21 Bathroom Cleaning Hacks Using Common Household Items

Maintaining a clean bathroom is not an easy task as it is a frequently used space. However, you don’t have to spend too much time cleaning your bathroom as weekly cleaning should be enough. Here are shortcuts to keep different bathroom surfaces, including the toilet, faucet, tub, and shower, sparkling. These clever cleaning hacks utilize common household items such as baking soda, vinegar, citrus fruits, and so on to keep the bathroom clean.

Designer: Woodio

1. Create an All-Purpose Cleaner

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Mix equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water in a spray bottle. This homemade solution offers a safe, eco-friendly alternative to sanitize various bathroom surfaces like shower tiles, sinks, and countertops, leaving them gleaming without streaks.

2. Clear Shower Drains with Baking Soda

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In addition to tackling tub stains and tile grout, baking soda is great for unclogging shower drains. Simply pour some down the drain, then follow with hot water to dissolve grime, hair, and other debris lurking within.

3. Descale Shower Heads with Vinegar

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If you want to thoroughly clean your shower head and household faucets, just pour diluted white vinegar into a zip-top plastic baggie, secure it around the shower head or faucet with a twist tie, and let it sit overnight. This effortless trick naturally dissolves and eliminates stubborn grime buildup.

4. Clean Crevices around Fixtures with an old toothbrush

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Scrub tight spaces around fixtures with an old toothbrush. The toothbrush is effective at removing dirt from the hard-to-reach corners of your kitchen and bathroom. Simply use it to clean vents, grout, faucets, and other small fixtures and crevices that are difficult to access.

5. Use a Squeegee

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Squeegee your tile, tub, and doors promptly after each shower to swiftly remove water and condensation from glass surfaces. This simple routine aids in preventing soap scum buildup, ultimately decreasing the need for frequent bathroom cleaning sessions.

6. Go for Machine-Washable Shower Curtain Liners

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Shower curtain liners can get dirty quickly. That’s why it’s best to choose liners you can wash in the machine with your regular laundry. Keep a spare liner in your linen closet to switch it out while one is being washed. This way, you’ll always have a clean shower curtain.

7. Use Baking Soda for the Toilet Bowl

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A baking soda container in your bathroom can help extend the time between toilet cleanings. It’s a simple and effective way to keep your toilet bowl clean between thorough cleanings. Baking soda absorbs odors and is slightly abrasive, so sprinkling it generously into the toilet bowl before flushing can lessen the need for frequent use of a toilet brush.

8. Place Silica Gel Packets in the Medicine Cabinet

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The small silica gel packets found at home serve a useful purpose. Designed to absorb moisture, placing a few desiccant packs inside your medicine cabinet helps regulate humidity. This ensures the stability of medications and prevents razors from rusting. Remember to store them safely away from children and pets to avoid any choking hazards.

9. Sparkling Clean Windows

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Combine one part white vinegar with half a part rubbing alcohol, (look for a 70% concentration) and two parts of water in a spray bottle to create an effective cleaner for bathroom windows, shower screens, and mirrors all in one. For optimal results when cleaning windows with vinegar, choose cooler days without direct sunlight and use a microfiber cloth for streak-free results.

10. Make Your Taps Shine with Lemon

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If water spots have dulled your taps, rub them with the cut half of a lemon, then rinse and buff. Alternatively, dampen an old toothbrush with water, sprinkle baking soda directly onto the bristles, and scrub the problem areas. Leave for 10 minutes, then rinse and buff.

11. Maintain White Tile Grout with a Toothbrush

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There are several methods to clean grout. You can spray a mixture of half water and half white vinegar on your shower area as you exit the shower, or simply use a bleach pen. Scrub discolored grout with an old toothbrush dipped in a solution of one part bleach to four parts water. Let it soak for a while before rinsing.

12. Clean the Toilet Brush

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After cleaning the toilet as usual, rinse the brush with clean water. Then, close the toilet seat and lid over the brush handle to let it drip dry into the toilet bowl—this prevents dirty toilet water from getting into the brush holder. Lastly, pour some bleach or white vinegar into the brush holder to keep the brush fresh for next time.

13. Keep the Bathroom Bin Smelling Fresh

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Bathroom bins can harbor germs and bacteria, so they need regular cleaning. If yours starts to smell bad, it’s likely due to bacteria breeding. However, you can keep it fresh between cleanings by sprinkling baking soda into it every time you empty it.

14. Keep your Mirror Streak-free

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Wipe off splatters with rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth, then use glass cleaner or plain water on a microfiber cloth, avoiding circular motions. For extra sparkle, buff with white vinegar on a paper towel.

15. Ventilate

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Make sure to yurn on the extractor fan or open the bathroom window while showering to prevent the growth of unsightly mold. If there’s already mold present, soak mold-stained shower curtains in a diluted bleach solution if they can’t be machine-washed.

16. Perform Routine Spot Checks

Always have a microfiber cloth within reach in the bathroom to swiftly wipe away toothpaste splatters, watermarks, and other stains before they dry and become more difficult to clean.

17. Get Rid of Makeup Stains

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Remove makeup stains from bathroom mirrors with toothpaste. Apply a small amount to the stained areas, gently rub with a soft cloth, then wipe clean with a damp cloth. Toothpaste’s mild abrasives effectively lift makeup residue without harming the mirror’s surface, leaving it clean and shiny.

18. Use a Chopstick to Access Difficult-to-reach Areas

For weekly cleaning, employ a cloth wrapped around the end of a chopstick to reach tiny spots in your sink. For heavily soiled areas, sprinkle with water and baking soda before cleaning for a deeper cleanse.

19. Consider Citrus Fruits for Cleaning

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Harness the power of citrus for effective cleaning. Use lemon to remove water spots from chrome faucets and shower doors, whether by spraying lemon juice or rubbing a cut lemon directly onto the hardware. Combat toilet odors with a DIY paste of lemon juice and baking soda, leaving it for fifteen minutes before rinsing. For tub cleaning, exfoliate with a halved grapefruit sprinkled with coarse salt, scrub the tub, and drain before rinsing with warm water for a refreshing scent.

20. Use Baby Oil

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Polish away fingerprints and grime from chrome fixtures with baby oil. Apply it using a damp cloth or cotton ball, then buff until you see your reflection.

21. Apply Shaving Cream on Mirrors

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Shaving cream, containing glycerin, forms a protective layer on mirrors, preventing them from steaming up during showers. Simply spray and wipe off with paper towels to keep mirrors clear. It’s also effective for polishing chrome and stainless steel, thanks to its emulsifiers acting as gentle cleaning agents.

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GLARC window cleaner concept looks like an alien creature out to get dirt

Having glass windows is a rather common design in many residential and business structures. They can add a bit of class to a home or building while also helping a bit with the lighting. Few will probably complain about them, at least until it’s time to clean them. You might presume that cleaning glass windows is an easy task, but anyone who has done that chore before will quickly say otherwise. Of course, there are tools that try to make that task a little bit easier, but these are often uninspired and sometimes ineffective anyway. Unfortunately, it’s easy to take the glass window cleaner for granted until you’re faced with the harsh reality of its poor design. Fortunately, this concept does try to address those flaws by taking inspiration from a bird on Earth, though it ends up looking more like a spaceship or alien creature instead.

Designer: Vinay Khairnar

The most common window cleaning tool is the squeegee, which is pretty much just a bar with a flat rubber blade used to push down water on a glass surface. Some have sponges opposite the rubber for use in actually wiping the glass with soapy water. Some are more creative in utilizing different shapes, but they still share the drawbacks of that basic design. These hand-operated cleaners are, more often than not, not ergonomic, don’t have enough surface area to cover a larger span of the window, or require you to use a different tool for holding the water.

GLARC attempts to rethink the common window cleaner design by changing both its form and its function. For the former, it tries to observe the sleek and streamlined shape of animals, particularly the Arctic Tern bird. This bird exhibits almost contrasting forms in the same body, being both curvy and angular at the same time, creating an almost majestic shape that is admittedly not that easy to translate into an artificial form.

The result is something that looks like a cross between a sci-fi spaceship and an alien creature that actually more closely resembles a stingray than a bird. It almost looks like a handheld vacuum cleaner, one with a flat and wide main body. Regardless of the final shape, GLARC is meant to be easier to hold and move, with a more ergonomic grip and more accessible controls, like a button on top that dispenses the water from the built-in water receptacle.

The concept design is also meant to make window cleaning easier by providing a tool that dispenses water, cleans with a sponge, and wipes with a rubber blade, all in the same device. It even has magnets to hold another GLARC cleaner on the opposite side of the window so that you can clean inside and outside at the same time. Of course, that last bit might still depend on the thickness of the glass and the strength of the magnets, but it’s already enough to be able to clean a single side more easily if this device is able to deliver its promises.

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Dotti cleaning tools use inspired designs to make cleaning feel less like a chore

Cleaning might sound like a drag, but there’s no reason your cleaning tools have to be as well.

As if the chore of cleaning up, even after yourself, wasn’t already an uninspiring idea, the thought of using tools designed more for mass-production than actual cleaning doesn’t help lighten the load either. Sure, you could think of expensive designer products that look beautiful or interesting, but what are the chances that you’d actually use them without feeling guilty for having sullied their immaculate surfaces. Good product design doesn’t mean something has to be artistic or lavish, just that they actually get the job done in the best way possible, all while looking good, too. That’s pretty much what these cleaning tools promise, improving your cleaning mood and efficiency by looking good and cleaning well.

Designers: Will Soper and Martyn Long

Click Here to Buy Now: $89 $119 ($30 off). Hurry, only 2/10 left!

Meet the Dotti Super Scrubber™ and Dotti Best Broom & Dustpan™ – Engineered for ultimate comfort, performance and style.

You probably take your cleaning tools like brooms and sponges for granted, brushing them off as disposable items that can become too disgusting to keep around after a while. It might have never occurred to you, however, that it might be that attitude and outlook that actually worsen your mood when cleaning, making it feel even more burdensome and undesirable. That is why Dotti tries to reimagine what it would be like if you had good and beautiful cleaning tools that delight and work well. You might not want to throw them away so quickly, and, fortunately, you won’t have to because Dotti is made to last.

The Dotti Best Broom & Dustpan™ – Carefully engineered with an antibacterial silicone bristle broom that effectively traps small and large debris.

The Dotti Best Broom and Dustpan are a dynamic duo that keeps your home spick and span, literally. The Best Broom’s antibacterial silicone bristles are like death traps for debris, big and small alike, while the ergonomic Dustpan is designed so that you won’t have to break your back while cleaning. Set your foot down on dirt and never bend to its level ever again. The minimalist design of these tools easily sets them apart from their mass-produced cousins so that you might not even want to hide this pair inside some closet, leaving them out in the open for everyone to see and admire.

The Dotti Super Scrubber™ – Long-lasting, non-scratch, odor-free and does not change shape or discolor.

The Dotti Super Scrubber is similarly appealing in its appearance but rough on grime. Antibacterial silicone makes short work of dishes and table crumbs while making sure their odors don’t stick around to ruin your day. The ergonomic design of the dish not only makes it a pleasure to hold but also to behold as well. Forget all you know about disgusting, soggy, and stinky sponges when you grasp the Super Scrubber and take cleaning problems into your own hands.

Cleaning tools aren’t exactly what many would consider attractive objects, but Dotti throws all conventions out the window. In addition to their beautiful minimalist designs, they also come in different color options to match your home, your kitchen, or your style. These are definitely tools you’ll want to keep around for as long as you possibly can, so it’s a good thing that you actually can. Dotti tools are meant to last a lot longer than their common counterparts, which helps reduce the compounding effects of disposable products on the environment.

Cleaning is already a chore, so why subject yourself to the pain of using tools that don’t inspire or even do their jobs well. With Dotti, you can feel good not only after the job is done but also while cleaning with a stylish and effective tool in your hand. And it all starts at around $89 for a complete kit of the Best Broom and Dustpan tag team and the Super Scrubber sponge.

Click Here to Buy Now: $89 $119 ($30 off). Hurry, only 2/10 left!

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This Electric Scooter + Cleaning Trolley Is the Public Sanitation Solution Your Community Needs

Here’s the problem. Street cleaning is a physically demanding job that calls for longer hours compared to indoor cleaning jobs and farther distances to travel (sometimes up to 16 km per day). The work is essential yet under-appreciated. It’s unfair to expect these workers, especially if they are older, to cover these distances on foot and pull a trolley of their cleaning supplies behind them. The Cleaning Board electric scooter presents a win-win situation; it takes the strain off of the workers and allows them to cover a larger area in less time.

The Cleaning Board consists of three parts: a supply bin, kickboard, and a mobile app. The bin has two compartments: one for broom handles and dust collectors, the other for smaller items, such as masks, a fire extinguisher, a first-aid kit, water, and a hot/cold pack. When the user isn’t traveling, the kickboard folds up against the cleaning vessel, transforming the scooter into a pushable cart. Also, light strips along the board’s edges make the vehicle (and rider) more visible at night. Finally, the Cleaning Board features a companion app that would send workers information about the trashcans on their route, which would help them prioritize specific stops.

Because we are still living in a pandemic, public sanitation is a top priority for cities around the world. The Cleaning Board was created to help those workers, not necessarily their employers. It just so happens that both parties benefit from this product. By extension, the Cleaning Boards improve the quality of life for the communities that use them, because they make it easier to maintain a safe, sanitary environment.

Designer: Fountain Studio

 

This ergonomic bottle mixes 5 cleaning liquids to create a custom cleanser for every surface!

If you were to open your cleaning closet, how many bottles would you find? Detergents? Bleach? Softener? Lysol? Not only does it clutter the space but it is also inefficient – have you ever had a Tide bottle fall on you while reaching out to get the soap? I can confirm its not pretty. Also, not everyone or every brand provides refills so all you are doing is going through an endless consumption cycle that is generating more waste. Clean surfaces but not a clean planet. Rena is a conceptual bottle designed to specifically solve the above issue – one bottle fits all!

Rena’s aim was to create an innovative bottle that could be a bank for all the cleaning liquids we needed. It has a reservoir tank and replaceable cartridge that holds concentrated chemicals that are mixed and diluted in specific ratios to clean different surfaces or dispense for laundry. It takes the guesswork out so that your surfaces and clothes are protected from your chemical calculations (let’s be real, ‘one cap’ is not a measurement). The bottle has an ergonomic design and using it is simple – insert the cartridge, fill in the water, select the surface you intend to clean on your Rena mobile app, and via Bluetooth the bottle will collect that data configure a detergent mix based on it. Then all you do is press the trigger and the bottle will dispense the concoction. I can only imagine Monica Geller screaming if she saw this.

Cartridges are created to be refillable to reduce landfill waste and can be customized by the brand. The chemicals are pressurized which makes it easy to move it into the mixing chamber without a pump. The safety mechanism makes sure the chemicals are not dispensed if the cartridge is not inserted in Rena. It also features a DC pump instead of the traditional pump and a 750 ml water tank. And lastly, it is rechargeable so no need to scrimmage through your junk drawers to find spare batteries. The universal detergent bottle makes cleaning more efficient, safe, and easier on the environment. Long road ahead but designs like Rena gives us a good headstart!

Designer: James Lord

This Swiffer-inspired bathroom cleaning brush even holds your detergent bottle

Right off the bat, I want to state that I have never seen a toilet brush that looks so sleek it is almost…beautiful? Designer Geraldine Tong wanted to change our perception of toilet cleaning tools while also solving related issues like its environmental impact and the clutter it creates in our bathrooms. Her goal was to create a brush that didn’t cause more landfill waste, took minimal space, reached the narrow areas and of course, look visually appealing – so she designed BrushPro in collaboration with Lam Soon Singapore and the mission was accomplished.

Usually, people dispose of their toilet brushes every 2-3 months and given that most of them are plastic, it leads to a lot of environmental damage. This redesigned toilet brush lets you switch out brushes while reusing the main body which reduces a lot of toxic waste. BrushPro is extremely convenient to use compared to its forerunners. The extendable handle allows you to reach narrow spaces without having to perform advanced yoga poses on the floor and minimizes your direct contact with the dirty brush. The handle also has slits that give the brush head some flexibility while cleaning – a great universal design that takes into account the experience of the differently-abled demographic as well. The brush head includes rubber as well as fiber for more efficient cleaning. Another brilliant detail is the slot for the detergent bottle, so you can simply refill and reuse the detergent bottle instead of buying more plastic spray bottles – it also frees up your hand as it combines both cleaning products in one!

The design of the BrushPro is minimal and fits the modern style. It clears away the clutter of cleaning products/tools in your bathroom with its slim form as it acts as 3 cleaning tools in 1 (wet mop, dry brush, detergent holder). The clean (pun intended) aesthetic + ergonomic build makes the chore of cleaning your bathrooms hassle-free and Instagrammable. I bet Monica Geller will probably want 6 of these for her birthdays and I don’t blame her. With the quarantine life, cleaning is the new Friday night rager and I would much rather have BrushPro’s company for it.

Designer: Geraldine Tong