Cleaning the bathroom...why is it so hard??

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Forum -> Household Management

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fbc

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 10:39 am

I always find the bathroom the hardest to keep clean! The bathtub gets filled so quickly with all this dirt and dust (I just cleaned it Friday before shabbos, and this morning b4 showering, had to clean it out again...). Aside from the tub, the floor with all those tiles is impossible. I feel like mopping in there just moved the dirt from one place to the next. Anyone out there more experienced who can help me out? Also what kinds of cleaning tools and cleaning agents do you use? I'm not even talking about sparkling clean. I don't need that. But I want it to look like I did just clean the bathroom not even two days ago! Thanks Smile

fbc

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 10:41 am

Btw I want to mention that right now it's only me and my husband, and neither of us has a job where we get dirty. So it's not coming from us!!

sneakermom

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 10:58 am

Fantastic with bleach is great for bathrooms. I spritz and wipe the floor with a good paper towel first to remove dust. Do it quickly once a day.

seeker

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 11:27 am

Do you have a ventilation fan in there? Maybe it needs to be cleaned and have a filter, or a better filter if you already have one. My theory is that my bathroom gets dusty extra fast because of the vent.

I also have the kid of tile floor you describe where it seems like dirt never gets off it. I sweep often (maybe vacuuming would be better, I avoid it because my kids freak out from the sound) and then once in a while I get down, scrub, and lift off the dirt with rags - changing/rinsing often. It's a very painstaking process but the only way that works and after that sweeping is enough maintenance for a while again.

fbc

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 11:54 am

No ventilation fan in the bathroom. There is a tiny window near the top of the shower that we keep open because of that, which I guess can bring in a lot of dust floating around outside!

zaq

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 3:02 pm

Bathrooms are hard to keep clean because:
1. They are the most heavily used room in the house. Some household members may not spend much time in the kitchen but everyone
uses the bathroom a few times a day.
2. They are the place where processes with a high "ick factor" are going on, releasing hair, skin cells, nails, paper dust, talcum powder and makeup dust.
3. High humidity fosters mold and mildew.
4. Damp floors from splashes, spills, drippy hands and condensation result in muddy tracks
5. Soap plus body oils plus minerals in water yield soap scum on tubs, sinks, and shower walls.
6. Towels and plush bath mats shed lint on a continuous basis

Needless to say, if you have hard, solid white or light surfaces, they are going to show every speck and look dirty much sooner than surfaces with irregular speckled patterns.

Most house dust is comprised of shed skin cells, hair, and fibers from clothing, linens, and upholstery. A goodly fraction is also tracked on on shoes. Dust blown in from outside is only a small percentage of the dust in a home unless you live downwind of a mine, concrete plant, or a Dept. of Highways depot where they store mountains of gravel, sand and salt. So yes, Virginia, a great deal of that dust is in fact coming from you and dh.

naomi2

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 3:42 pm

Keep clorox wipes in the bathroom

Notsobusy

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 4:30 pm

I always vacuum before I wash the bathroom floor.

carrot

Sun, Jun 28 2015, 5:01 pm

zaq wrote:

Most house dust is comprised of shed skin cells, hair, and fibers from clothing, linens, and upholstery. A goodly fraction is also tracked on on shoes. Dust blown in from outside is only a small percentage of the dust in a home unless you live downwind of a mine, concrete plant, or a Dept. of Highways depot where they store mountains of gravel, sand and salt. So yes, Virginia, a great deal of that dust is in fact coming from you and dh.

Sorry, I can't really agree with that! I've lived in different places and there were definitely different rates of dust accumulation. Some places dust seems to pile up, and some places not at all. More suburban? More humid outside, so dust just settles into mud rather than blowing around? I don't know why. An window open or front door that opens directly to the street seems to definitely make things dustier if there is dust blowing around outside.

Sometimes I wonder if a buggy place gets dustier faster--dead bug parts? I know that's a gross thought but I did once live somewhere that was both really buggy and really dusty.

You can leave your house closed for weeks, take not a single shower there, and come back to find it dusty, so it can't ALL be human hair and skin cells etc. or even tracked in on shoes.

PAMOM

Mon, Jun 29 2015, 7:33 am

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does anyone have a suggestion for how to get mineral deposits off of shower heads and off kitchen sink handles and spigots? I don't know if the sink parts are nickel or stainless but they have a brushed finish that I don't want to ruin.
OP--I use chlorox wipes once a day to clean sink and top of toilet (and rim of toilet under the seat). Swiffer wet cloths are great for the floor. I even use them without the mop handle to get globs of dust and hair off of the floor when wiles aren't big or strong enough.

esuss

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 11:51 am

I have a bathroom cleanser made by Lysol in a spritz bottle that I use with paper towels for bathtub, sink and toilet. For the floor I use Swiffer wet pads on the Swiffer sweeper. Very easy to use and bathrooms stay clean for longer this way. To pick up the last bit of dirt on the floor I find wiping it with a paper towel while still wet gets it all clean. I occasionally use Clorox wipes but find the bathroom gets dirty faster after using them. I think it attracts the dust.

WriterMom

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 12:05 pm

PAMOM wrote:

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does anyone have a suggestion for how to get mineral deposits off of shower heads and off kitchen sink handles and spigots?

Water and vinegar mix, in a bucket, held up to the faucet. (I used a small bucket and hung it from the faucet, so it could sit in the mixture for a while.) I was also told water and lemon juice but vinegar is WAY cheaper.

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