Bathroom Cleaning Checklist (for 30 Minutes or Less)
One thing that makes cleaning the bathroom even remotely tolerable is having a system. A repeatable system, with a repeatable schedule that we don’t even have to think about. It’s all laid out for us.
And, because we’re on that schedule, it keeps the level of grime build up pretty low. In other words, we can get that cleaning done QUICK, whether it’s a daily tidying, a weekly brisk clean, or even a yearly deep cleaning (we’re talking lifting stains out of the floor kind of deep).
We want to let you in on a cleaning system that will keep your bathroom sanitary (nothing worse than a random friend or family member showing up when your bathroom is a mess), and maybe even help get your kids on the clean track too with a chores checklist (one can dream).
How do I clean my bathroom in 30 minutes?
You work really, really fast…
No, that’s not it. Like we said, you just have to have a system. It really doesn’t need to be complicated either. It just has to work for you (meaning, you might just have to adjust our system to fit your needs).
Here are some step-by-step tips to help you get a really good bathroom cleaning in under 30 minutes.
Step 1: Create a Bathroom Cleaning Schedule
The best thing you can do first is establish a cleaning schedule, and this really should fit your lifestyle. Otherwise, it’s going to be more difficult sustain it.
If you have the time (and the energy) to tidy up daily, then great, that’s what works for you. If you like to do a family cleaning day every week or every month, that’s a great opportunity to get a bathroom deep cleaning done.
It might be your only clean of the week or the month, but it’s the schedule that works for you. As long as it’s some kind of clean, right?
Once you determine how often you can clean, and at what level of clean you can do in those intervals, a checklist starts to make more sense.
How often should bathrooms be cleaned?
Here’s the quick breakdown:
- Clean high touch surfaces and toilet daily
- The bath, towels, and floors weekly
Clean your toilet daily? Yeah, we know, that sounds like a heck of a lot.
But they’re not talking about scrubbing your toilet with chemicals everyday. Instead, they just want you to run your toilet bowl brush around the bowl three times (3x around where the water line usually builds up in between deep cleans and 3x under the rim).
The reason:
Cleaning your toilet daily prolongs actual deep cleaning and can help eliminate those rings you often get – those fun pink or brown lines where the water fills to.
When to do this:
Every day, right after you wake up and head to the bathroom for the first time in the morning.
How to automate your bathroom for quicker cleans
Home automation is our jam (we love it so much we found 101 ways to automate your home).
Strangely, there aren’t a ton of ways to automate bathroom cleaning, yet. Though there are a few things you can do to make your life a little easier.
- Get a bathroom fan (the one you turn on for the shower… and for those times you hope it’ll help with the smell) with automation options, and set it to turn on automatically with your shower. You’d have to make sure it’s a fan that detects heat and humidity (that’ll help keep away moisture, soap scum, and mildew buildup).
- Get an automated toilet bowl cleaner. There are a few: some that simply inject a certain amount of cleaner with each flush, and others that ionize the water to keep it sanitary and free of bacteria build up (which will keep it cleaner for longer).
- Get a toothpaste dispenser that dispenses the right amount of toothpaste, and keeps your counters free of the clutter of an abandoned toothpaste tube (and also semi-helps keep your kids from smearing the toothpaste absolutely everywhere)
Set your Braava jet® robot mop to clean your bathroom floors at regular intervals (daily is best)
(Check out our blog posts to learn how best to clean your bathroom floors:
- How To Clean Tile Floors
- How to Clean Hardwood Floors
- How to Clean Laminate Floors
- How to Clean Vinyl Floors
- How To Clean Linoleum Floors)
Step 2: Gather Your Cleaning Supplies
Most of us keep all of our cleaning supplies under the sink, and it’s generally the kitchen sink (because cleaning the kitchen is a several-times-a-day hassle, it seems).
So when it comes to cleaning the bathroom, you’re probably sitting on your knees in front of the cabinet or bending until your back breaks while you rummage through all of your cleaners, recounting everything you need for each surface of your bathroom:
- Something for the shower (and maybe something extra for the stains in the grout)
- Washcloths, but separate ones for the toilet, mirror, and counters
- A floor cleaning solution
- Maybe a new scent plug in
- Baby oil to get your faucets to shine and repel water stains
- Your cleaning kit all packed up in a caddy (read on to learn what’s in there)
- If you have hardwood floors in your bathroom, check out this blog listing the best hardwood floor cleaners.
Maybe you even need the drain clog solution or tool, a new small trash bag… the list can go on depending on your bathroom and the level of clean your bathroom needs.
Instead of carrying all of this across your house a handful at a time, or running back and forth because you forgot a few things, get yourself a cleaning caddy you can store in the bathroom or even the linen closet near the bathroom.
What should be in a bathroom cleaning kit?
It’s nice to have a go-to cleaning kit already packed with the essentials that you’d use on a weekly clean, because it speeds up your prep time. And once you’re done with your clean, you’ll put all these supplies back in the caddy. Generally, that means:
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Window and glass cleaner
- All-purpose cleaner (for counters and outside of toilet)
- Your favorite shower and tub cleaner (or a spray bottle of your favorite natural bathroom cleaner)
- Cleaning gloves
Those are just the essentials. You’ll likely need other items for deeper cleans and things like stains, but there’s a limited amount of space in your caddy and you don’t want it to be overflowing and disorganized.
There are a few other cleaning tips and hacks for before putting together your cleaning caddy:
- Use 3 different colored microfiber cloths (each color representing a different surface so you’re not cross contaminating as you clean)
- Roll each cloth to indicate that they’re clean (and toss in the wash right after a clean, and replenish right away if you have extra)
- Get yourself a detailing brush with a silicone pointed or angled tip at the end of the handle to get the gunk out of corners and around the drains and toilet
- To keep your caddy organized, keep only the essentials and the rest somewhere nearby to use for deep cleaning days
The best things to clean bathrooms with
The best cleaners depend a lot on your type of bathroom and the issues you have therein (bathtub gets stained easily, floor always shows footprints, you have hard water buildup…).
That said, there are a few effective cleaners that generally fit the bill for most people.
When it comes to cleaning the shower or bathtub, an effective and simple cleaner is a mix of vinegar and your favorite dish soap.
Again, baby oil is pretty effective for making your bathtub faucet and showerhead shine.
If you want to go all out and make your bathroom cleaning all the easier, you might want to look into a spin brush for your tub and tile. It’s basically a big wand with joints and a spinning brush head to clean grout and surfaces faster and easier, and probably more effectively.
For your floors, we’ll always recommend our Braava® robot mop to get the job done (best thing is, you don’t have to do the cleaning yourself).
And if you really want your floors to shine, Bona® floor cleaner is a compatible and effective cleaner to add to your robot mop (and get that beautiful polish finish on your floors).
Step 3: Start From the Top
Cleaning your bathroom from top to bottom just makes sense. You wouldn’t clean your floors only to push a bunch of debris or spill a bunch of tub water and cleaners all over them.
But while this seems obvious, you’re probably not following that formula exactly.
These are the steps you should follow if you want to ensure all areas of your bathroom are truly clean and if you want to speed up the process a bit:
- Declutter the bathroom (it might not be the top, but you can’t really clean if you have a bunch of items out and in your way)
- Another thing you might want to do first is add any deep cleaners (if you have stains you need to remove, such as tub stains), as they may need some time to set in while you clean other areas of your bathroom
- Run a duster over your shower fan as well as the sconces / light fixtures over your mirror
- Clean your mirror, including the top ledge if it isn’t flush with your wall
- Remove items from your shower. Then start from the top of your shower to the tub (or shower floor), cleaning the showerhead first. Scrub the tub or shower floor last
- Spray down your shower to remove all of the cleaner. And replace all of your shower items (you may need to squeegee your shower door if it’s glass)
- Apply toilet bowl cleaner to your toilet and scrub the inside with the toilet bowl brush, then flush
- Add a cap full of bleach or other disinfectant to your toilet bowl brush holder to disinfect
- Spray the toilet seat, underside of the seat, rim, and outside of the toilet with an all-purpose cleaner and wipe down with a damp cloth. (You can also use disinfectant wipes if that’s what you prefer)
- Wipe down your bathroom counters. (You could do this after the mirror, but you may like to add all shower items to the counter or sink while cleaning that area)
- Take out any trash if the trash can is full
- Use a broom and mop to get your floors clear of debris. Or after your cleaning session, set your Roomba® robot vacuum loose on your dry floors and then set your Braava® robot mop to tackle the work for you (These are two house cleaners you don’t have to tip.)
Daily Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
The first thing to know about checklists is that, it’s not exactly the checklist itself that makes it easier to keep areas of your home clean consistently, but the routine of cleaning at these regular intervals.
When you’re used to cleaning every day or every Monday, these specific surfaces, you’re less likely to miss something. You’re also more likely to keep up with it.
We get it, life is exceptionally busy (hence why we built a robot to handle some of the cleaning). You are a parent. You have a job. You might have to school your kids at home due to recent events. You just… have priorities that push things as time-consuming and draining as cleaning your home to the bottom of the list.
That’s not unusual, and it’s nothing to feel dismayed over either. In fact, we applaud you for taking care of your priorities (especially when it comes to your family).
That said, checklists and the building of the cleaning routine can really help to minimize the impact of cleaning on your day and week. And reduce the time you need to keep your home tidy and sanitized.
Daily to-dos you (and your family) should turn into habits
Remember, it’s all about building a routine, even for your children. It’s one of the best ways to keep everything clean yourself, but also to build those good habits into the rest of your family.
It might take a little coaxing, but one great way to start is to bring your kids (and life partner) into a room and ask what they see that could use a clean.
This gives them a chance to use their own data, rather than supplying your own, which gets their own minds to see the messes rather than just begrudgingly following orders.
Once they answer, ask what they think is the best way to clean it. They’ll likely come up with a bunch of ways to do it. Encourage this, and their ideas, to get them excited about it rather than discouraged.
If you have a better, faster way to clean, you can simply say “that’s a great idea, but there might be a faster way to do it, would you like to hear?” then explain.
It’ll take a lot of consistency and patience, but in time, you and your whole family can help to keep your entire home clean, rather than just the bathroom.
While you’re working on that, having a checklist is a good way to make sure it’s all done consistently.
Here’s your daily bathroom cleaning checklist (items may vary depending on your bathroom):
- After a shower, squeegee your shower door, tiles, and shower floor to keep limescale and streaks from forming
- Quickly wipe down your counters and faucet from the water and toothpaste splatter right after brushing your teeth or washing your face or hands (and make sure to put your toothbrush away)
- After going to the bathroom first thing in the morning, give your toilet bowl a quick scrub with a toilet bowl brush (3 scrapes is all you need)
- Declutter your counters by having an organized space to keep all of your daily products (a bin on the counter is really helpful if you use a lot of items and want a quick declutter)
- Pick up any towels (don’t forget the hand towels) or clothes on the floor and put them in the laundry
- Straighten your bathroom rugs or bath mats
- Close your shower curtain
If you’d like a printable version of this list for you or your kids to adjust to, we’ve got you covered (printable list).
Weekly Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
It’s no secret that your bathroom is a damp place that gets dirty and grimy fast and easy. In other words, it needs a deep clean far more often than other parts of your home.
This goes far beyond the daily tidying and the occasional wipe of the mirror when someone rinses their hands and just has to shake them wildly before wiping them on the towel (tell us this happens in your household too… no?).
What to incorporate in your weekly bathroom cleaning routine
Ready to get to it? Here’s your weekly cleaning checklist, at least until it’s such a part of your routine you don’t even have to look at it:
- Wipe down your mirror(s)
- Dust lights and your fan as well as the top ledge of the mirror
- Scrub your shower / tub
- Clean shower head (you may need a limescale remover if you have hard water)
- Clean countertops
- Scrub the toilet inside and out
- Sweep and mop floors
- Put away any clutter
- Wash your towels
- Wipe off knobs and light switches that build up finger grime and smudges
Monthly Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
Everyone wants their bathroom to be an oasis. My goodness, doesn’t it feel great to sit on a stool (aka the toilet) while you lather your legs and body with a nice lotion or body oil? How about soaking in the tub with epsom salt and candles. Yeah, it’s amazing.
What’s not amazing is a messy bathroom. That doesn’t feel like heaven at all.
Fortunately, if you’ve been following your daily and weekly checklists and building that routine, a monthly cleaning is fairly easy.
It’s really just your weekly cleaning with a few… extras that make it that heavenly oasis you love to go to escape the cries for mom (turn on the shower and it’s even better. Heat, steam, and muffled whines beyond the door).
How to deep clean your bathroom each month (or more)
Here are the few things you really should do every month on top of your usual weekly cleaning:
- Bleach your shower liner (if you don’t have a door)
- Wash your shower curtain (if it’s white you can soak it in the tub with the liner)
- Organize your cabinets and drawers if they’re a mess
- Throw away any expired medications or unused body and face products
- Replace any worn-out towels
- Unclog your drains (we all lose hair in the shower)
- Apply a limescale remover or soak your showerhead
- Use a thin tool (such as the end of a detailing brush if it has a pointed silicone edge meant for scraping corners) to clean the areas around the drains, toilet, and sink
- Wipe the faces of your cabinets (including the medicine cabinet)
- Wipe down your baseboards
Time to build those cleaning routines!
