Whether you love it or hate it, cleaning your bathroom is an essential part of every household routine. But a quick wipe down of everything isn’t enough. If not kept in check, grime can build up very quickly and little things can stop your bathroom from functioning properly and looking as good as it could. That’s why it’s important to, every so often, give your bathroom a full deep clean. We know this can be an annoying task. So we’re going to take you through our best tips for deep cleaning every area of your bathroom, from top to bottom, starting with your shower enclosure.

Shower enclosures are filled with lots of small elements that can be a pain to get clean. So let’s talk through our top deep cleaning tips to take your shower enclosure from grimy to shiny. Ready? Let’s go!

How to Clean Your Shower Head

Shower heads can form lots of stubborn grime. To give it a truly deep clean, opt to clean it with white vinegar! This works best with chrome shower heads.

1. Take a plastic bag, big enough to fully fit over your shower head.

2. Fill it halfway with white distilled vinegar. 

3. Place the bag over the shower head until it is completely submerged in the white vinegar. 

4. Use an elastic band or string to tie the bag in place. 

5. Leave the shower head to soak in the white vinegar for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight. (Keep in mind, if you have a brass shower head, don’t leave it to soak for any more than 30 minutes.)

6. Remove the bag, then turn the water on for a few moments to flush out any mineral deposits left inside the shower head. 

For more intense build-up, scrub the shower head with an old toothbrush, focusing on the base, and turn the water back on to flush out any residue. Scrub, rinse and repeat until all the dirt is gone!

Finish it off by gently polishing the shower head with a microfibre cloth and you’re done!

How to Keep Your Grout Clean

Cleaning your bathroom grout can feel like a hard task, especially if it’s light in colour. If you picked grout in a dark colour so it wouldn’t show any stains, this task may be much quicker for you, however, if you have white grout this may take a little longer.

For a natural method of cleaning, use a mix of baking soda and white  vinegar! 

1. Combine baking soda and white vinegar in a bowl and mix until they form a paste. 

2. Dip an old toothbrush into the paste and work it into the grout lines. You could also use an old electric toothbrush to take some of the leg-work out of scrubbing. 

3. After you’ve given all grout lines a thorough scrub, leave the paste for around 30 minutes to give it time to soak in.

4. After this, rinse off the paste with water and wipe up any residue with a clean cloth.

This method should whiten up your grout and remove most dirt but, if it’s still looking slightly grimy, repeat the process until it lightens up.

How to Clean Your Tiles

After you’ve scrubbed the grout within an inch of its life, it’s time to move onto the tiles.

Luckily, this should be fairly simple; especially if you have ceramic or porcelain tiles. Spray the tiles with your favourite household bathroom cleaning spray, then wipe away with a damp cloth. For any fiddly, hard to reach areas, try scrubbing with an old toothbrush.

For tiles that are too high to reach, like near the ceiling, a good option is to use a mop. If you can, spray the tiles with the same household cleaner and use a mop with an extendable handle to wipe it away.

How to Clean Your Chrome Fixtures

Chrome taps and shower valves may get missed out during regular cleanings, or not get cleaned thoroughly enough, and limescale can build up pretty quickly. 

1. Soak paper towels in lemon juice and wrap around the taps or valves, wherever limescale collects.

2. Leave to soak for an hour then scrub gently with an old toothbrush and rinse; the acidity of the lemon juice should break down the limescale.

3. When your chrome fixtures are clean, give them a polish with baby oil (optional) and a microfibre cloth to make them shiny and bright. 

How to Clean Your Shower Door

For glass shower doors, your average household anti-bacterial cleaner should work for everyday grime. Spray the glass generously and lather up with a damp cloth. Use a shower squeegee to wipe away excess cleaner and avoid streaks.

For more stubborn soap scum, create a paste of baking soda and water and use a non-abrasive sponge to scrub the glass. Rinse away the paste with water and then squeegee away any excess.

If you find you’re still left with streaks, a good method for this is to spray with white vinegar. Create a solution of half white distilled vinegar and half water and decant into a spray bottle. Spray the glass generously with the white vinegar solution and wipe away with paper towels for a streak-free finish. 

Pro-tip: you can also use this on mirrors and windows!

How to Clean Your Shower Drain

Ah, the drain. Don’t look at me like that, we had to get here some time! I know cleaning the shower drain is a grim job, but not doing it can lead to your drain becoming clogged and not draining water properly.

The first step here is to remove anything that’s physically blocking the drain, like hair. You could buy a chemical drain cleaner, but the harsh chemicals can take a toll on your pipes. The best way to start is to de-clog your drain manually. A drain snake can be used to make this easier. If you can’t find that, you could also use a thin wire coat hanger. Start by removing any initial debris with your fingers (make sure you’re wearing rubber gloves). Then insert the end of the drain snake or hanger down the drain using a slight twisting motion. Tug upwards slowly to start pulling blockages out, and then put anything you pull out straight into a plastic bag. Repeat until you’ve cleared everything out.

As an extra step to get any remaining dirt or debris, use a combination of baking soda and white vinegar to clear it out. Pour baking soda down the drain, then follow with distilled white vinegar. The combination will create a fizzing action that will work away at any remaining blockages or grime. Leave it for at least 20 minutes, up to a few hours. Finish off by boiling a full kettle of water and pouring it down the drain quickly to flush the mixture away.

How to Clean Your Shower Tray

A household bathroom cleaning spray should work well to clear up any soap scum. Spray on the shower tray, lather it up with a damp cloth and rinse away. Just try to avoid using anything too abrasive, as this can damage the surface.

For intense limescale, use white vinegar or lemon juice to cut through grime.

For any pesky rust marks that have been left on your shower tray, all you need is some white vinegar and baking soda. Coat the stain in white vinegar (lemon juice would also work here) and allow the liquid to sit for 2 to 3 hours. Rinse the liquid down the drain then scrub with a sponge to remove any loose deposits. If any stains remain, mix together white vinegar and baking soda to create a paste. Cover the stain liberally in the paste, allow it to sit for another 2 to 3 hours and then scrub vigorously and rinse away.

If the sealant on your shower enclosure is dark and stained, it probably means that it’s infected with mildew. This can be tricky to deal with, but the best way to get rid of it is to use a mould cleaning spray. If this doesn’t help, you may need to look into resealing your shower.

And there we have it, folks. Our tips for deep cleaning your shower enclosure. Would you try any of these tips? Are you interested in more useful bathroom tips? Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more great content!