I'm obsessed with the bathroom. Believe it or not, it might be my favorite room of the house to clean. After all, making sure we disinfect the place where we get clean from top to bottom is extremely important. The bathroom should be cleaned almost on a daily basis, but a deep clean is necessary at least once a week.
I love to see the faucets shining and the toilet gleaming. I want to make sure the tub is scrubbed thoroughly before I even consider taking a bath or letting any of my family members do so. A lot goes down in the bathrooms of our homes, so proper cleanliness will help maintain our families healthy and our home looking and smelling good.
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It's not easy trying to make sure that a bathroom stays clean throughout the week, but there are ways to try and do our best to keep it as tidy as possible. If one of our family members is sick, maintaining even a more diligent cleaning schedule is key to stop the spread of any germs or viruses. There are different tools and strategies and products to use to make this chore as simple and effective as possible. Luckily, I ran into advice from one of Queen Elizabeth's former housekeepers and she is right on the money. Read on to find out her tips!
The trick is to start from top to bottom.
According to Barbara Allred, a former housekeeper in one of Queen Elizabeth's palaces, all the rooms in the house have to be cleaned from top to bottom that way your floors are cleaned last.
The ceiling, walls and light fixtures should be cleaned.
This means dusting the light fixtures, corners of the ceiling, vents, and top of the door frame first. She recommends cleaning the walls with a damp cloth often and disinfecting the light fixtures regularly. The steam from the shower can cause stains on the walls.
A shiny faucet is key to making the bathroom look clean.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Allred highlights the importance of having all the metal in the bathroom shine. "To remove limescale build-up on chrome [faucets], apply a paste of 2 tbsp salt and 1 tsp white distilled vinegar," she recommends.
The secret is in the tools.
Use a toothbrush or cotton swab to clean difficult areas and a bottle brush to clean drain holes. These tools will help you access hard-to-reach areas in your bathroom that need intense cleaning. With these tools, you'll be able to clean every detail.
Avoid cross-contamination with your tools.
An essential sanitary precaution is to keep a pair of gloves and a brush to exclusively clean the toilet. They shouldn't be used for anything else, and will prevent you from transferring germs from one place to the next.
The toilet should be cleaned often.
The toilets should be deep cleaned with a brush at least once a week. It might require extra touch ups through the week, but apply cleaning liquid and let it sit for a while before going in with a brush and fully cleansing the bowl, as well as the outside areas of the toilet.
This toilet paper trick makes things look neater.
Allred puts and end to the debate about the direction of the toilet paper: "Toilet paper should roll from the front. Fold the end into a point to show the bathroom has been cleaned."
Avoid bleach at all costs.
Use the right cleaning products depending on the type of tiles on your bathroom. Allred blames bleach for bathroom porcelain dullness. "Use a limescale product," she advises.
Say goodbye to mold.
After you clean the shower and tub thoroughly, wipe down the sink and disinfect the toilet, you can now sweep the floor and get rid of hair or dirt. Now go over the floor with a mop and your go-to floor cleaning product. "To remove mildew or mold, mix equal parts lemon juice and baking powder into a paste, leave on for two hours, then rinse," suggests the former royal housekeeper. I love her natural products recipes.
Folding the towel correctly is key.
To place the hand towel properly, "lay it flat, then fold it in three, lengthwise, before hanging on the towel rail," she explains. And … voilà! A perfectly folded towel to make your bathroom look flawless.
