How To Deep Clean Your Bathroom: A Step-by-Step Guide
There’s cleaning the bathroom, and then there’s cleaning the bathroom.
Most of us are pretty good at keeping on top of the obvious bits. The sink gets wiped, the toilet gets cleaned and the bath or shower gets a once-over. But over time, soap scum, limescale, dust and general bathroom grime start building up in all the places that don’t necessarily get touched during a normal weekly clean.
If your bathroom is due a proper reset, this guide takes you through how to deep clean a bathroom from top to bottom, without making the job more complicated than it needs to be.
Before You Start: Clear Everything Out
Before you actually clean a bathroom, get as much as possible out of the way.
Move toiletries, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, bins, laundry baskets and anything sitting around the bath or shower. Put towels and bath mats in the wash and empty the bathroom bin.
It sounds like an extra job, but clearing everything first makes bathroom cleaning much quicker. You can wipe the whole surface instead of moving things around as you go, and you’ll finally get to those little rings and marks that appear underneath bottles.
Get your bathroom cleaning products together at the same time so you’re not running backwards and forwards looking for things. A couple of good Addis Microfibre Cloths Bathroom Kit are useful to have nearby, as they can be used around sinks, tiles, taps, baths and shower screens.
Open a window or put the extractor fan on while you work, particularly when using cleaning products, and always follow the instructions on the packaging. Never mix different cleaning chemicals.
1. Start With Dust
Dust might not be the first thing you associate with a bathroom, but take a look at the top of your cabinet or around the extractor fan and you might change your mind.
Starting with dust also makes sense because anything you knock down can be cleaned up later.
Work from the top of the room down and check:
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Light fittings
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Shelves
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Tops of cabinets
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Window ledges
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Around the extractor fan
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Skirting boards
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Behind the toilet
A dry Addis Microfibre Bathroom Cloth works well for picking up loose dust before you move on to wet cleaning.
If you’re going to clean a bathroom extractor fan, switch it off first and check the manufacturer’s instructions before removing the cover. Give the cover a clean, remove any obvious dust from around the vent and make sure everything is completely dry before putting it back.
2. Deep Clean the Toilet
The toilet is one of the obvious jobs, but a proper deep clean means doing more than putting cleaner around the bowl and calling it a day.
Start by applying The Pink Stuff Miracle Toilet Cleaner underneath the rim and around the inside of the toilet bowl. Its angled bottle is designed to help reach underneath the rim, so it works particularly well for this part of the job.
Leave the product for the time stated on the packaging while you clean the rest of the toilet.
Wipe down the:
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Flush button or handle
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Toilet lid
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Seat
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Hinges
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Outside of the bowl
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Base of the toilet
The hinges and the area where the toilet meets the floor are particularly easy to miss.
Then go back and deep clean the toilet bowl with your bathroom cleaning brush, making sure you scrub underneath the rim as well as around the bowl before flushing.
If you want to keep the bowl looking fresher between deep cleans, getting into the habit of cleaning underneath the rim regularly will stop grime and marks from having as much time to build up.
3. Deep Clean the Bath and Shower
The bath and shower tend to collect a mixture of soap, shampoo, body wash, watermarks and limescale, so this is usually one of the bigger jobs.
For a clean bathroom shower, start by removing every bottle and accessory from the area. Give the bottles a quick wipe too, especially underneath them.
Apply a bathroom cleaning foam such as The Pink Stuff Bathroom Foam Cleaner across suitable surfaces. Its foam formula is designed to cling to areas including baths, tiles, taps, sinks and shower screens while tackling soap scum, watermarks and limescale.
Rather than scrubbing as soon as you spray, give the product the contact time recommended on the label. Then work your way around the bath or shower with a bathroom cleaning sponge or cloth.
Pay extra attention to:
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Corners
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Around the plughole
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The bottom of the shower screen
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Around taps
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Areas underneath bottles
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Shower door tracks
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Edges of the bath
Once you’ve finished, rinse away any remaining cleaner and wipe everything dry.
Drying the area afterwards takes another minute or two, but it makes a big difference to the finished result and helps prevent fresh watermarks appearing straight away.
4. Clean Bathroom Wall Tiles and Grout
Tiles can look fairly clean until you get up close. Inside the shower in particular, product residue and water can gradually leave them looking dull.
If you want to clean bathroom wall tiles properly, work in smaller sections instead of trying to tackle the whole wall at once.
The grout deserves some attention too. A product such as the Clean & Shine Tile Magic & Grout Super Scrubber is made for working on tiles and grout and can help tackle water scum, limescale and grime that has settled into these areas.
Don’t automatically assume that harder scrubbing means better cleaning. Check that anything you use is suitable for your tiles and grout first, and test it on a small area if you’re unsure.
Look closely at corners and grout lines where water regularly sits.
If you notice mould rather than ordinary grime, treat that as a separate job using a suitable mould remover. It’s also worth keeping an eye on ventilation if mould regularly comes back, particularly around ceilings, windows or the shower.
5. Remove Limescale From Taps and Chrome
Limescale is one of those things that makes a clean bathroom look grubby surprisingly quickly.
It’s particularly common around taps, plugs, shower fittings and anywhere else water regularly sits and dries.
To clean bathroom taps affected by stubborn hard-water build-up, Viakal Febreze Fresh Limescale Remover is designed to remove limescale and watermarks from suitable bathroom surfaces.
Follow the instructions carefully and check that any limescale cleaner is suitable for the finish you’re working on, particularly when you clean bathroom chrome, coated taps or more delicate fittings.
Once everything is clean, wipe the area with a fresh damp cloth if instructed and then buff it dry.
That final buff is what brings the shine back and stops freshly cleaned taps immediately looking covered in watermarks again.
6. Clean the Shower Head and Hose
The shower head is very easy to forget because, unless the water flow starts getting weaker, most of us simply don’t look that closely at it.
But hard-water deposits can gradually build up around the nozzles.
If you need to clean shower head limescale, start by checking whether the shower head can be removed. If it can, unscrewing it usually makes the whole job easier.
For anyone looking to clean a shower head with white vinegar, Stardrops White Vinegar Spray is a ready-made white vinegar cleaning product that can be used to tackle limescale on suitable surfaces.
Check your shower manufacturer’s care instructions first, as vinegar and acidic cleaners aren’t suitable for every finish.
Clean around the nozzles and outer surface, then rinse everything thoroughly.
Don’t stop at the shower head either. Clean the shower hose by wiping along its full length, paying attention to the connectors at both ends where watermarks and grime can collect.
Once everything is back together, run the shower briefly to make sure everything has been properly rinsed.
7. Deep Clean the Sink and Drain
Bathroom sinks have a lot thrown at them. Toothpaste, hand soap, skincare, shaving products and general grime all end up being washed down there.
Clear everything off the sink and clean the full basin, including behind the taps and around the overflow opening.
Pay particular attention to the plug and plughole. Hair and soap residue can collect around these areas and may eventually contribute to slow drainage.
Remove any debris that you can safely reach first.
If the water is still draining slowly and you need something designed specifically for the pipework, Elbow Grease Drain Unblocker Cleaner is made for bathroom, sink and shower drains and is designed to tackle hair and grease blockages.
Always use drain products exactly as directed and never combine them with other cleaning chemicals.
Once the drain is sorted, wipe around the sink and taps so the whole area is clean and dry before putting your toiletries back.
8. Clean Bathroom Glass and Mirrors
You can clean the entire bathroom beautifully and somehow one streaky mirror still makes the room look unfinished.
Bathroom glass picks up everything from fingerprints and toothpaste splashes to soap residue and watermarks.
For mirrors and shower screens, The Pink Stuff Miracle Window and Glass Cleaner with Rose Vinegar is designed for surfaces including mirrors, windows and shower screens and helps remove everyday smudges and marks.
When you clean bathroom glass, use a clean cloth rather than one that has already been used elsewhere in the room. That helps avoid transferring cleaner or residue onto the glass and creating more streaks.
For bathroom shower glass, remember the edges and seals too.
The bottom of a shower screen and the tracks around sliding shower doors often hold far more grime than the main glass panel itself.
Finish by buffing the glass with a clean, dry cloth.
9. Clean the Bathroom Floor
Leave the floor until near the end.
There’s no point mopping first and then dropping dust, hair and water all over it while you clean everything else.
Sweep or vacuum the bathroom floor first, making sure you get:
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Behind the door
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Around the toilet
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Under freestanding units
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Along skirting boards
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Into corners
Then clean the bathroom tile floor or other hard flooring using something suitable for the material.
The Pink Stuff Miracle Floor Cleaner is suitable for sealed hard floors including tiles, laminate and vinyl, making it a useful option for many bathrooms.
If you’re using a bathroom cleaning mop, start at the furthest point from the door and work backwards.
It sounds obvious until you finish the floor, realise you’re trapped in the corner and have to walk straight across it.
If you have tiled flooring, take a look at the grout while you’re down there too. Cleaning bathroom floor grout every so often stops the lines between otherwise clean tiles from making the whole floor look dull.
10. Finish With Handles, Switches and Cupboards
The big jobs might be finished, but there are usually a few smaller areas still waiting.
Door handles, cupboard handles, switches, shelves and cupboard fronts are touched constantly and can easily get overlooked.
A multipurpose bathroom cleaning spray such as Cif CleanBoost Cotswolds Bloom Multipurpose Cleaner Spray can be used on suitable hard surfaces around kitchens and bathrooms, so it’s useful for these last little jobs.
Spray according to the instructions, wipe the surface and make sure you clean underneath anything that normally lives on the sink or shelf before putting it back.
Give the bathroom bin a wipe too if it needs it.
Once everything is dry, put back your toiletries, fresh towels and clean bath mat.
That’s your deep clean bathroom job done.
How Often Should You Deep Clean a Bathroom?
There isn’t one bathroom cleaning routine that suits every home.
A main family bathroom that gets used several times a day will naturally need cleaning more often than a spare bathroom.
The easiest approach is to keep on top of the areas that get dirty quickly, such as the sink, toilet and bath or shower, then periodically tackle the jobs that don’t need doing every few days.
That includes things like:
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Cleaning the shower head
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Cleaning grout
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Removing limescale
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Cleaning drains
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Dusting the extractor fan
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Cleaning behind the toilet
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Washing bathroom mats
For those quick cleans between bigger jobs, something simple like The Pink Stuff Multi Purpose Spray Cleaner can be kept with your other bathroom cleaning products for suitable hard surfaces.
Keeping on top of the little jobs is what makes the next deep clean much easier.
Your Bathroom Cleaning List
Need the shorter version? Here’s the full bathroom cleaning list to work through:
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Remove toiletries, towels and bath mats
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Empty the bathroom bin
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Dust shelves, cabinets and fittings
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Clean the bathroom extractor fan
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Deep clean the toilet bowl
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Wipe the toilet seat, lid, hinges and exterior
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Clean the bath or shower
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Clean bathroom wall tiles
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Scrub tile and grout lines
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Clean bathroom taps
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Remove limescale
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Clean the shower head
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Clean the shower hose
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Deep clean the sink
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Clear and clean the plughole
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Clean bathroom glass and mirrors
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Clean the shower screen and tracks
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Sweep or vacuum the floor
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Clean the bathroom floor
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Wipe handles, switches and cupboards
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Put back clean towels and bath mats
You don’t need an enormous bathroom cleaning kit to get through the list. A few useful bathroom cleaning cloths, a bathroom cleaning sponge or brush and the right cleaning product for each surface will cover most of it.
The main thing is working through the room in a sensible order. Start high, leave the floor until last, give products enough time to work and don’t forget the little areas that get skipped during the usual quick clean.
For more products for tackling the jobs around your bathroom, you can also browse the FabFinds Bathroom Cleaning range.