Ten Steps to a Sparkling Bath

If you are anything like me, you are a working parent, with little time and money to spare. Between work, cleaning, running errands, and taking children to and fro, you barely have time to breathe. Much less, spend any quality time with your family. I would like to share some tried and true methods to clean your bath using less time, effort and money. Not only will you appreciate the time and money you have saved, you will enjoy the "spring clean" freshness in your bath all year around.

1. Take rugs out, shake clean and/or wash. Sweep bathroom floor, including baseboards. Use the broom to remove cobwebs in the corners and at the ceiling.
   
   
2. Pour bleach or cleanser of choice into toilet. I prefer bleach as it is cost effective, and also kills germs. Let sit while cleaning other items in the room. Cleaning the room will be easier if you work from left to right, top to bottom.
   
   
3. Take down blinds, light covers/globes and place into the tub. If you do not have blinds, take the curtains down and wash while cleaning the bath.
   
   
4. Spray down tub inside and out, including contents therein. Also spray the outside of toilet, sinks, counter tops, and tile walls with favorite cleanser. If your walls are paneled, spray with oil soap. Painted walls can be wiped down with a damp cloth, using a mild cleanser for spotted areas.
   
   
5. Let cleanser do its work while cleaning mirrors and windows. Spray mirrors and windows with cleaner and buff with a soft dry cloth for streak-less/lint-less results.
   
   
6. Rinse sink, outside of toilet, tub and contents well using a sponge and mop bucket filled with clear warm water.
   
   
7. Dry all shower walls, tub, sinks and toilet well. Dry blinds, light fixtures and hang. Wipe down shower walls, tub walls, sink and outside of toilet with lemon oil. Buff to a low luster with dry cloth. This helps prevent the build-up of soil and soap scum to make further cleaning easier. Do not use lemon oil on the bottom of the tub, as it will make it slippery, therefore dangerous to stand in. Also, do not use lemon oil on the inside of clear shower doors, as it will cloud them. Lemon oil may be used safely on the inside and outside of frosted glass shower doors to prevent soap scum build-up.
   
   
8. If you have a shower curtain and liner, and wish to clean or hang a new liner, soak the liner in your washing machine with 1 cup of salt in warm water. Let sit for 30 to 45 minutes, then run through the wash cycle, spin dry and hang. This will help prevent the soap scum build-up and mildew stains that ruin shower curtain liners.
   
   
9. Polish all the chrome fixtures with favorite cleanser or vinegar. Buff to a shine with soft dry cloth.
   
   
10. Wipe cleanser off tile walls, and go around baseboards to remove cleanser drips and dust. Swab inside toilet bowl then flush to rinse. Finish up your sparkling bathroom with a good mopping. To prevent tracking on the damp floor, after mopping, stand on a dry towel and "walk" the floor dry.

This should only take around 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete. It saves time and money, as you will have to clean less often, using fewer cleansers afterward to maintain the shine. The lemon oil polish should last 4 to 6 weeks depending on bath usage. Before implementing this system, my personal cleaning time was always 1 to 1½ hours each week. With a quick 10-minute swish of the room, you should be able to maintain the cleanliness with little time or effort. After approximately 4 weeks, reapply the lemon oil to maintain the newly cleaned luster. Keep all cleansers that are used for the bath, in your bathroom. I keep all my cleaning products in my mop bucket on the top shelf in my linen closet, to keep the products out of the reach of children. This allows easy access to the cleansers for quick bath touch-ups.

Please remember to never mix products that contain ammonia with bleach or products containing bleach, as they will produce toxic fumes. Happy cleaning!

Candy Lucas is a writer, living in Alabama. Using the time and money she has saved, she is currently working on her first historical romance novel. Candy may be contacted at cdlucas@tvn.net or check out her website at http://riteromance.freeservers.com

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

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