Wednesday
These posts may contain affiliate links
These posts may contain affiliate links
The Bathroom. No one likes cleaning the bathroom, but it's a breeding ground for all things ick, and needs to be addressed. Luckily, with your daily buff, your weekly cleaning is going to be much easier & go quickly.
As always, gather your supplies so you're not hunting for it halfway through:
glass cleaner
all purpose cleaner
disinfecting wipes (Clorox)
Microfiber cloths
Toilet bowl cleaner
toilet scrubber
Trash bag
Same rule: put on something to listen to. This is chore time, not meditation time.
Before you spray anything, do a quick sweep of the surfaces. Move the shampoo bottles off the tub ledge, throw the rug, shower curtain & towels in the wash & run it, clear the counter of toothbrushes and skincare clutter. You're not organizing anything — just getting stuff out of the way so you're not cleaning around things. Take the trash out.
This is the "set it and forget it" move that makes the whole routine faster: squirt toilet bowl cleaner in, swirl it a little with the brush, and just... leave it. Let it sit while you do the next few steps.
Then, come back and wipe down the outside of the toilet — the tank, the lid, the seat, the base where dust and who-knows-what likes to hide — with a disinfecting wipe. Scrub the bowl, flush, done. The whole thing takes maybe 5 minutes of actual effort spread out.
Spray your counter and sink basin, wipe it all down, and don't forget the faucet and handles — those get more grime than people expect. If your mirror has toothpaste splatter or water spots, give it a quick swipe too. This isn't the moment for streak-free perfection, just "no longer visibly gross."
This is the part people dread most, but a weekly shower clean is way easier than a neglected one. Spray an all-purpose or bathroom cleaner on the walls and floor, let it sit for a minute or two so it can actually break things down, then do a quick wipe or light scrub. A melamine sponge or a scrubby work well — focus on the spots with visible soap scum, not the whole surface inch by inch. Rinse and you're out.
The trick here is frequency. If you do this every week, build-up never gets bad enough to require real scrubbing, and any build-up that has happened prior to now gets broken down from the frequency of the cleaning & doesn't need hours of attention.
Quick sweep or vacuum to get hair and dust, then a damp mop or a wipe-down of the high-traffic areas and around the base of the toilet (you know why). You're not moving furniture or getting into every corner — just making the floor look and feel clean underfoot.
Now go back and finish step 1.
Put the rug back, return your bottles to their spots, put back the bath mat, shower curtains, and towels, and restock the toilet paper if you're running low. Small detail, but it's the difference between a bathroom that feels done and one that feels half-finished.
And that's it — 25ish minutes, and your bathroom goes from "please don't look too closely" to genuinely clean. Add another 10-15 for a couple of the below "deep clean" items, and you're in rockstar territory.
Here's the thing: a fast weekly clean is not the same as a deep clean, and some tasks just can't be squeezed into a half-hour routine. Trying to cram them in every week is how people burn out on cleaning altogether. Instead, keep a running list and rotate through it — pick one or two extras each week, or set aside a slower Saturday once a month.
Here's what belongs on that list:
Grout scrubbing — tile grout in the shower, tub, or floor holds onto stains and mildew that a quick wipe won't touch. I like the grout bleach pens. Super quick and easy, and I can tell myself I'm coloring.
Shower door tracks and caulk lines — Keep one of your old toothbrushes & toss it in the bathroom caddy. A little squirt of cleaner & 3 minutes of elbow grease followed by a quick wipe with a cloth. Don't worry about it being perfect the first time you do it, by the second month, it's going to look great
Drain cleaning — I like zip ties for this. You can grab a pack of 9-12" zip ties & keep them in the caddy. Shove one down into the drain & be prepared to be grossed out by what comes up. If your drain is super slow, you might have to remove the catcher to get out the hair & gunk. Follow it up with a glug of vinegar to kill bacteria (make sure you're not mixing chemicals).
Exhaust fan — dust collects on the vent cover and fan blades, and it's easy to forget it's even there. Use a wet cloth to wipe down the outside, and grab a vacuum attachment to get the inside. You will have to take the cover off to vacuum, but it's usually a couple clips & pops off easy. Vacuum out the dust build up & re install the cover.
Cabinet interiors —Open the medicine cabinets & under-sink storage. Pull everything out & wipe the shelves/base down. Check for leaks while you're under the sink. Put everything back.
Showerhead descaling — a vinegar soak clears mineral buildup that a wipe can't. you can put 1/2C. of vinegar in a plastic bag & tie or rubberband it to the shower head & sink faucet whille installed, or unscrew them & put them in
Light fixtures — Turn off the lights and wipe them down with a microfiber cloth. You may have to dampen it if they're too grimy, but make sure they're cooled off first if you do.
Baseboards and door trim — Wipe these down with a damp cloth
Spot-treating mold or mildew on walls/ceiling — especially near the shower, where humidity does its worst. Vinegar kills, but bleach removes the stains. You can't combine them, but if you do one one week, and the other the next, it'll look great
Deep toilet cleaning — under the rim, around the hinges, behind the bowl — the spots your weekly wipe-down skips. Use a clorox wipe wrapped around a butter knife to get into the crevasses around the screws.
None of these need to happen every week. But rotating through one or two at a time means nothing gets ignored for six months and then becomes a whole ordeal. Your bathroom will smell so fresh as you remove the grime that has built up. You will be amazed at what a difference you notice.