How to Clean a Bathroom Thoroughly and Quickly

I once looked on in horror as a house guest used the sponge I keep under the sink in the guest bath to wipe down the outside of the toilet and then proceeded to clean the counter top with it. That was a good example of avoidable transference.

Cleaning the bathroom is no fun. It's more of a necessary evil. Some people put it off until the filth is an inch thick. This is not a good idea. Know why? Because of unavoidable transference. A certain amount of this happens each time you use your john. You get up in the middle of the night. You walk, barefoot, across the bathroom floor. You raise your nightshirt and sit on the toilet seat. The nightshirt and your backside come into contact with the seat and lid. You wash your hands and get back into bed. You take whatever germs were on the bathroom floor and toilet seat with you. If you don't clean your bathroom (and change your sheets) regularly, imagine how much that bacteria can multiply. A restful thought, isn't it? No? It's easy enough to fix. Here's how:

Gather These Materials

Clean rags. Tear up old towels and tees or buy a pack of cheap white washcloths.
Your favorite cleaning liquid. I like lemon Pine Sol. Bleach and water is good, unless you're an asthmatic, like me,and bleach is one of your triggers.
Your favorite scouring powder
A clean sponge
A cheap sponge mop. This is for the tub and tile, not the floor. You know how to wash a floor. We're not going to talk about that.
Your favorite window/mirror cleaner
Rubbing alcohol
A few paper towels
The Clorox Toilet Wand or something similar.

Break the Job Up

In the interest of spending as little time at this as possible, I do different parts of the job on different days. For instance, I wash the bathroom floors once a week on the same day that I wash the kitchen and hallway floors. I also sanitize the baths once a week. I scrub the tubs and try to get the soap scum and hard water deposits off the tile twice a week. To do all of this in the same day would take more time than I care to devote to this task at one stretch.

Work from the Cleanest to the Dirtiest Part of the Room