The holidays are just around the corner, which makes this a perfect time for me to tell you the secret to cleaning a bathroom in just 10 minutes — with a lot of extra entertaining and people in and out of the house, it’s helpful to know how to keep your bathroom guest-ready without doing a ton of work. The trick here is to be strategic in both your product selection (yes, of course, I’m going to tell you what to use!) and in the order of operations (yes, of course, I’m going to tell you the order in which to clean!)
Let’s do this thing.
The fewer products you use, the faster the job will go. I’ve streamlined this thing over the years so that, with just three products and three tools, you can get your bathroom clean in just about 10 minutes.
The Products
Scrubbing Bubbles: This product is going to do most of the work for you when it comes to the tub, sink and toilet bowl.
Windex Multi Surface Cleaner: Scrubbing Bubbles isn’t great for glass or plastic surfaces, but this multi-use product can clean both — no need for separate glass cleaner and all-purpose cleaner.
X-14 (optional): This is a heavy duty product for nuking mold, mildew and Serratia marcescens (the pinkish-orangish stuff) without requiring scrubbing on your part.
Microfiber cloths: Use them dry for cleaning glass, and wet for pretty much everything else.
Paper towels: Paper towels are best, when paired with multi-surface cleaner, for cleaning the toilet exterior.
A toilet brush: For scrubbing the toilet bowl, of course.
The order of operations is also really crucial to saving time — the products are designed to do a lot of the work for you, so you should let them do that! This is the order to work in:
- Shake the can of Scrubbing Bubbles and apply a thin layer of the foam cleaner to the tub, the sink basin and ledge, and the toilet bowl. Allow the Scrubbing Bubbles three to five minutes to break down surface grime in the tub, sink and toilet bowl. (Scrubbing Bubbles can cause discoloration in plastics, so don’t use it on the toilet seat, just on the porcelain sections of the toilet.)
- While the Scrubbing Bubbles is working, use the Windex Multi-Surface Cleaner and a dry microfiber cloth to clean the mirror(s).
- Then, use the Windex Multi-Surface Cleaner and paper towels to wipe the toilet, working from the top down, so: Top of the tank first, the flusher, and toilet seat. Leave the toilet seat up for the time being.
- Wet the microfiber cloth and wipe out the sink basin and ledge, then the tub.
- Use the toilet brush to scrub the interior of the toilet bowl.
- Finish by using the same microfiber cloth to wipe the lip of the toilet bowl, pedestal and floor area around the toilet.
- OPTIONAL: If the grout and caulk in the shower or tub has developed mold or mildew, spray it with X-14, which will eliminate it without requiring scrubbing on your part.
And there you have it: 10 minutes to a clean bathroom!