Apron and Rubber Gloves

A-Z of DIY & Building Guides How To Clean Your Bathroom

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Contents:

Date Published:
20/05/2008
Bucket with Cleaning Equipment

How To Clean A Shower Tray

No trickier than cleaning your bath - use an all-purpose bathroom cleaner, and if you live in a hard water area, use a limescale remover once a week. If in doubt, test it on a small area first and always rinse thoroughly.

How To Clean A Shower Screen

It's handy to have a squeegy (window cleaners use them, and they're used by hand-car-washers, too - you can buy them in most kitchen shops). These will remove the excess of water from the screen, and save you having to wash it too often.

Once a week, clean with a solution of washing up liquid and a soft cloth. Pay attention to the hinges of a folding door - these can get particularly dirty. Use a limescale remover every once in a while to remove white water marks, following the manufacturer's instructions.

How To Clean A Shower Head

The most eco friendly approach is to soak the shower head (removed) in a solution of half distilled vinegar and half water for a couple of hours. Afterwards, rinse thoroughly.

Or, use a liquid descaler and an old toothbrush. If you live in a hard water area, you may have to do this job regularly.

As always, do a test patch first to check that your showerhead will not be damaged by chemicals.

How To Clean Grout

Mould, dirt, hair dye... it can all build up on the grout between your tiles. The best solution is to use a whitening product that contains a fungicide, such as Mould Remover by Lakeland (who also sell a specially shaped grout brush).

Regular cleaning with an old toothbrush and a solution of bleach and water (1:4) will keep the grout clean to a degree, but will not inhibit mould.

How To Get Rid Of Bathroom Mould

Damp areas, such as bathrooms, showers, even kitchens, are always going to suffer a mould problem (if you've not seen it, it looks like black spores). The only treatment is regular spraying of products, such as that mentioned above. If the mould sets in (black spots) to areas such as sealant, the sealant will have to be removed and replaced.

Bathroom Tap

How To Clean Taps

In an ideal world, you would wipe and buff dry taps after every use, but in reality, that's never going to happen. However, it's worth bearing in mind that some taps, particularly those with gold or brass finishes (and, believe it or not, they're coming back into fashion), will be damaged by a build-up of toothpaste.

The best solution is to clean regularly with a solution of washing up liquid, rinse and dry. Do not use an abrasive cleaner on taps. If you need to remove limescale, soak a cloth in a descaler and wrap it round the taps. Do not leave for longer than the manufacturer recommends or your taps could be damaged, and always do a test patch first if you're not sure. Once finished, rinse thoroughly and dry.

How To Clean The Toilet

Wiping seats - whether wooden or acrylic - with a solution of washing up liquid should keep it nice and clean. The outside of the bowl and cistern will also need a regular wipe over with washing up liquid.

To keep the bowl clean, you will need something a little stronger, such as a bathroom cleaner with added disinfectant, or you can fit a cleaner into the bowl or inside the cistern - this will clean the toilet to some degree with every flush.

For thorough bowl cleaning, use a liquid or powder cleaner and a toilet brush, not forgetting to scrub under the rim. Rinse the brush with bleach afterwards, and flush the loo over it to clean it off.

Cleaning a Toilet

How To Remove Limescale From Toilets

Make sure your regular toilet cleaner has a limescale remover in it. To remove built-in limescale, use a cleaner that is a thick gel. If this fails, you have no option but to empty the bowl of water by draining the system (or more easily by emptying the bowl by hand with an old cup or by tying up the float operated inlet valve (or ballcock) and flushing the toilet). You will then be able to access the limescale 'dry', and using the gel and abit of elbow grease, you should be able to remove all traces of it. You should not have to do this too often, assuming you keep the toilet cleaned regularly the rest of the time.

Using more than one toilet cleaner at a time will release toxic gases.

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  1. Keep bathroom mirrors from steaming up by rubbing a little soap or shower gel onto the mirror then wipe it off. Air freshner, fill a spray bottle with water and add a capful of vinegar and a few drops of your fav essential oils.
    Posted by jane.x. on 02/10/2008 13:20:20
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  2. i want to make air freshener for my liveingroom how do i go about it thanks
    Posted by john evans on 30/09/2008 13:47:13
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  3. hiya how can i get rusty marks off my bath thanks claire from dublin
    Posted by claire caffrey on 28/09/2008 13:44:53
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  4. One of my jobs is cleaning a restaurant that has older toilets in it. There are stains that I cannot remove. I have heard you mention salt, on your show, to clean these. Could you please specify what kind of salt it is? Thank you, Chris Berres
    Posted by Chris Berres on 19/09/2008 18:26:12
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  5. What can i use to get mould from my shower curtain! Its a new one, but little dots are beginning to appear at the bottom of it. I've put it in the wash and it didn't work!
    Posted by carly allen on 19/09/2008 15:58:40
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  6. April - I had a problem with oil build-up on a plastic bath, which I solved by using Kim and Aggie's bicarb, and washing-up liquid paste and a plastic scraper - same procedure as Kim showed for cleaning baked grease off the glass door of an oven. Worked a treat for me - the bath came up like new.
    Posted by Jane on 19/09/2008 15:34:13
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  7. Hi How can I keep the bathroom mirror from steaming up Kind regards Diana
    Posted by Diana McLaren on 19/09/2008 11:16:34
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  8. your cleaning tips really helped me clen my bath it looks spotless! thanks!
    Posted by gina reilly on 18/09/2008 20:30:13
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  9. Hi, I have brass type taps in my bathroom which overtime have been hit quite heavily with limescale. What is the best way to get rid of this?
    Posted by Jo Mayne on 16/09/2008 14:26:30
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  10. judy - i presume something like fairy washing up liquid.
    Posted by charlotte on 15/09/2008 13:26:16
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  11. What do they mean by 'washing up liquid?' Can you give me a brand name? They aren't talking about dishwashing liquid are they? Maybe it's Lysol cleaner? ??? Thanks.
    Posted by Judy on 13/09/2008 18:51:04
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  12. Does anyone know what is good for cleaning oil off an enamel bath? I've tried bath power spray and other similar products but it's still stuck firm.
    Posted by April on 11/09/2008 16:24:30
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