No-one likes to clean the bathroom, so here are some tips which will have you speeding through this chore.
If you don't believe bathroom cleaning should be a major part of life, you are right! It needn't be: you can have a sparkling clean bathroom without lots of time or stress; these tips will show you how.
1. Permanently unclutter surfaces
Permanently unclutter your countertop surfaces and your shower if you can. Stick with the bare minimum of things out, the rest should be stowed. Less things to move each time = faster cleaning.
2. Use body wash instead of soap when you're showering
Soap can build up in your shower and leave a residue which can solidify and take a lot of time-consuming scrubbing to remove.
Worried about overly perfumed body wash? Then consider baby body wash; it's gentle on your body and has a mild gender-neutral scent. It's available in the baby aisle at the supermarket. Bonus: it's ultra-cheap!
3. Get a hose-style shower head
Hose-style shower heads are available at hardware stores for cheaper than you may expect, and you can install one yourself in a matter of minutes.
This will probably make the biggest difference of anything you can do, because rinsing the shower after scrubbing it will become simply a matter of extending the hose and waving the water stream around the shower walls. Renters: it's equally easy to subsequently un-install your new hose head and replace with the original when you move, taking the new one with you.
4. Don't be afraid to spend a little on cleaning products at first
Consider using disposable cleaning wipes, more convenient cleaning products, and so forth. It's too easy to get stuck in the rut of doing whatever is cheapest, but if that isn't working out well or isn't motivating you, then your bathroom simply won't get clean!
If saving $ is paramount, then one of the best things you can do is to use your rag pile as a source of disposable cleaning wipes: hygienic and cheap!
5. Use fast no-mess no-fuss floor cleaning techniques
Instead of a mop and bucket, do a quick once-over with a light portable vacuum, e.g. the Swiffer SweeperVac or the Eureka 2-in-1 stick/handheld vacuum (we use the Eureka), followed by spray-mopping. This combo is still quicker and easier because there's hardly any set-up and clean-up required.
6. If you have a garbage can in the bathroom, keep the liners there too
This tactic will save time compared with hunting for liners in another location whenever you take out the bathroom trash.
7. Don't waste time continuously rinsing out a sponge to remove cleaning product from it
If the item used for applying the product is different to that used for removing it, you will find it quicker and easier than having to rinse out one sponge multiple times just to remove traces of product. So find some other combo that works (e.g. use disposable wipes for countertop or toilet surfaces).
8. Move quickly
Go in there with the mindset that you'll only be spending X amount of time cleaning the bathroom. Don't adopt a 'as long as it takes' mentality otherwise you'll wind up turning it into a 30-minute job.
Also, do not be a perfectionist - trust me, you will get plenty more opportunities for cleaning that bathroom sink again in the future, so just make it 'good enough' and move on.
9. Keep in the bathroom everything you need to clean the bathroom
Set up your bathroom so that you don't have to go anywhere else in the house to locate your cleaning products. If this means doubling up on cleaning product(s) that you keep in the kitchen, so be it.
10. Self-assess as you go
If there's a long or especially disliked step, think about how you could make this faster or easier.
