morning, and sometimes these things get left behind.  When that happens, I just grab the things myself and take them to their designated hamper.  (This is generally something I do fairly early in the day, because they use only leave things like this behind in the mornings.)

And then some other time throughout the day, I will remove the razors, shaving cream, and other items from the counter and place those items back in the cabinet.  Most of the time, there are only 2 or three things that have been left out, so it’s usually a snap to clean up!  Our son also keeps deodorant and some of his personal items in his room, so that helps to eliminate much of the potential clutter from the counter.

My goal for our bathroom, is to have it look as clean and as empty as possible!  If I could, we’d have hand soap and a hand towel on display in the bathroom, and that would be it!  But because, necessity warrants, I do have a few other items out in our bathroom.  In the picture above, you’ll see that I keep a basket in between the sink and toilet.  This is for toilet paper, and then it also contains a package of wet wipes and some air freshener.  And then on the other side of the toilet, in the corner, I have a garbage can, a tissue box full of bags for the garbage can, and my Scotch-Brite® Disposable Toilet Scrubber.

Now let’s talk about the shower!  First of all, always keep your shower curtain or shower door closed.  (They are made to hide what’s inside!)

Next, keep your shower and tub as clutter-free and organized as possible.  I have a built in shelf in the back of our shower, and because I’m a woman, it has several items.  The top shelf is for body wash and shave gel.  The second shelf is for shampoo and conditioner.  The third shelf is for a razor and bar soap.  And the bottom shelf is for facial soaps and feminine wash.  Then in the front of the shower, I have the “man shelf.”  It has a few different shampoos and body washes, as well as a razor and soap, and our loofahs.  By keeping only what we need inside the shower, it really helps to keep everything looking neat and organized.

Then we have the actual cleaning of the shower!  To avoid, soap scum and mildew build up, I have a green, antibacterial cleaner that I spray in the bathtub and shower walls once or twice a day.  Sometimes I will let this set for a minute and then do a quick wipe down, and other times I will do the spraying and just leave it as is.  And aside from preventing soap scum and mildew build up, it really helps to keep the bathroom smelling fresh.  (Other housekeeping experts also recommend simply taking a towel or cloth and drying all the water from the shower immediately after use.)  And then about every couple of weeks, I do a deep cleaning of the tub and shower, where I remove all the items from the shelves and do a good scrubbing.

And finally, during my deep cleaning sessions, which occur every two or three weeks, I will sweep and/or vacuum the bathroom floors, mop the floor, straighten the cabinets, wipe down the mirror, clean the sink, and do a through cleaning of the toilet and shower (as mentioned above.

To review and simplify this for you, I’ve created a Bathroom Cleaning and Maintenance Checklist for you.  You can Download the Printable Checklist here.

Do you have any tips for maintaining a clean bathroom If so, I’d love to hear your advice. Tell us your tip in the comments. And also look for other great ideas and tips at the Scotch-Brite Kroger Social Hub.