Efficiently and Thoroughly Clean and Disinfect Two Bathrooms

I have one and a half bathrooms in my one-story house. Both bathrooms get regular/frequent use. When I clean, I get them both done at once. I did not include the shower because personally, it is my least favorite thing to clean in the whole house and I do it on a different day. I also did not include the floors. I mop all the linoleum in the house on the same day. This works well for two bathrooms on the same floor, because you will be running back and forth between the two. This is because the disinfectant takes a few minutes to really work.

Materials needed:

• 12-14 small rags (it’s a lot, but prevents cross-contamination)
• Glass-cleaning cloth (I use a microfiber cloth specifically for glass/windows)
• Towel (mine is an old, stained hand towel. Doesn’t have to be big at all)
• Toilet cleaner (I used Borax) and toilet brush
• Disinfectant (I make my own: 1 part rubbing alcohol + 2 parts water + a few drops of dish soap + shake well)
• All-Purpose Cleaner (I use Branch Basics, diluted for all-purpose)
• Glass cleaner (I use Branch Basics, diluted for glass)

Here are the steps I follow.

• Put toilet cleaner in toilet bowl #1, swish around with brush, let sit.
• Repeat for toilet #2.
• Liberally spray toilet #1 with all-purpose cleaner. Repeat for toilet #2.
• Wipe down toilet #1. Use as many rags as you feel necessary – I use 2-3.
• Using new rags, repeat for toilet #2.
• Liberally spray all parts of toilet #1 (including in the bowl) with disinfectant. Let sit. Repeat for toilet #2.

As the bowl cleaner and disinfectant sits, move on to sink #1.

• Clear off sink #1. Liberally spray all-purpose cleaner on sink #1. Repeat for sink #2.
• Wipe down sink #1. Wipe down sink #2.
• Liberally spray disinfectant on sink #1. Let sit. Repeat for sink #2.

As the toilets continue to disinfect, and the sinks disinfect,

• Spray and wipe down mirror #1. Repeat for mirror #2.

Back to toilets/sinks:

• Wipe down toilet #1. Again, I use 2-3 rags just to be on the clean side.
• Scrub toilet #1 bowl with brush and flush when finished.
• Wipe down toilet #2. Scrub bowl #2 and flush when finished.

• Wet new rags and wipe down/rinse sink #1. Technically, you should rinse the disinfectant like this – I don’t for the toilets because I don’t want to use a towel to dry the toilets.
• Use a towel to dry sink #1.
• Using the same wet rag, wipe down/rinse sink #2. Towel dry sink #2. (May or may not need new towel depending on how soaked you got it the first time!)

YOU ARE FINISHED! Enjoy your shiny, clean and disinfected bathrooms!

Additional tips:

Let toilet bowl cleaner drip dry into toilet before putting it back in its container. Do this by placing it between the toilet seat and the rim, with the brush part over the bowl.

Wipe your mirrors in an S-like pattern, starting at the top and working your way to the bottom, for no streaks.

Clean your toilet in an order that makes sense to you so you don’t wipe rim/seat germs back onto the handle, etc. For example: Rag #1 wipes (in this order): top of tank, sides & front of tank, handle. Rag #2: Outside of lid, inside of lid, top of seat. Rag #3: underside of seat and rim.

Always shut the toilet lid before flushing to prevent floating water/particles from spraying on your walls… or toothbrushes… etc. It is known that the spray can reach 6 feet.

If you use a reusable cup to rinse after brushing your teeth like I do, bathroom-cleaning day is a great time to remember to change out the cup (or simply wash and replace it!)

Don’t forget to wipe down any toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, etc that reside on the sink. Clean and disinfect that stuff too!

How often do you clean your bathrooms? Do you have a routine?

Dusting, polishing, disinfecting list

Now, I don’t go along dusting/cleaning/disinfecting each individual item and then checking it off. I do a room at a time, or all of one thing at a time, before checking anything off. Example: Disinfect all the light switches in the house in a row. 

I made this spreadsheet a long time ago so I’d be sure to remember to do everything. Also, it feels awesome to check off the whole sheet.

For the record, I do not dust all of those things, clean all of the glass, and disinfect everything on that list weekly. I tend to not even do it monthly. These three things are on my cleaning list at the bottom where I write when I last did it, and when I’ll next do it. It’s kind of a play-it-by-ear type of thing. Anything that needs done (example: the glass in our front door gets dirty easily and might get cleaned more often. This list is for the DEEP CLEAN.

I decided what to add to the dusting list by what gets dusty, and the glass list by what is made of glass. The disinfect list is what gets touched. Some of the things, like the breaker handle in the laundry room, is almost never touched. I might decide that I don’t want to clean everything on the list and I don’t beat myself up about it if I don’t. Usually I check it off anyway or draw a minus sign through it to indicate that I did not do it and do not intend to.

Lastly, I’ll say that I keep this list in a sheet protector in my main household binder (another post on that later) so I can use a dry erase marker and just erase easily when everything has been X’ed off.

Do you use lists to remember everything you have to do? Or for the satisfaction of crossing things off when you’re finished?