Keeping your bathroom clean is an essential thing to stay on top of when you move into your first student apartment.
Now, with that said, let’s address the elephant in the room:
Nobody ‘likes’ to clean the bathroom!
But here’s a secret that might help you in this endeavor.
Most people hate cleaning the bathroom because they don’t have a specific game plan to accomplish it.
Yep, it’s a messy business, alright. But with a great plan and a bit of elbow grease, you may be surprised at how easy it can actually be.
In this post, you’re about to learn a simple, 9-step plan for how to clean a bathroom—quickly and easily!
1. Move Everything So That You Can Clean Underneath It
First things first, move everything out and declutter—to give you access to every surface that needs cleaning.
Cleaning ‘around’ stuff will leave dust and mildew in places where it’ll come back to bite you later.
Move the wastebasket, the rugs, the soap, the tissues, and anything else that could possibly get in the way.
2. Dust For Cobwebs In The Corners, & Dust The Furniture
Cobwebs typically tend to pop up along the ceiling and in the corners.
You can get a stepladder and knock these down with a duster, or you can take a clean broom (or an extendable pole with a duster on the end) and sweep it along the corners between the ceiling and the walls.
Also, make sure to knock the dust off of everything else in the room. You can use a plain duster for this, or you can use a cloth.
3. Start Wiping The Walls & Mirrors – From The Ceiling Down
Use a high-quality bathroom cleaner to wipe down the walls. Also, you’ll want to wash the walls of your bathtub or standing shower.
You’ll also want to use a high-quality window cleaner or glass cleaner to clean your mirror.
As a general rule, you’ll want to start at the top and work your way down.
This method will eliminate streaks and ensure that everything gets cleaned thoroughly.
4. Wash The Sink & Any Other Furniture/Surfaces
Next, you’ve got the sink.
The sink is important to clean and sanitize because it’s something that literally every person will use when they exit the restroom.
The sink is also where people clean their hands, so it’s vitally important that you make sure it looks and feels clean enough to be sanitary.
Get a high-quality antibacterial bathroom cleaner, and use it to clean the sink and the faucet.
If you have a brass or bronze faucet, you may even want to put a quick shine on it—just to make it sparkle and pop.
This easy step is also the part in the process where you’ll want to wash any other countertop surfaces you may have in your bathroom.
5. Scrub The Bath/Shower
At this point, you’ve likely already washed the walls of your bath and shower.
But now it’s time to wash everything else.
Scrub the rim, the bath itself, and the floor of your shower.
Also, clean the faucet and showerhead with high-quality antibacterial bathroom cleaner before rinsing everything off.
Once again, If you have a fancy bronze or brass faucet on your bathtub, you may want to consider putting a quick shine on it just to make it really stand out and look clean.
You may want to use a lemon or citrus-scented cleaner, as this can really make your shower or bath smell fresh and sanitized.
However, there are plenty of different scent options to choose from when it comes to cleaners.
So choose the one that fits you best.
6. Clean The Toilet
Nobody likes to clean the toilet.
In fact, it’s probably one of the least popular cleaning jobs that you’ll undertake in your apartment.
But it’s also an essential task to do right.
You’ll want to start at the top and make sure you clean and sanitize the top lid, the tank, and the seat.
In some cases, you may want to remove the seat and clean under it.
Removing the seat is usually the best way to make sure you thoroughly clean everything.
It’s vitally important to remove any dust, hair, residue, mold, mildew, and stains from the surface. This is what differentiates a dirty-looking toilet from a clean one.
You really want those surfaces to shine so that it looks freshly sanitized at all times.
And, of course, you’ll also want to clean inside the bowl. Use a high-quality toilet brush and soap to make sure that you get rid of any streaks, stains, mold, and mildew that may accumulate.
To finish it off, consider putting a toilet bowl deodorizer into the bowl. That’ll keep things smelling fresh and clean, even after putting away the supplies.
7. Empty The Trash
You moved the trash can out so that you could clean underneath it.
But this is also an excellent time to change the liner and put in a fresh one.
While you’re at it, go ahead and clean the trash can itself to make sure that it’s not dusty or dirty.
Please don’t put it back in the bathroom quite yet, though.
You’ve still got a couple of steps to go.
8. Sweep
At this point, you’ve pretty much cleaned everything above the floor.
Now it’s time to finish it up by sweeping and mopping the floor itself.
If the floor got wet in the cleaning process, you might want to wait for it to dry so that you can sweep it up without all the dust clumping together and making a mess.
But at that point, it’s a pretty simple matter of sweeping up the dust into a dustpan and discarding it.
Make sure to use a broom that works well on tile.
You could also use a Swiffer Broom.
Also, make sure you get all the dust picked up. This way, when you mop, you won’t just be dragging wet dust around.
9. Mop
Mopping is the final step for cleaning your bathroom and making it feel and look amazing.
Get a high-quality floor cleaner, a mop bucket, and a mop.
Start at the back of the bathroom and work your way out toward the door, mopping as you go.
If your bathroom is small, you may only need to ring the mop out once or twice.
Make sure that you don’t leave a bunch of standing water.
Wringing your mop out sufficiently will help to prevent this problem.
Mop the whole floor, from back to front.
Conclusion
And that’s it.
Congratulations!
You’ve just completed a thorough, in-depth bathroom cleaning.
As a general rule of thumb, you’ll probably want to conduct this kind of cleaning routine at least once a week—or more if you tend to have guests.
Just remember, there’s an old saying that says, “the state of your house is the state of your life.”
Taking pride in your living quarters and surroundings, and keeping them clean and tidy, will not only reflect well on you in your life but will also make you feel better, more inspired, and more motivated.
It’s worth it.
So grab that rag and cleaner, and get to work.
You’ve got this!
Author Bio
Adam Marshall is a freelance writer who specializes in all things apartment organization, real estate, and college advice. He currently works with Helix24 to help them with their online marketing.
