Day 15 of Our Fall Home Challenge: Sparkling Toilets, Tubs, and Sinks

(This is an adaption of an original post from 10/13/13.)

• Every morning when you get ready for the day, and every night before bed, put everything away.  Do not leave toiletries or hair styling tools on the counter.  It only takes about 2 or 3 seconds to do!  Then, using a washcloth, paper towel, or bathroom wipe, quickly wipe down the sink, counter, and toilet.  It takes mere seconds, and your bathroom will be company ready at all times! If you use a flat iron, you probably have a lot of broken hairs on the counter that need to be whisked away.  If you have boys, you know the benefit of daily wipe downs! There, it was worth a few extra seconds to have a bathroom that stays clean every day.

• I don’t do the tubs as often as I used to.  We have four people living in our house, and four bathrooms.  We each have our own tub, and therefore, our own scum. Nice,huh?   A daily shower spray eliminates having to clean as often, and they are life savers when you have as many tubs as I do to clean!

• Make it a habit for family members to pull their own hair out of the drain and to spot clean any messes they make.  This will eliminate having to clean as often too.

• For weekly cleanings, or sometimes every two weeks, depending on the degree of scum, I always begin with dry cleaning first before cleaning anything wet.  When you sweep and dust, it is so much easier to do when the floor is dry!  (Remember, we do daily wipe downs, so it doesn’t get very dirty!)  When you dust, don’t forget tops of towel holders, toilet paper dispensers, and the front of cabinets. They can get gross pretty quickly!

• I begin by spraying everything with Scrubbing Bubbles so that it can sit and do the work for me.  It also takes time for all the germs to die.  The surface needs to remain wet for at least 10 minutes to kill all the germs.  I also put toilet cleaner in the bowl.  Now to work!

• I have no reason for this except that it is easier for me to go around the room in one direction.  I always do it in this order – tub, toilet, mirror, sink and counter, and then floor.  I have found that routines and habits help me finish tasks more quickly and with less effort.

• For the toilet and sink, after the cleaner has soaked for several minutes,  I clean everything with a sponge, then rinse, and then wipe everything with a clean cloth diaper, buffing as I go to make sure everything sparkles, especially any chrome.  I knew those cloth diapers were good for something! Since I wipe everything down daily, this part doesn’t take too long.

• I have heard many ladies using an apron in which they can keep all of their cleaning supplies on hand to save time.  I love the idea, but I get so hot when I clean, that I just can’t stand it!  Rather, I have a caddy stocked with everything I need, and I place it dead center in the room to quickly grab what I need.

• I finish by mopping the floor.  You can do baseboards too, but I don’t worry about them but a couple of times a year.  I mean, really! 

• Now for the next three bathrooms!  Ugh!  Oops – I mean, yay!

• My best advice is to clean right away every time you use anything.  Put food away immediately. Wipe the counters right away.  Rinse dishes right after you use them and put in the dishwasher.  This only works if you empty the dishwasher after every use! Just like we talked about on Monday, a little bit every day consistently is much easier than procrastinating and trying to conquer a huge mountain of dishes at one time.

• Once in a while you might need to use some comet to scrub the sink so it stays sparkling white (or silver).

• Dishwashers are made now to clean dishes with food on them, but if they sit for any length of time, the food gets stuck and may not ever come off!  Also, the food may get sprayed onto other dishes.  It is always better to rinse dishes well, and even scrub the hard stuff off before putting them in the dishwasher. Keep a scrubby sponge handy for quick swishes as you stack the dishwasher.

• Clean as you go!  Wipe things off; put things away; throw away any packaging; etc. while you cook.  My mother used to say that to me all the time, and it has stuck!  She taught me that cleaning up is a part of cooking.  After dinner clean-up will be so much faster too!

• Reach into the abyss, I mean the refrigerator, every few days for anything rotting or any uneaten leftovers.  Get rid of it and put the container in the dishwasher.  Yep, you even have to wipe down and disinfect the shelves every so often!  Most experts recommend every week, but I confess, I don’t do it that often!  Check for any “gross stuff” accumulating in the rubber grooves of the door and the ice maker tray too.  Many people miss those until they become scary!

• Wipe the fronts of the cabinets often before grease and dust mix together and accumulate into a hardened shell on your cabinets.  Don’t forget to check for fingerprints!

• I sweep daily, but I don’t mop as often as I probably should.  Rather, I just use a paper towel and spot clean any mess I see.  However, as a nana, when my sweet grandbaby comes, that floor is spic-and-span! If you have wooden floors, or wood laminate, I recommend a steam mop. Or, water with a bit of vinegar cleans better than most commercial cleaners.

• If you don’t have a self-cleaning oven, my advice is to clean often enough before the crud becomes too hardened to manage.  However, we usually procrastinate this job because it seems like it will be so much harder than it really is.  Sure, it smells really bad, and it is disgusting, but it really doesn’t take that long.  Talk yourself into it like a coach pumps up a football team, and get in there and do it!