Spring Cleaning Challenge – Week 3

Ah, week three… The most exciting week yet!? Or not. All I did was clean the bathroom, which is the opposite of exciting. But I did learn at least one new trick along the way. SO. There’s that.

If you’re just jumping in, I am working my way through a “30 Day (more like 45 day for me) Spring Cleaning Challenge”. I found my inspiration here. This week, I’m sharing some before and afters. GET EXCITED.

Day 15 – Monday: Organize/clean storage cabinets
Total time: 35 minutes

I’ll be honest, I went into this expecting it to be cake. One benefit to having a small single bathroom in your house is that it’s quick to clean. I bought an under cabinet organizer several months ago, similar to the one I have for the kitchen sink, like this. I pulled everything out, tossed a few items, wiped down the cabinet and doors, and put everything back.

I also went through and reorganized our hallway linen closet awhile back, so I got off easy there. For other bathroom storage, we opted for a simple exposed shelving unit that I got from IKEA.

IKEA Slatted shelf unit

Love it, but the slats make it a pain to dust. So I actually took the shelves off the wall to give it a good thorough dusting. So far, so good. What tripped me up is this canvas bin that we use to keep our contact solution, deodorant, and other toiletries in on the shelf. It has gotten some gross looking pinkish stains on both sides, I assume just from oils from handling it every day to take it down and put it back up.

Exposed bathroom shelving storage

I thought I would have no problem cleaning it up with my go-to homemade stain remover (equal parts ammonia, dish soap, and water in a spray bottle). I sprayed this on and scrubbed for awhile, but no dice. Next, I tried this recipe for removing red wine stains. I’ve used it before on red wine on a cream sweater, and it worked like MAGIC. Again, even after letting it soak for an hour or so, no luck on my canvas bin. So, I’m raising the white flag this time. Think it’s time to buy a new bin.

Day 17 – Wednesday: (I’m going to stop pretending I’m shooting for daily here, and I won’t bore you with my days off. My daily cleaning routine has been every other day, at best. Deal with it.) Clean bathroom surfaces.
Total time: 45 minutes.

This included cleaning the toilet, countertop/vanity, outside of cabinet, walls, pictures, and floors. It was good to give the walls a wipe-down, and I almost couldn’t believe how much dust had accumulated on top of my picture frames and canvases. Gross.

Day 20 – Saturday: Clean tub, shower walls, curtains, and window.
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

First, I took the shower curtain down and threw the liner curtain in the washing machine. It’s good to wash these once in awhile to get rid of soap scum. Next, I took all of the bottles and everything out of our shower storage rack. I then used almost an entire bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles to coat the tub, shower walls, and fixtures. Worth it!

This stuff is awesome. It really does do most of the work for you. After letting the scrubbing bubbles sit for 15 or 20 minutes, I wiped everything down with a wet sponge. Everything was looking pretty good, but we have a little mold issue in our shower window, as well as along the grout where the walls meet the tub. So I broke out the bleach and tried this cotton ball method, sticking the soaked cotton balls up along the window frame and at the problem areas on the grout, and let it sit for several hours.

The results? It worked like a charm on the window! The visible mold is gone. As for the grout, I didn’t have as much luck. There are still some dark spots, but it does feel cleaner anyway. We may eventually replace the grout… But that’s a project for another day.

So that is it for week three of cleaning. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but it’s progress. We have also been focusing on getting some yardwork done – finally. And, I’m way behind, but I got some seeds planted for my garden!

Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 3 task list

 

Linked up at: Share the Wealth Sunday, Motivational Monday, Work it Wednesday

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