I mean, every market has 2 or 3 whole aisles dedicated entirely to cleaning products and each seems specific for one thing only. I feel like some soap with a disinfectant is enough, but most people I know do a whole 3 stage cleaning ritual - soap (and rinse), disinfectant (and rinse), bleach (and rinse to finish)
- Bleach + water (~1tbsp/L)
- Vinegar + water (1:1)
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Tub & Tile cleaner
- Lots of rags
90% of my bathroom cleaning is done with the bleach and vinegar solutions (but DO NOT MIX them!!! Use separate rags, etc.) Toilet bowl cleaner is good for the angled bottle and the bluing is absolutely worthwhile.
Tub & Tile cleaner is good for hard deposits, but doesn’t really get brought out very often.
If there was anything else I’d add, it would be a general purpose light cleaner - despite the name, Windex is ideal for almost everything else.
Also, add something like Mr. Clean into this list and you have everything you need to clean your entire house forever.
EDIT: Something people may not realize about bleach. You really do NOT need a heavy concentration, but you have to leave it in contact for a while. Spray on the diluted solution, leave it while you clean something else, and then wipe it off. But crucially, if you increase the concentration, you don’t significantly reduce the amount of time it needs to work.
When I moved into my husband’s house, I noticed he only used pinesol. I thought it fucking weird. 6 years later, I only use pinesol.
I clean relatively often. I’ll use bleach in the bathroom once a year maybe, the rest of the time it’s Pinesol. We have a litter box in our bathroom, that I clean 3 times a week, and usually just clean the whole bathroom down at the same time. It’s clean in there.
Isnt that for wood?
Yes and No, it’s general cleaner/disinfectant. It’s called Pinesol because there is pine oil in it. The name brand stuff no longer has real pine oil, it’s not that sustainable at scale, but the store brand I get does. Here’s the label
“Pine oil is a disinfectant that is mildly antiseptic” Wikipedia
Baking soda and vinegar. Have a septic tank so cant use bleach etc.
Oh shit, that’s news to me!
My dad used bleach and hard cleaners on his septic and it still lasted 50 years so youre probably fine. Also drove heavy equipment over top of it many times, which one should not do
Ok, will not go crazy on the bleach and stuff.
Omg I just might have drive my car over it twice today
E: I don’t think I did… Not used to it being in the front yard
I looked at a place that had it in the front yard. And they had 2 tanks, one was the original concrete cistern of the house converted to septic then it piped out to a newer plastic tank… real weird. 1904 house
I use a vinegar and water solution for most things. Bleach and water solution for the toilets.
You really don’t need to buy too many things.
Bleach for the nasty bits, soapy water for the rest.
I mix bleach with baking soda into a paste for the hard to clean bits. That way you can apply it more thoroughly and just wipe it off with
soapyhot water.Just make sure the soap you use in the soapy water isn’t dish soap as that could make toxic fumes if it reacts with the bleach .
I’ll never cease to be amazed by how easily we can create impromptu chemical weapons just by trying to clean our homes with bleach
Oh dang. Tbh I never noticed any fumes unlike professional cleaning products that compel me to wear a respirator. I’ll edit it.
Oh ok, I dunno what it would smell like, I’ve not tried it 😅
Just been warned about mixing bleach with other cleaners so I generally just use it by itself to be safe.
Toilet bowl cleaner for the toilet. Everything else gets simple green and elbow grease.
There’s four core things you could need for the bathroom:
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Bleach gel for the toilet bowl. Can also be used on other porcelain surfaces, but not for metal or natural stone (if you don’t want to ruin it).
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A calc remover to remove calc deposits outside the toilet bowl. Can be substituted with either vinegar or citric acid. Can be used on metal, but do not let it stay on for long - 30 seconds is fine if you clean every 2w to 1mo. Even shorter times if you’re truly regular with your duties.
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A degreaser for general cleaning (to remove soap residue and other nasty stuff). Can be substituted with dish soap, but is usually a bit more effective so less scrubbing needed.
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If you get clogged sinks, those declogging solutions are okay. As most people have PVC piping you can just get the cheapest one. If you live in an antique house/apartment with lead piping, you should splurge on the enzyme-based variety, assuming you need it in the first place.
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Each thing gets washed once, with the appropriate chemical if needed.
Generally for the toilet bowl, something with bleach.
For surfaces like the toilet and sink, especially in a bathroom, I usually swap between using just some vinegar and Fantastic all purpose cleaner. Vinegar is fine most weeks, Fantastic once in a while to get some of the stuff Vinegar may not have got properly with those extra chemicals that it has but I could easily go months without needing it.
I use water and a microfiber cloth for the mirrors and the faucet, a drop of dish soap if there’s something on it (like dried toothpaste spittle). This also works for walls most of the time if you wipe those, but I don’t wipe my walls very regularly, maybe once a year.
Hot water is fine for the tile floor too, maybe it gets something stronger a couple times a year.
You don’t need a lot unless someone in the household is sick with something that could be transmitted through a bathroom. Then hit it with harsher chemicals.
One thing to note may be that in certain warmer climates, there are other considerations for mold and bacterial growth that I do not have to worry about where I live (in a cooler climate)
A mix of water and vinegar in a spray bottle is best. Maybe toilet bown cleaner for the toilet bowl and maybe some CLR occasionally to remove mineral buildup in the shower or bath.
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