We’ve all heard of spring cleaning, but do you get that same itch to scrub everything down and start fresh in the fall too? I know I always do and it’s the perfect time for it, really. The kids are back in school, routines are being established again, and it’s a great time to set things right in your home before the big holiday rush takes over our lives! The bathroom is obviously one of the dirtiest places in our homes and it can be a lot of work to keep it super sparkling clean on a daily basis. If you’re like most people and only have time to give it a quick once-over-when-it-needs-it during most of the year, this “Fall Cleaning” time is the perfect time to get to those parts of the room that you don’t normally get a chance to clean. Sure, the bathroom looks pretty good with just a quick daily or weekly cleaning, but if you really get into all the nooks and crannies of the room, that’s when you’ll really see it shine! It’s great to experience that for yourself, even if it’s only once in a while and even if it only lasts a moment. It’s great motivation to keep the room just a little cleaner during the rest of the year too!
Here’s a short list of a few of my favorite not-so-often-cleaned spots in the bathroom to get you started!
Ready… Set….
Gather your supplies first and clear the room of everything that you can. Take things off of counter tops, the toilet tank, and out of the shower. Open the windows and let the fresh air in! It might be awhile before you can do that again! For tools, all you’ll really need is something to get rid of dust, like a feather duster or a vacuum, a good all-purpose bathroom cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, a stack of nice soft cloths and a scrub brush with stiff bristles.
Clean On Top!
Start out by cleaning the tops of things that are normally out of sight and out of mind. Things like the tops of doorways, window frames, window coverings, the shower curtain rod, light fixtures, and medicine cabinets. I like to use a nice feather duster to collect everything or even the soft brush attachment on a vacuum cleaner if things are really bad! Finish off by wiping everything down with a damp cloth and a bit of all-purpose cleaner.
Clean Behind!
Make sure you do a quick scrub and swipe of the wall and floor behind your toilet, behind any pedestal sinks, and behind any freestanding cabinets or tubs. Bathrooms seem to be dust magnets and all that moisture makes it so the dust gets in behind things and then sticks! It’s a bad situation all around, but if you get back there at least every once in awhile, you’ll stay in good shape.
Clean Underneath!
You might not think about cleaning underneath the things in your bathroom on a regular basis, but just think about all of the germs and dirt that can get flung about when you’re washing your hands. You might be surprised at what you find if you look under your pedestal sink! Be sure to get under toilets, cabinets, chairs, rugs, and garbage cans as well.
Let your cleaners really soak in and do their work!
When it’s time to get down to the real scrubbing, let your cleaners do the hard work for you instead! Spray all your surfaces (sink, counters, tub, floors) with a bathroom cleaner like this Lysol® Foam Bathroom Cleaner and let it sit for about 10 minutes for full cleaning, limescale removal, de-soap-scumming, and disinfecting. Lysol® has a long history and has been trusted for a long time because it kills 99.9% of harmful germs, which is exactly the kind of cleanliness we all need to start with in our bathrooms heading into flu season! At first, it will look like it just snowed in your washroom, but soon the foam will dissipate and the cleaner will get to work!
After ten minutes, just wipe everything up with a damp cloth and polish with another dry cloth for extra shine!
Squirt toilet bowl cleaner, like this Lysol® Toilet Bowl Cleaner, around the inside of your toilet bowl for about 10 minutes. I don’t usually use strong cleaners like this for my toilet because I just usually use whatever cleaner I was wiping the sink down with that day, but it really did do a good job on my rust stains. It coats both above and below the waterline and sticks to tough stains as well as shines, disinfects, and deodorizes. If you have really tough rust stains like I often do, you can leave it on for 15 minutes to save yourself any unnecessary scrubbing. 🙂
After you’ve enjoyed 10-15 minutes of relaxation, come back to the bathroom and swish the toilet with your toilet brush everywhere that you see blue. Then flush!
I have to admit that I really love the little bubbles that are left in the bowl after you clean the toilet. It says to my family “Yeah, that’s right! I just cleaned the toilet! You’re welcome!” …which I do most days, but somehow it still doesn’t get old. 🙂 Wipe down all the rest of the toilet seat and the tank area and you’re all set!
Some Other Things
Depending on your bathroom, you may also want to do a good cleaning of your walls, doors, cabinets, blinds, door knobs, drawer pulls, and light switches. Most of these can be done pretty quickly, but you’d be surprised what a different wiping everything down with a cloth and a bit of cleaner can make!
The great thing about doing a really good cleaning of your bathroom is that it doesn’t really take long, or much effort, and you really get a lot of satisfaction because everything just becomes so shiny!
Lysol® Bathroom products are available to purchase at major retailers and cost between $3.87 and $3.97. You can save $2 using this coupon when you buy any 2 Lysol® products!
To learn more about Lysol® products, connect with them on Facebook or on YouTube.
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.