How to clean a bathroom

Hi. Are you like me? Did you not know how to clean a bathroom before moving to university? Same.

In first year when I was in on-campus accommodation in Heronbank, we had a lovely cleaning lady who would clean our kitchen twice weekly and our en-suites once a week. But when I moved into my second year house I suddenly had to learn how to clean properly for myself. I remember being on the phone to my mum as she walked me through how to do it. Weirdly I actually now enjoy cleaning – I find it kind of therapeutic, and the more I do it the less time it takes.

If you follow these instructions, courtesy of my mum, then you will be one step further on your journey to becoming a fully-functioning, self-sustaining adult.

Ingredients:

What do you even need to clean a bathroom?

The answer – not much.

I use these three products. You don’t have to use these exact products. Any disinfectant, surface cleaner (like cif) and bleach (like domestos) should do. Supermarket brands work just as well and are often cheaper.

You’ll also need a pair of rubber gloves and two cleaning cloths. The gloves are to protect your hands, and you should use separate cleaning cloths – one for the toilet and one for the sink and bath/shower to avoid cross-contamination.

Method: (be sure to wear rubber gloves for all of this)

1 – Pour some neat bleach around the toilet bowl and leave it for at least 15 minutes, or until all the other steps have been completed.

2 – In the sink, block the plug-hole and fill the bowl with hot water. Add in some disinfectant. I tend to just eye-ball how much I add, normally 1 part disinfectant to 10 parts water.

3 – Use this solution in the sink to wash down all the outer surfaces of the toilet. Use one of the cleaning cloths for this. Be sure to clean behind and underneath the toilet seat.

4 – Once you’ve wiped everything down, unplug the sink and use fresh water to wash down the toilet.

5 – Time for surface cleaner. I use cif. Spray it on the walls and base of the shower/bath and using a different cloth to the one you used on the toilet, wipe down the shower. Don’t forget to clean the taps and handles too. Once done, rinse down everything using the shower head or with the cloth.

6 – Repeat this on the sink, spraying with surface cleaner and wiping down the surfaces before rinsing off with clean water.

7 – Use the toilet brush to scrub the bleach around the toilet bowl, then flush twice to clean it out.

And that’s it. Leave everything to dry for an hour or so and then it’s free to use again.

You can use a similar method to clean kitchen sinks too.