What you need
Gather a bathroom cleaner, a glass cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, a toilet brush, a non-scratch scrub sponge, an old toothbrush, rubber gloves and microfiber cloths in two colors, with one color reserved for the toilet and nothing else. Use one product per surface and rinse between products. Bleach mixed with ammonia, vinegar or an acidic bowl cleaner releases toxic gas, so run the fan and leave the door open.
The sequence
- Clear the counters and the tub ledge, and put the towels and mat in the wash.
- Dust the vent cover, the light fixture and the shelf tops while everything is dry, then sweep or vacuum the floor, because hair and dust turn to paste once they are wet.
- Spray the shower walls, tub and sink, squirt bowl cleaner under the toilet rim, and leave it all to work for ten minutes.
- Clean the mirror and polish the faucets while you wait.
- Scrub the shower from the top down, then the tub, and rinse. Use the toothbrush on grout and around the drain.
- Wipe the sink, the counter and the cabinet fronts.
- Brush the toilet bowl and flush. With the reserved cloth, wipe the tank, the handle, the lid, both sides of the seat, the rim, and then the base and the floor behind it, in that order.
- Mop the floor, starting at the far corner and backing out through the door.
Stubborn problems
White crust on a shower head is mineral scale, and acid dissolves it. Tie a plastic bag of white vinegar around the head for an hour, then run hot water through it. Vinegar etches marble and other natural stone, which need a cleaner labeled pH neutral. Cloudy film on glass doors is soap scum, and it yields to cleaner left on for the full ten minutes and a non-scratch pad. The pink or orange slime that appears around drains is a bacterium rather than a mold, and ordinary cleaner removes it.
Keeping it clean
A weekly pass takes twenty to thirty minutes. A squeegee run over the shower walls after each shower takes thirty seconds and prevents most scum and mildew. Run the fan for twenty minutes after you bathe, spread towels out to dry, and close the lid before you flush. Wash bath mats every week or two, and replace the toilet brush about once a year.
Tip Keep a full set of supplies in the bathroom itself, because the job gets done more often when it starts without a trip to another room.
