Ultimate Guide: How To Clean Your Bathroom, From Grout To Grime

For most of us, cleaning the bathroom is a drag at best – but who doesn’t like stepping into a sparkling clean bathroom?

Read on for a step-by-step guide to creating a bathroom that supports your sanitation and sanity.

During your daily visit:

• Leave the bathroom window open for an hour a day to let the fresh air in
• Spot-clean toothpaste and makeup splatters from the mirror and sink
• Hang a squeegee in the shower and wipe down the walls after every shower
• After bathing or showering, run the fan or leaving doors and windows open for ten minutes
• After a bath, rub down nearby surfaces with a towel
• After a bath or shower, remove hair and soap scum from around your bath drain with a piece of toilet paper
• Close the lid when you flush the toilet
• Store a small handheld vacuum in or near the bathroom for loose hair, dust and dry spills

Weekly bathroom makeover – the time has come…

First, put on some music and get your tools ready. You will need:

• Washing-up gloves
• Cloths (we recommend E-cloths, microfiber cloths that can be used with just water)
• Paper towels
• Double-sided sponge (we recommend LoofCo washing-up pad)
• An old cleaning toothbrush
• An old plastic bag
• Squeegee
• Vacuum 
• Mop (we recommend the E-cloth bathroom mop)
• 50/50 white vinegar and water mix in a spray bottle
• Extra white vinegar
• Extra bicarbonate of soda
• Floor-cleaning mix – 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon detergent in a bucket with lots of warm water 
• Any other products you’re using

Setting the scene for a clean

• Shut the bathroom windows, plug the bath and run some hot water into it – condensation can dislodge grime. Shut the door and leave for ten minutes.
• Go back in and remove everything from surfaces.

Tip: Run your toothbrush holder through the dishwasher

• For a basic natural clean, spray the shower (including shower walls) bath, sink area and windowsill with 50/50 vinegar-water mix to break down heavy build-up and kill bacteria. 
• If you’re using a shop-bought cleaning product, follow the instructions.

Product recommendation: Method and Bio-D

Tip: Wash plastic shower curtains in the washing machine (in warm water) with a few old towels

• To give your bath and sink area a deeper natural clean, first sprinkle bicarbonate of soda on these surfaces, then spray the vinegar-water mix on top. Let that sit for ten minutes before sponging it down with warm water.

And… it’s on

• Return to the toilet and, using a paper towel, wipe the tank, flusher, lid, rim (top and bottom), base and the area behind the toilet.
• Clean the toilet brush container with another paper towel.
• For a basic natural clean: spray 50/50 vinegar-water your toilet inside the bowl, and also on the toilet seat, lid, and handle. Sprinkle half a cup of bicarbonate of soda in the bowl.
• Place the toilet brush in the bowl and let it sit for ten minutes. 
• If you’re using a toilet cleaner, follow the instructions. Soak the toilet brush in the toilet bowl while you let the product do its thing.

Product recommendation: Daylesford loo cleaner

• Next, spray the bathroom mirror with 50/50 vinegar-water mix or glass cleaner then wipe with a cloth (ideally an E-cloth) using an ‘S’ pattern from top to bottom. Buff out any streaks.

Product recommendation: Ecover glass cleaner

• Spray and wipe the windowsill with 50/50 vinegar-water mix or all-purpose cleaner.
• Turn back to the bath. 
• If you’ve sprinkled bicarb on it, scrub it into a paste using a sponge. Leave it a further ten minutes before wiping away the lot with a cloth and water.
• If you’re using a shop-bought cleaning product, follow the instructions.
• Note: If your bath is enamel, never use abrasive cleaning products or
  tools.
• Spray shower walls from top to bottom (and the floor) with vinegar-water mix or your all-purpose cleaner. Wipe down the walls with a squeegee and the floor with a sponge.
  Wipe sink with a damp cloth in ‘S’ pattern.
• If you’ve sprinkled bicarb around the sink, scrub with a sponge into a paste and leave the paste on for a further ten minutes before wiping away the lot with a cloth and water.
• Clean taps and plugs with vinegar-water mix and your cleaning toothbrush. Polish them with a damp e-cloth.
• For a natural deep clean: use the bicarb sprinkle method as above.
• Turning back to the toilet, remove the toilet brush from the bowl. Sponge the toilet bowl, then flush.
• Still seeing marks? Remove them with a damp pumice stone.
• The floor – clean it last but not least
• Vacuum the whole floor, including any tiles around the bath or shower.
• Mop them with the natural floor-cleaning mix or a shop-bought product.
• Be sure to get all around the sides of your toilet bowl with both the vacuum cleaner and the mop.

Product recommendation: Bio D Floor Cleaner

(Note: If you’ve got marble tiles or wooden floors, clean them with a mild washing-up liquid)

Tackling tiles and grout

• Some tiles – such as stone and marble – should only be cleaned with mild washing-up liquid dissolved in water. Otherwise…
• For a basic natural clean: use a 50/50 water and bicarbonate mix. Let this sit for 30 minutes or overnight before you scrub it with an old toothbrush (or stiff brush) then wipe it away with a damp cloth. 
• For hard-to-reach corners, soak a cotton ball in vinegar or all-purpose cleaner and press it into the corners. Wait several minutes then remove the cotton ball and wipe the corner with a damp cloth.
• You’ve probably noticed that grout – the cement paste between them – loves to collect soap scum and black mould.
• For a deep natural clean: use bicarbonate of soda and hydrogen peroxide combo. 
• First, sprinkle the bicarb onto grout until it is covered. Then spray with hydrogen peroxide until it is wet, wait ten minutes, scrub, and wipe clean.

Product recommendation: HG Mould Remover Spray

Tip: If you’re using a specialty grout cleaning product, use it sparingly as these can corrode and even slowly destroy your grout.