So . . . if you make a list, you’re supposed to check it?
Huh.
I started writing this post and realized I hadn’t checked my list since first thing this morning. I went and checked it. I’m probably not going to complete it, but I definitely accomplished more than I otherwise would have today if I didn’t have it.
I think that making a list (keep in mind that I’m no daily-list expert yet) helps you be more realistic about the amount of things you can get done in a day. It helped me see what I really had to get done, and I was less overwhelmed by it when I saw it written down than I was when the things were just looming in my brain, scared of being forgotten. Once they became less daunting, I realized that I could add a couple of things to the list, like catching up on laundry and cleaning bathtubs.
Bathtub cleaning is probably one of my least favorite jobs. It’s also one that I put off forever. I mean, soap touches them on a daily basis, how germy could they be? But soap scum is real and must be eventually dealt with.
Does anyone have any great tips for cleaning the big separate tubs? It was a dream come true to have a separate tub/shower and I’m still appreciative, but they are so difficult to clean without getting in! My t-shirt was totally covered in comet from leaning over and getting the back side.
Back on topic. I’m encouraged by my first day of this new task. It was nice to have a very productive day after lots of excuses and a crazy week last week. I know that a big part of the day’s success was just being at home, but I really don’t think I would have done the bathtubs/shower without them being on the list.
Also, as a scatterbrain, it’s nice to have a list to go to when I get that nagging feeling that I’m forgetting about something important.
Essa says
I make my 12 year old clean the tub. 🙂
Nony says
How old was he or she when they started? I have a hard time figuring out when is the right time to start the kids on jobs like that.
Essa says
I want to say right about 11? It was last year, when she was in 6th grade. We figured she's the one that can spend hours in the bathroom, she might as well be the one cleaning it. LOL!
celina from canada says
well the only way i can truly really clean my tubs, (after i have of course left them too long) is to get right in, use a magic eraser and scrub and have a bit of water in the bottom…then i rinse it out and since i'm already wet, i then take my long hot shower
Absentminded Mother says
I like to use Mr Clean Magic Reach in the tub. You are supposed to use it with a cleaning wand, but it works better if you use elbow grease and do it by hand.
Heather says
My youngest boy is 9, and he’s been cleaning toilets since he was 7. He had the worst aim, so I figured showing him how gross it is to have to clean all that up might help him. It did. His aim has improved, he’s being responsible, and he learned to appreciate all the little hidden mom jobs that no one ever really notices- especially ones involving bodily fluids.
I HAVE made him do the entire bathroom occasionally if I’m short on time and it’s panic-mode cleaning, but he’s generally only responsible for the toilet in his bathroom.
Candice says
my girls are 3 and 5.. our bathroom is 100% tiled.. ok 95%.. the ceiling is normal… and there is no tub/shower divider.. ( we live in south korea so the bathrooms are very very different) i occasionally give my girls a washcloth each, spray some simple green on the walls… and ask them to scrub everything.. they get the toilet ( outside) and the pedistal and base of the sink… and i dont have to bend down and contort into weird possitions.. i scrub the toilet and the sink and then help them find spots they missed on the walls ect… then we spray it down and have a blast… followed by shower taking… now the floor of the shower/bathroom.. thats a whole nother monster itself!
JoAnn says
I don’t know about the tub other than to just get in. But, for our tub walls, we wipe them down after every shower. We had to remodel our bathroom after a leak and really liked the look of tile. Everyone told us not to do it because the grout was too hard to keep clean. Then someone told us that if we dried the walls after every use, the grout would not get gross. So, we agreed to both do it and have managed to maintain it for almost 3 years now.
Mandie says
I once asked an apartment manager how they cleaned the tubs after people moved out & left them in really nasty. (I may or may not have been fishing for advice. LOL) I know this sounds crazy, but she told me they use oven cleaner! It does work really well if you can stand the smell & don’t mind not being ‘green’. I spray it down from top to bottom, go do something else, then come back & spray it off with the handheld shower head. I do, however, try not to let it get to the oven cleaner point, because of the smell, but… Let’s just say I buy it by the case. 😉
Fish says
What about keeping clorox or some other wipes by the tub and using them as soon as you get out of the tub? Now that you got it clean if you do it every time you use the tub, then you never have to clean it again. I need to take my own advice.
Twyla Hajdukiewicz says
I am not certain where I read it (might have been Heloise), but years ago I read to use your broom to clean your tub using your regular tub cleaner (I like Comet). You get a sparkly clean tub and a clean (but wet) broom at the same time without so much bending over. I have done it a time or two – I’ve done mini blinds in the tub that way, too. I don’t do it if my broom is gross. In that case I either buy a new broom or clean the broom first.
Victoria says
My 6 and 8 year old daughters use our Master “garden tub” more than we do! I wipe it out immediately after they bathe with a sponge and Dawn dish soap. I love, love, love Dawn dish soap… it really gets the soap scum. And it doesn’t suffocate me like chemicals do.
I also use Dawn and a scrub brush every morning on when I get in the shower and scrub a section of it. Because of cleaning a little everyday, I’ve been able to keep our bathroom clean for a month. I’ve never done this before!
Nony, I have you and your blog to thank for the strides I’m making in being a consistent house-keeper in my home! I was approaching house-cleaning as project management. I love checking things off a list, but was getting so discouraged having things get messed up as soon as I did a big cleaning project. Now, I approach it (like you say) as the “daily’s.” What a change! I just keep cleaning as I go…cleaning as I go… and, duh, it works! Thanks so much for you honesty and letting us in on your journey. I’m in the process of reading backwards through your blog, and it’s really addicting and motivating. 🙂
Dana White says
I love hearing this, Victoria!!!
Lolly says
I don’t use my huuuge tub daily (I use the shower more often), so after every single bath I use my washcloth to wipe the entire inside of the tub, the top lip, the faucet, and the surround. Then, if it’s been a week or more since it was used last, I just have to rinse out some dust and it’s good to go.
Every tuesday my kids clean their bathroom…tub, toilet, floors, trash. The sink is cleaned daily. So I don’t bother with their tub at all.
I love your can-do attitude. And how you tackle a new thing most weeks! It’s a good help to get me back on track after a long season of just doing the very, very basics. My big struggles are folding laundry and not buying too much stuff. I get a new hobby, then find “deals” on the supplies….and yeah….the house gets overrun.
K from South Africa says
Hi Dana
In terms of this post, if I’m really lazy, I will bath with bubble bath soak. Then when I let the water out, there is no rim around the tub. Otherwise I use an all purpose ammonia base cleaner (In South Africa we have the brand name HandyAndy). I also used dishwashing liquid before.
I’m just like you. Living in South Africa made me very lazy, because, unlike in the States, here we used to be able to afford housecleaners, who also doubled as nannys. (I spent most of my smaller years with the cleaning lady) This didn’t teach me much responsibility to keep my surroundings tidy and clean, because “someone else gets paid to do it”. Now we are in a different era and it is getting very expensive and administratively difficult to have a housecleaner on call. Now my knees wobble when I have to take on cleaning tasks. I live in a two bedroom, 1 bathroom extension to a 4 bed house with my mother in law and am responsible to keep this area clean. I haven’t cleaned it in 2 years! Oh the clutter! My mother and MIL are both clean freaks and organised and can’t understand my slobbishness. When I saw your blog, I exclaimed my joy that someone else thinks the same way I do about leaving things to grow on top of other things before noticing the big mess, then feeling overwhelmed about where I will get time to clean it up. Sorry about the long story.
Leila says
I don’t have any great insight into bathroom cleaning, but at one point I needed to clean above the tiles, an area much above my reach. I had a new sponge mop, so I used that to give me a way to go a few extra feet up. I then realized that I could just put some cleaner in the tub, use it as a “bucket,” and dip the mop in it and clean the tiles and the tub, too. It’s not a perfect solution (which is why mopping walls and tubs never caught on?!), but I can’t bend well anymore either, so I have to settle for a certain level of slapdash sometimes. (I’ve also used the mop to wipe greasy dirt off the ceiling and upper cabinets of the kitchen. Again, mops are not the ideal tool, but if you happen to have a new one, you don’t have to worry about having cleaning residue on it that will strip paint or wood finishes.)
Julie says
Great idea! I also use a mop to wash walls. I don’t have the energy to wash them by hand. It may not get them quite as clean, but at least they get done!