If you were to ask me what room I hate to clean the most, it would most assuredly be my bathroom. Since we are still tackling the finish work on the second floor bath, I’m only talking about one bathroom at this point, but still!
The toilet bowl is not my favorite, but I find that somewhat bearable. The sink and mirror are actually relatively “fun” to clean because of the instant gratification factor. {Notice fun was put in quotes because, as I said before, I hate to clean bathrooms. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, you know?}
What I really despise more than anything though, is to clean the shower. I think this frustrates me the most because of how quickly it gets dirty again.
Lots of use = lots of mess to clean up
Until now.
My mother told me about her “shower cleaning ritual” a few years ago and I probably laughed in her face. If I didn’t do it in front of her face, I most definitely laughed behind her back. Well, one day years later, I decided to give her ritual a try and I discovered, yet again, that my mother is one of the wisest women I know. She was not kidding when she said that a little bit of effort each day means she never has to clean her shower again.
I wish I could say that I have stuck to the ritual everyday since, but since I can’t tell a lie to save my life, I won’t even try. But, I am here to testify to you that this little daily shower ritual helps keep my shower clean for as long as I implement it.
If I do it daily, it stays clean daily.
If I don’t do it, its gets bad….and quickly.
So, I’ll stop blabbing on and on and go ahead and share with you the secret to a sparkly shower…forever. It will take a little work on the front end, but stick with me.
Step #1
Deep-clean your shower (you can grab a copy of my favorite cleaning recipes at the end of this post). Make sure to get any mold/mildew/soap scum off your shower tiles, door, or faucets.
Depending on how bad your shower looks, this could take some serious scrubbing. Don’t loose heart because if you follow this daily ritual, you will never have to work this hard again to keep your shower sparkly clean.
Step #2
After your shower is cleaned and looking marvelous, grab a hand towel and place it somewhere near your shower {or place it on a towel rod you might have in your shower} for later. You will need to keep this towel in this spot from here on out {until it needs laundering of course}, so make sure you put it somewhere convenient for you and your family members.
Step #3
This is where the ritual begins. Upon every use, use your hand towel to wipe off the moisture in your shower. Quickly wipe the shower tiles/shower surround, your shower faucets, and any shower doors you might have. This shouldn’t take longer than about 1 minute because you are not trying to get the shower 100% dry. Just a quick wipe should do the trick just fine.
Step #4
Repeat step 3 after every shower use…from here on out!
Where this ritual can get really tough is when you live with others. It’s hard enough to change your own habits, much less those of your family members. But for now, just try talking with your family and see if they are at least willing to give this a try for a week.
Hopefully, they will enjoy the clean sparkly shower as much as you hate scrubbing it each week and will quickly get on board.
Or perhaps their new chore will need to become scrubbing the shower each week! 🙂
See some of my other cleaning related posts here:
How to Clean a Microwave (in 5 minutes)
I just spray mine with 50/50 vinegar & water solution. My shower is a cheap plastic one but it looks brand new despite being nearly 20 years old. Never have had to scrub it down even once.
I've heard vinegar is a great cleaner. I'm curious how often you use your cleaner? Do you spray it often to keep it clean or do you use it once you see it getting dirty? I'm glad it's worked well for you!
I will try this… gosh, I need to figure out where to put the extra towel. Just logistically living in a tiny duplex with a little bathroom.
But this sounds worth it to try.
I hope you can find a spot for your towel it that works for you {I totally get small spaces} b/c it really does the trick! I had gotten out of the habit of doing it and after a good deep clean on Monday, I had a chat with my hubby about doing this again. So far this week, it's been great and the tiles are looking good with very little effort!
wouldnt the vinegar stink?