May 26, 2015

Homekeeping Skills You Need In the Bathroom

Keeping house is not instinctive for most people, it’s a learned behavior and habits that need to be repeated (all the time, unfortunately) to be effective. Here are 5 most-asked questions regarding tasks for cleaning and maintaining bathrooms answered in true bossy-pants fashion. Try out my techniques and see what you think! Hopefully my methods are time-saving and effective for your homekeeping endeavors. Keep an eye out for more posts in this series. Happy homekeeping!

Make a Bathroom Cleaning Caddy

I find it very helpful to have a small bathroom cleaning supply caddy stored under each bathroom sink to make cleaning up a breeze. It also eliminates searching for and dragging around supplies from bathroom to bathroom. I find that if I see a need to do a quick clean up in the bathroom I am more inclined to quickly clean it up right then and there versus running to another room to gather the supplies I need. If I am supervising bath or shower time I like to use that time to spray and wipe down the counter, toilet and floor surrounding the toilet. Of course, never leave your child unattended and consider the age of your child or children as you work.

I find the following items to be helpful in my mini bathroom cleaning caddy:

• Lavender and Lemon Bathroom Disinfecting Spray Recipe (recipe follows)
• Scrub Recipe (recipe follows)
• microfiber cloths
• glass and mirror cloth
• cleaning caddy – the one pictured is from Target, in the seasonal entertaining section (it’s a cutlery caddy)
• spray bottles with washi tape
• tags

The recipes below are from my book, The Organically Clean Home – find out more here if you are interested! If you are not interested in making your own cleaning products, stock your cleaning caddy with your favorite disinfecting cleaner, glass cleaner, and scrub.

 

LAVENDER + LEMON DISINFECTING SPRAY:

• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup vodka (excellent germ-killing properties, feel free to substitute rubbing alcohol for similar results)
• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops lemon essential oil
• 1 1/2 cups water (distilled or boiled and cooled)

Mix together in a glass spray bottle, spray on surface and allow to sit for 10 minutes to disinfect before wiping.

 

LEMON + CLOVE SCRUB:

• 2 cups Baking soda
• 10 drops lemon essential oil
• 10 drops clove essential oil
• container with a shaker top – I used a Ball canning jar, cut cardstock for the top (instead of the metal lid and punched 4 holes with a standard hole puncher.

Sprinkle on surface before using a sponge or cloth to gently remove surface stains and polish.

Washing and Caring for White Towels

If you are looking to simplify your laundry routine, one of my favorite fixes is to switch over to all white towels. You can wash all your towels together, they can be washed on hot without fading or color changing and you can wash them with oxygenated bleach to remove stains without any spotting or fading. I also love how white towels match any bathroom decor and add a little spa-like feel as well.

In order to keep your towels soft, fluffy and white, it’s important to launder your towels the correct way. While fabric softeners claim to make towels softer while adding scent, they actually coat the fibers with a layer of water repelling residue. This residue causes the fibers get dingy over time and makes it harder to truly get clean. I like to wash my white towels with hot water, detergent and a scoop of oxygen safe bleach (powdered oxi-clean). I also like to add between 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser (or a softener ball) to help the detergent work more effectively as well as soften up the fibers.

Under the Bathroom Sink Organizing

It doesn’t take long for clutter to accumulate under the bathroom sink. Between a garbage can, hair tools, toiletries and random odds and ends, it’s easy for disorganization and clutter to take over.

Check out these tips for quick and easy organizing tips:

CLEAN: Begin by emptying out the cupboard and wiping it clean. Toss or donate anything that isn’t used regularly, is expired or is just clutter.

CONTAIN: The next step is to separate and group like items together and place them in a container. I like using open plastic storage containers for easy access to products. Keeping items contained also ensures that any leaky products won’t ruin your cabinets.

CLEANING CADDY: For me, the most important item under the bathroom sink is a bathroom cleaning caddy. Keeping your most-used cleaning sprays and tools at the ready make it easier to spot clean a bathroom or completely clean it when you have a pocket of time. See the suggestions above for creating your own bathroom cleaning caddy.

GARBAGE LINERS: Ready for an easy tip? Keep a small roll of garbage can liners or several extras in the bottom of your garbage can. This saves both time searching for an empty bag as well as little messes. Keeping the garbage cans lined keeps the mess in the bag and makes it easy to collect come garbage day.

Make Your Shower Cleaner

With the amount of use that a shower gets, it doesn’t take long for soap residue, water spots and grime to accumulate. Coupled with the warm, humid environment of a typical bathroom, mildew and residue can become a real problem in no time. Rather than spending time scrubbing with harsh chemical based cleansers or buying expensive, commercial shower cleaners, try out this lightly scented, effective and natural daily shower spray instead. Not only does it work to eliminate residue and germs but it’s an economical and safe choice as well.

PEPPERMINT DAILY SHOWER CLEANER SPRAY:

• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1 cup water
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix and store in a spray bottle. Spray shower or tub daily after showering has occurred. No rinse needed. Use a squeegee at the end of your shower time to help with water spots and remove excess water as well.

Organize Your Bathroom Toiletries with Ease

Toiletries and products have the tendency to accumulate and reproduce in no time. Before you know it, your bathroom closet, cupboard and countertops can become overrun with toiletries, makeup and beauty supplies, sure to make finding anything in a reasonable amount of time a challenge.

Ready for some easy organizing? Begin in your bathroom with this process:

• Completely empty your spaces, including drawers, shower stall, shower organizer, cupboard, or any other area you are storing your toiletries.
• Spray all surfaces with with your favorite all-purpose cleaner and wipe area clean.
• Toss any toiletries that you haven’t used in the last month, are expired or that you don’t see yourself using in the near future.
• Follow the best rule of organizing: group like items together. If you have lots of sample-sized toiletries put them in a box, bin, or basket for guests or for future
• Look in to a suitable drawer organizer or storage solution. If you don’t have any in your bathroom drawers, consider picking up a couple so your toiletries can stay organized. Consider the size and contents of what you are storing in your drawers in order to get the best option to maximize your organization and storage.
• Short on storage space? Condense your toiletries down as much as you can. This will simplify your routine and toiletry storage.

Here are a couple more posts that you might enjoy as you venture down the homekeeping highway – simply click on the image to go to the post!