Bathroom Cleaning Tip

Throw out your bathroom cleaners, because with a little lemon, baking soda and ammonia you can do just about anything. From home remedies to secret cleaning techniques, this is your guide to getting your bathroom sparkling.

Banish Grime and Soap Scum

Forget about purchased ‘miracle’ products. Instead, stir 3 tablespoons baking soda and 1/2 cup household ammonia into 2 cups warm water. Once you’ve wiped the solution on and rinsed it off with a sponge or rag, bathroom surfaces will gleam.

Clean the Ceiling

You’re probably so busy cleaning the fixtures and tiles in your bathroom that you don’t even think about the ceiling. Look up, but prepare yourself what you might see – mildew, spots, built-up grime. To clean it easily, fill a mop bucket with equal parts water and white vinegar. Then put on goggles or other protective eyewear. Dip a long-handled sponge mop into the solution, squeeze it out and reach up to clean one section of the ceiling at a time.

Get Spotless Bathroom Tiles

The grouting between bathroom tiles is a magnet for dirt and germs and it’s easy to miss these hard-to-reach crevices during regular cleaning. It also looks awful so every so often:

• Make a paste of 1 part borax, 2 parts baking soda and 1-2 parts water and scrub it onto the grout with a toothbrush.
• Rub away grime with a new pencil eraser, that’s well suited to reaching these narrow spaces.
• Scrub with a mouthwash containing a tooth-whitening agent.
• Soak a cotton wool ball in household bleach and set it on a spot of badly stained worktop grout for a few hours; for walls, attach the cotton ball with gaffer tape.

Lemony Toilet Cleaner

Make a paste of 2-3 parts borax and 1 part lemon juice (stir the juice in gradually until you have the right consistency) and apply it to a stained toilet bowl, rim included. Let it sit for 1 1/2-2 hour and then scrub it off with a toilet brush. This treatment is especially effective for getting rid of the ring that often appears at water level on the toilet bowl.

Solve Stubborn Scum and Water Spots

Many surfaces in the bathroom – including ceramic tiles around sinks and tubs, and glass fiber and acrylic shower units – can become dulled by water spots and built-up scum just as easily as tubs and sinks. Tackle these heavily soiled surfaces with vigor and …

• 2 cups salt dissolved in 4 liters hot water.
• ½ cup vinegar, 1 cup ammonia and ¼ cup baking soda in 4 liters warm water. Apply one of the solutions, let sit for about 15 minutes, then scrub off and rinse.