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Once a living room, a bedroom and the kitchen walked into the bar. The poor bathroom stayed behind at home, wallowing in its own wetness and stink.
No honestly, if bathrooms were a family member they’d be the oft-ignored, least favourite member that always got the pizza crust.
People drop thousands of dollars on great sofas, a swanky TV unit, modular kitchens and the most comfortable mattress money could buy. And what does the bathroom get? Colourful mould-ridden buckets, taps and faucets with years of crummy build-up, an ugly toilet cleaner brush sticking out conspicuously next to the commode, and horror - a cornucopia of random toiletries and cosmetics lying about just about everywhere. This is not to mention a dirty or swampy floor and a toilet bowl that basically gives away what you had for dinner. Eww!
Bathrooms deserve better. They’re your safe space from the world to hide. They’re the perfect lounge for when you want to watch that video uninterrupted. They’re where you turn from a filthy slob into a charming prince. (Ok I exaggerate. Let’s say a presentable civilized human being.)
In fact chances are every guest in your house will use the bathroom at some point of their visit.
Can you afford to showcase to the world a pretty and tidy home while your bathroom gives the real you away? The you that doesn’t care much for hygiene, organization, aesthetics or safety!
No, then get cracking on that bathroom ASAP.
Here's My tried and Tested (and implemented weekly) plan on How To Clean Your Bathroom Like Your Facial Skin In 5 Steps
(as thoroughly as you would your facial skin.)
1. Scrub Bathroom floors
Bathroom floors are a breeding ground of accumulated silt, hard water stains and other bathing related gunk. While a basic mop and sweep may be enough, to deep clean the floor, a more thorough scrub may be needed. What's worked well for me is making a solution of 1 part detergent and 10 parts water and then leaving it on the bathroom floor for 30-45 minutes - enough for the gunk to loosen- and then sweep with a plastic broom. For harder stains around the drain area, one could even use a dishwashing scrubpad and/or brushes.
2. Clean out the showerheads, toilet jet and the taps
Hard water stains accumulate and usually show up prominently on metal taps. (Even the the so-called "stainless steel" ones. While regular cleaners like detergent and glass cleaners work, the best thing I've found to declog and desalinate the taps is vinegar! And strange as it sounds, the vinegar needs to be let to "sit" on the taps for a few hours to even overnight to work the best. Here’s a video on how to "soak" your taps in a vinegar solution and then clean the next day.
3. Use bathroom accessories in the same colour and style
For god’s sake do not have a generic plastic bucket, soap and brush holder, and a toilet brush in 500 different colors that screams a children’s nursery more than an adult’s bathroom. Have a theme and stick to it. Ideally, your bucket, mug and other accessories should match the colour of your flooring and bathroom tiles. If that's not possible, then go as close to the colour palette. for eg. if the flooring is white and black, you could even go with a bright yellow bucket but make sure the other accessories too cooperate.
4. Add plants to the bathroom Introduce greenery in a place that usually is a gloomy, wet bunker. Aloe Vera and money plants can pretty much be counted upon as best loo plants.
5. Have fragrance control
Bathrooms are infamous for having nasty smells wafting around in the air for sometime after the deed has been done. Introduce fragrance bags and odour control. All it takes is a bag of odonil air freshener or if you’re feeling fancy, some reed diffuser to diffuse that stick.
Loo and behold! You now have a beautiful, non-sticky, organized and clean bathroom that you’ll be proud to do your business in.
About the author: I (Monica) am a lifelong traveler, (40 countries), sustainability and veganism advocate, and a marketer by profession.