13 Daily Bathroom Cleaning Tips for Busy People
Make your bathroom sparkle with this five-minute cleaning routine
Wondering how to keep your bathroom clean in just five minutes a day? We’ve created the ultimate bathroom cleaning checklist designed to be completed in the time it takes to brew your morning cup of coffee. Check off each task daily to keep your bathroom as fresh and spotless as possible between deep cleans.
1. Stock Up on Bathroom Cleaning Supplies
First things first: Stock your bathroom with the essentials. If you store basic cleaning supplies right in your bathroom, you’ll be more likely to clean your space throughout the day.
Microfiber cloth
All-purpose spray
Multi-surface wipes
Toilet bowl cleaner
Extra hand towels
With the essentials at hand, you have no excuse not to tackle these simple bathroom cleaning checklist items. Check-in on your stock every day to make sure you have what you need and towels are clean.
2. Maintain an Organized Space
From makeup to hair care tools to oral hygiene, our bathrooms hold a lot of stuff. Give everything a home with trays, baskets, and other organization tools.
Having dedicated spaces on your counter, under your sink, and in your shower will help keep your bathroom from getting cluttered. This is nearly essential if you have children with a tendency to leave things out or “forget” where they go.
3. Rinse Your Sink After Every Use
It seems counterintuitive that a sink would need to be rinsed after using it, but it’s true. Even if it’s just with water, taking the time to clean out any leftover toothpaste, hair, or dirt in your bathroom sink after each use is one of the easiest ways to make your bathroom look and feel cleaner.
Then, every few days, take the time to fully disinfect your sink to remove any built-up bacteria or muck.
4. Give Your Counters a Wipe
Your bathroom counters are hit with a lot of grime throughout the day, whether it’s dust, makeup, hairspray buildup, or more—especially if more than one person uses the space. And depending on the design of your countertop, you might not even notice how gross it is until it’s too late.
Give your bathroom vanity a daily wipe down (or two) using either a spray cleaner or disinfectant wipe to keep your space looking and smelling clean. If you wait too long, you risk a much more difficult cleanup or even staining your countertop.
5. Tackle Soap Scum Every Day
Keep a squeegee in your shower to help avoid nasty soap scum from building up on your walls and floors. After each shower, use the tool to push all standing water toward the drain and encourage faster drying. This small step only takes a few seconds but makes a huge difference in the day-to-day cleanliness of your bath and shower.
To avoid water and soap scum buildup, you can hang a shower caddy in the corner of the shower that will hold shampoo and conditioner bottles. When a bottle is empty, throw it away instead of letting it sit there.
6. Clean Your Toilet Bowl
The more often you clean your toilet, the easier the task will be. House cleaning professionals and plumbers warn against drop-in tank cleaners and air fresheners, but you can opt for an in-bowl cleaning device or agent or use a toilet bowl wand and a cleaner to freshen up your toilet each day.
Another option is to deodorize your toilet with baking soda every night. With this method, shake a few teaspoons of baking soda into your bowl at night and let it work its magic. In the morning, simply flush it away and enjoy a clean toilet.
7. Check Your Rugs and Hand Towels
Every day, take a second to simply check the life of your rugs and hand towels. You may be surprised at how fast they need to be washed.
If needed, shake your rugs into your shower before you hop in or switch out a dirty hand towel for a new one. As part of your weekly deep cleaning routine, throw your rugs and decorative towels in the washing machine.
8. Use the Exhaust Fan
Bathrooms have overhead fans for a reason. Every time you take a shower, turn on your exhaust fan as soon as you turn on the faucet. After you’re done, let it run for an additional 10 to 20 minutes to fully remove all the moisture in your room and prevent bathroom mold.
Even on days you don’t shower, turn on your exhaust fan for a few minutes to help keep your space fresh and healthy. If you don’t have a bathroom exhaust fan, open a bathroom window or use a portable fan to push moisture out instead.
9. Hang (or Dry) Your Bathroom Towels
Never leave a wet towel on your bathroom floor—unless you want to create a breeding ground for bacteria. As you leave the bathroom, make sure to pick up and hang all towels on your way.
Even better, throw all your moist hand and shower towels into the dryer for a few minutes at the end of the day. This will officially and quickly remove all the moisture from the fabric, allowing them to stay fresh and clean longer.
10. Wipe Down Your Bathroom Mirror
Cleaning bathroom mirrors is a hassle—there’s no way around it. Make that chore a bit easier by wiping your bathroom mirror down every day, even if it looks clean.
Use a paper towel or microfiber towel to wipe away any toothpaste splatters or water droplets before they require a full-on cleaning (and a full-on headache).
11. Empty the Trash Can
Bathroom trash can get icky really fast. Bypass this by emptying your bathroom trash can into a bigger can every single day.
This is especially important in your hall or guest bathrooms, where it can be easy to forget to take out the trash on a regular basis. Making it a habit will keep it from ever getting too bad. Then, when necessary, give your trash can a deep clean.
12. Put Everything Away
Don’t leave your bathroom without picking up everything from the counter and floors. Throw away your daily contacts case, put the toothpaste back in its landing spot and make sure your toilet paper is stocked for the next visitor.
Cleaning as you go is the best way to keep your bathroom cleaning routine to under five minutes per day.
13. Close Your Shower Curtain
Mold and mildew can grow in between the creases of your shower curtain. To help combat this, keep your curtain closed at all times. Having a closed shower curtain allows the pieces of plastic and cloth to completely dry out between showers.
This checklist will help you keep your bathroom clean for longer periods of time between deep cleanings. If you prefer to outsource the dirty work (literally), consider hiring a residential cleaning company in your area. As an added bonus, your hard work at keeping the bathroom clean on a daily basis may lead to less expensive services because they don’t have to work so hard.