I know. That is such a fancy, educational-sounding title. And the tip I’m going to give is too simple.
The tip: Label them.
Permanent markers are your friend.
So why a big ol’ fancy-sounding post on this subject?
First of all, keeping cleaning supplies separate is necessary. Don’t use the same cleaning tools in your bathroom that you use in your kitchen. Really. Don’t. It’s a basic health department rule I learned when cleaning at that camp back when I was sixteen.
Yes, I needed to learn it, but once I learned it and thought about the why, it seemed so obvious.
Because, really. Bathrooms involve . . . ummm . . . bathroom stuff. And I’d prefer to keep anything related to bathroom as far away from anything related to the kitchen as possible.
Really.
So it was obvious, but when I set up my own home, I’d find myself staring at a cleaning product (a sponge, a rag, a bucket) trying to remember which area I had designated it for the last time I cleaned.
Maybe the length of time between cleanings had something to do with my confusion??
Anyway, I found myself throwing away perfectly good cleaning products because I couldn’t remember which area they were for, and couldn’t risk using a toilet sponge in the kitchen.
Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.
And if I threw away the cleaning product I needed to act upon the burst of Cleaning Energy I was randomly experiencing, that fleeting feeling was likely to vanish. I mean, now I’d have to head to the store and spend money. Two great reasons to put off cleaning. And anyway, to go to the store, I’d have to GET DRESSED.
Once I got dressed and went to the store, not only would the Cleaning Energy be gone, but then I’d not want to get grody.
So simply labeling with permanent marker, right across the most obvious part of the product, works in our house.
It’s also great for those who haven’t fully grasped the grodiness of possible cross-contamination of cleaning products.
Spell-check says grody and its various forms such as grodiness isn’t a word.
I’m a child of the 80s, so I know it is. Grody to the max is a thing. Bathroom cleaning is grody to the max.
Totally.
Gayle says
Of course, grody is a real word. I’ve said it, but have never thought about how to spell it. 😉
lydia purple says
how about color coding? buy different colored sponges for different areas…
Teresa says
I would forget which color meant what! Haha, maybe that’s just me?
maesaysdoit says
Pretty in Pink fir Kitchen and Yellow Caution for Bathroom. Green for anything outdoors or garage.
The gloves and sponges are easy to find in those colors.
And for other things you can buy tape to put on handles or a part on it somewhere.
For example I use a toilet brush to scrub my sink disposal, so it has a piece of pink tape around the handle and I always store it under the kitchen sink. But I like having the tape on it just to be safe.
Jennifer says
Yup. That’s what I do too. I use microfiber rags for cleaning. yellow is kitchen, blue is all-purpose, and green is bathroom. easy peasy! plus since they get washed between uses, it’s not a huge deal if something accidentally gets used in the wrong spot. and to even further designate, the tote basket with all of the cleaning supplies that only get used in the bathroom is stored IN the bathroom. All other supplies are stored either in the kitchen or the supply closet.
Dana White says
Like Teresa, I’m afraid I’d forget my initial logic for why I chose which color for which space!
Shallon says
Our issue is does wife know what husband chose (or vice versa)? I THOUGHT I remembered my husband’s logic :-! Made harder when new sponge packages have different colors from the last.
Ann says
Yellow for bathroom …. Cause pee is, well, yellow. Easy peasy 😉
Michelle says
I don’t use sponges because without a dishwasher I can’t wash them regularly. I use microfiber cloths. I bought a large set with 4 different colors. Green is for the bathroom (Green for grody, which is a word). Orange is for the kitchen (orange you glad you clean the kitchen daily). Blue is for dusting and general cleaning (dusting makes me sneeze until I’m blue). Yellow is for glass cleaning (clean windows let the yellow sun shine in). That is my strategy.
Kristy K. James says
If it makes you feel better, Google says grody IS a word – or at least lots of other sites say it is when I did a Google search. But even if they didn’t – it IS a word and using a toilet sponge on a kitchen counter or table falls into that category. Good thinking on the permanent marker. I’m going to have to remember to do that. 🙂
momstheword says
Where in the bathroom do you use your sponges? On the sink or tub or do you use them on the toilet? If you use them on the toilet how do you wash them? With your towels or by themselves with cleaning rags?
I am curious because I have a slight “thing” about germs and so I only use paper towels to clean my toilets. I know, waste of money but I got that “thing,” ya know. But I have heard of people using sponges or rags on their toilets and just always wondered how they washed them. I figured they are all still alive and haven’t died from germs so it must be working for them.
I use sponges in my kitchen and disinfect in the dishwasher or microwave. I use “magic erasers” (GREAT for bathtub rings but you already knew that, I’ll bet) or regular sponges on my tub only, I don’t use them in the kitchen. I toss the bathroom sponges in the washing machine.
Go away Spell-check, you’re drunk. Grody is a word.
Dana White says
This comment made me laugh out loud!!I just use them on the sink and shower and bathtub. I also can’t use them on the toilet.
Lisa says
I feel a little weird chiming in 3 years later but….bathroom cleaning is another great use for clean, lone socks. Once a sock has been demoted to a cleaning tool, I refuse to re-wash it; it’s a one time use thing. I choose things that are extra dirty or gross that I’d want to use something disposable for anyway, instead of using a paper towel. After cleaning I can throw away the holey sock guilt free.
Kris says
Paper towels for the toilet over here too. I don’t use sponges at all, not even for dishes. I feel like they are always germy.
JH says
It’s not exclusively a grody-ness issue, but we have 3 different dustpan/brush sets. One is for tidying up around the cats’ litter boxes, one is for general purposes, and one is exclusively for cleaning up around the cats’ food bowls. (One cat likes to shovel the kibble out of the bowl onto the floor and eat it.) Obviously, we don’t want to use the litter box brush anywhere else, but we also don’t want to use the brush that sweeps up broken glass anywhere near the cats’ food bowls.
I try to be a minimalist but the cats aren’t helping.
dannyscotland says
My best friend has color-coded sponges. My favorite is that yellow is for the bathroom. Because. Yellow…. Right, exactly. 🙂
Cherish says
I believe it’s spelled grotty. And it’s totally a word. Great tip!
Karina says
I was also going to say that the word we use is grotty/grottiness like an abbreviation of grotesque.
Stella says
Down under it’s grot, grots, grotty, grottiness. Totally a word! I don’t generally worry about spounges getting used in different places. I use a scrubbing brush with bristles for the bathroom and an old hand-towel for wiping, I use those blue cloths that come on a big roll like paper towels and those green scrubby things in the kitchen, ‘loo paper for the loo and anywhere else mostly gets disposable paper towels or baby wipes or the last use of the kitchen wipe before it hits the bin. But when someone else needs a cloth I start to worry.
Danielle B says
This never happens with me. 1. I do NOT use sponges under ANY circumstance and 2. I use the rag and then it’s placed in the whites pile to be washed w/bleached. A clean rag everytime. I use more than one rag too. 1 for the vanity, 1 (sometimes 2) for the floor and a third one for the toilet itself. Mirror, toilet seat I use paper towels.
Works for me. ????
Katia says
My sponges have a life cycle 😉 My face (really!) -> dishes -> bath, sink and VERRRY DIRRRTY dishes -> toilet. After cleaning a toilet I throw them away 🙂 (yeah, I don’t clean toilet very often 😉 ).
Nellie says
Hah! When I was in Bible School, there were cleaning supplies (buckets, sponges, anything) marked with a big, bold “T” for “toilet”. To clean only those and nothing else. Matron made sure we all knew that… because there was, some years before, that guy who mixed things up and thought that “T” was for “table” (as in dining hall tables). I think none of us forgot that!! *shudder*
Charlotte Goulding says
I too have never thought of how to spell the word grody nor have I probably used the word in decades LOL. But I agree, it is definitely spelled g-r-o-d-y. Grotty or Groddy would be pronounced Graw-dy, not Grow-dy.
I also rarely use sponges except in the kitchen with the one side a dish scrubber. I use rags all the way for cleaning the bathroom. Sink first (edge of rag or old toothbrush to scrub the gunk under the taps), bathtub second
and then finally top of toilet seat and cover before cleaning the yuckier parts. My mom and Nan wash all their rags together in one load. I got too lazy for that after a while and now put them in with towels and wash cloths. I reasoned we are fine to wash dirty undies with our other clothes so why worry about a rag in with towels that has been soaked in cleaners and rinsed multiple times.