2013 FOCUS - Bathrooms - 9/2/2013 - Fourth Round

[Harriet]

Here are Indiana's steps to a clean bathroom, from January 17, 2009

As we continue to maintain our homes, the key is maintaining our homes through out the year instead of a full deep cleaning once or twice a year.

Adjust the rooms to fit your home.

Not all the things listed need to be done this round. Some may be done daily, weekly, monthly, every 3 or 6 months or yearly. I have marked possible times for doing the chore. Look at each area with fresh eyes to see what should be done this round.

As you do each room dust, vacuum, wash, wipe, wax, sweep, mop, detail, straighten, and declutter any surfaces that need to be done.

Bathroom

Manage clutter - daily
Light switch - weekly
Dust lights - weekly
Dust pictures - weekly
Dust decorations – weekly
Dust furniture - weekly
Floor – weekly
Throw rugs – weekly
Wipe mirrors – weekly
Trash - weekly
Change and launder bath mats, towels, and washcloths - weekly
Toilet - weekly
Sink - weekly
Tub/shower –weekly
Towel bars, toilet paper holder - weekly
Dispensers (fill) - weekly
Doors and hardware – weekly (finger prints), quarterly
Ceiling and corners - quarterly
Ceiling light - quarterly
Walls - quarterly
Door and floor trim - quarterly
Cold/hot air vents - quarterly
Wash decorations – quarterly
Window trim and hardware – quarterly
Closet -quarterly
Drawers, cupboards, and shelves – quarterly
Exhaust fan - quarterly
Shower curtain/door - quarterly
Grout - quarterly
Medicine cabinet - quarterly
Hairbrush and combs - quarterly
Toothbrush (change) - quarterly
Makeup (expiration dates) - quarterly
Concealer: 6 to 8 months
Powder, Eye Shadow, Blush and Bronzer: 1 year
Eyeliner and Mascara: 3 months - NEVER keep these two longer than 3 months! The eyes are the area of the body most prone to infection. Pumping your mascara or eyeliner pushes bacteria into the tube increasing your risk of infection.
Lip Stick: 1 year
Lip Gloss: 6 months to 1 year
Medication (expiration dates) - quarterly
Window treatments - annual
Repairs – either repair or put on a list for the future
Buy – replacements or something new if needed
Declutter – office/other room (next focus area) and post accomplishments in Harriet’s declutter thread. This is a great opportunity and will make maintaining the office/other room easier.

Remember not all the things listed need to be done this round. Some may be done daily, weekly, monthly, every 3 or 6 months or yearly. Use the list as a guide.

[Harriet]

Have been cleaning in our "front" bathroom (guest and my ddad). Cleaned the bathtub and toilet today. I had to go out and buy a new pumice stone because my old one just disappeared. After pulling out cleaning supplies, I found it under a set of rubber gloves! Oh well, they're cheap, and it's not as if they have an expiration date!

I have appreciated a product lately - the "Dual Action Lysol" wipes that are scrubbier on one side than on the other. They seem to get more done and I need fewer of them.

Found a new countertop towel bar that is specifically for my ddad's handtowel and washcloth.

By Saturday I switched to the master bathroom and deep cleaned. The tub-shower surround remains to be worked on.

The plastic shower caddy from front bath will switch to the master bathroom. The metal one in master bathroom has started leaving dots of rust on the bottoms of shampoo bottles, which is bad because the caps are on the bottom. It needs to just be thrown away. Why even make a shower caddy out of a material that will rust?

[Harmony]

My bathroom is next, I usually consider it the extension of my bedroom. I guess I am doing things out of order, but to me, this first time around the house I must get at the spots that are screaming the loudest. Then I'll continue around in some sort of order. My side of the double sink is just stuffed with things underneath in the cabinet, I have no idea what!

Harriet, I agree about the rust. Bad idea. Shaving can bottoms do that too, I keep a folded up paper towel underneath DH's.

[Harriet]

Continuing on with our second round, it's Bathroom week!

Decluttering of vanity drawers and vanity cabinet last week was supposed to get me to the point of having all clear surfaces to clean this week. I did do some good with that but need to backtrack and accomplish more. Need to mend a shower curtain.

[BookSaver]

3rd round for bathrooms.

Indiana always did her FOCUS cleaning at the beginning of the week to get it over quickly. I usually do mine at the end of the week, spread out between Thursday and Sunday.

When does FOCUS cleaning fall in your Basic Week Plan? Do you have a heavy cleaning day for it, or do you fit it in throughout the week?

[blessedw2]

what a great idea (get it over with!)
for fall I make a basic list that I took off of somewhere and I follow what other people are doing here.

[Nancy]

I mopped one of the bathrooms today.

[Harriet]

Today is Labor Day this year, and we begin Bathroom Focus for the fourth and final round of 2013! Again, can't believe how the year has flown to find us in fourth round, BUT so glad to be reminded of it, because I really need to make fourth round count.

Joining in late on the discussion of "when" through the week, I try to do a little on Focus each weekday. Since declutter is really helpful at 15 a day, it seems to make sense to do 15 on Focus, too. That's just a guideline, though. Some tasks can't be completed in 15, for one thing. I can usually tell if I'm falling behind by mid-week and make an adjustment.