1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 If you're focusing on what to get rid of when organizing your 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:07,360 home, you're doing it wrong. For example, when decluttering 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,080 and organizing a bathroom drawer, pull out only the items 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,800 you want to keep or donate, and then scoop up or dump the rest 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,800 of the drawer into the trash. Next you need a way to store 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,160 like items together. You could purchase a sectioned 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,200 acrylic drawer organizer, but even a dollar store plastic 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:33,000 utensil organizer would work great for storing items like 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,160 Q-tips, makeup, tweezers, etcetera. 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,960 Welcome back to Clean With Me, the podcast where I talk you 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,960 through cleaning your house step by step. 12 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,840 In today's episode, I'm going to talk you through cleaning, even 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,280 a large bathroom, and I'm also going to give you some 14 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,400 decluttering and organizing ideas to think about while you 15 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,480 work. But before we dive into cleaning 16 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,720 the bathroom, I encourage you to get presentable for the day, or 17 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:06,040 start a load of laundry, or get your house smelling fresh, which 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,360 could include taking out the trash while you're doing 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,400 Whichever of those tasks is most important to you. 20 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:18,320 Today I want to talk about decluttering versus organizing. 21 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,480 OK, decluttering focuses on getting rid of stuff, but too 22 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,320 many people stop there. You may have gotten rid of a lot 23 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,680 of stuff recently, but if you're still disorganized, you're going 24 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,920 to have a hard time cleaning up after yourself as you go about 25 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,560 your day. To fix this, you need to store 26 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:40,000 like items together in logical homes based on where they're 27 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,880 actually used. By grouping similar items all 28 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,400 your skin care in one drawer container, all your hair care 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,760 accessories in another, you create a mental map of your 30 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,440 space, and when every item has a specific logical place where it 31 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:01,400 goes, putting things away stops being a chore and becomes a 32 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,200 mindless reflex. You won't even think of it as 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,840 cleaning as you go anymore because you're just returning 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,520 things to their designated spots. 35 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,680 It's just like when you visit someone and you ask them where 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,480 something goes. If you're helping them clean up. 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,600 Well, it's your house. You determine where things go. 38 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,760 So don't fall into the trap of just putting it anywhere because 39 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,680 it's your house. You've got to define where 40 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,920 things go. OK, we'll talk about storage a 41 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:35,720 little bit later. I'm going to give you about 42 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,600 another minute to gear up for your cleaning session. 43 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,520 If you haven't already done so, it's time to gather up your 44 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,080 cleaning supplies for cleaning the bathroom. 45 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,880 For example, you might need a toilet cleaning brush. 46 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:57,000 We keep ours by the toilet in a little container next to one of 47 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,840 our toilets, but then we carry it to the other bathroom. 48 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,680 I used to have one in each bathroom. 49 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,840 Right now I just have one. So maybe you need to bring that 50 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,080 to the bathroom. Maybe you need some rags, paper 51 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:14,560 towels, disinfecting wipes, pre moistened mop pads. 52 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:20,120 If you're using a Swiffer, microfiber clothes or even paper 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,960 towels for the mirrors. Microfiber clothes are a little 54 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,880 bit preferable, I guess, and that's what I used. 55 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,320 But I did grow up using paper towels to clean the bathroom 56 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,880 mirrors. It works, you know, a few little 57 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,200 balls of lint never hurt anyone. OK, just use what you have on 58 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:41,640 hand. You know, maybe you don't know 59 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,480 where your micro fiber clothes are. 60 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,160 You don't have any clean, but you have napkins or paper 61 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,960 towels. Use what you have. 62 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,200 In a pinch, you can even use an old T-shirt to clean a mirror. 63 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,720 OK, let's gather up whatever products you use as well. 64 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,360 OK? Maybe you have a bathroom 65 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,360 cleaning spray, Maybe you use soft scrub, scrubbing bubbles, 66 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:10,720 some kind of Clr. In fact, I used a Clr recently. 67 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,360 That's the bathroom shine one I think it's called. 68 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,000 Maybe I'll mention that in the description. 69 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,680 It's not sponsored or anything, but I have extremely hard water. 70 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,120 It was affecting the tile, making our tile look kind of 71 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,120 cloudy in the showers. And so we recently tried that 72 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:34,800 Clr and that got rid of that cloudiness on our tile. 73 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,080 OK. For cleaning toilets, I either 74 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,320 use a bleach powder like Comet or Ajax or a dedicated toilet 75 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,960 bowl cleaner, which is always nice because you can squirt that 76 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,600 toilet bowl cleaner. Disinfecting wipes are, of 77 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,440 course, nice for cleaning the toilet because you can, you 78 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,520 know, throw them away as you go. OK. 79 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,920 But anyway, whatever products you use, you're going to need 80 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,680 some kind of glass cleaner or a glass and surface spray, 81 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,760 obviously for the mirrors, shower doors and whatnot. 82 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:13,120 Let's get all those products gathered up to the bathroom and 83 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:18,000 then when you get there, it's time to get some something into 84 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,800 the toilet bowl so that you can allow that product to do its 85 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,040 work. OK? 86 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,640 Whether you're sprinkling some Comet or Ajax and kind of 87 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,600 scrubbing the bowl real quick to coat that toilet bowl with the 88 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,240 product or squirting a toilet bowl cleaner up under the rim 89 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,600 and then it kind of runs down and coats the toilet bowl. 90 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,960 I like to give it a little scrub, though, to kind of, you 91 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,040 know, get some friction involved. 92 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,640 And then we're going to let that sit while we focus on other 93 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,360 parts of the bathroom. OK, now. 94 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,440 And it doesn't take long at all. Once you get that done, the next 95 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,880 thing you're going to do is start your pre clean. 96 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,240 And this session is designed to clean even a large bathroom. 97 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,320 OK, it's based on a couple days ago when I cleaned my master 98 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,920 bathroom, which has dual sinks, a lot of counter space and a 99 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,560 separate bathtub and shower. And then of course, a little 100 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,080 room with the toilet. So it's a bigger bathroom than 101 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,480 my other bathroom. And I'm also going to talk about 102 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,360 organizing those drawers, though you probably won't have time to 103 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,920 do that during the session. I do want to inspire you to 104 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,560 organize any bathroom drawers, cabinets, or shelves you may 105 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,200 have. But I realized some bathrooms 106 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,840 don't have much storage at all. We'll talk about it, but for 107 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,680 now, I want you to do that pre clean. 108 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,080 And what do I mean by a pre clean? 109 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:51,600 I'm talking about removing any bath mats or rugs out of the 110 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,520 bathroom. I'm talking about clearing off 111 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,200 the vanity area. There are things on the vanity 112 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,800 that don't belong, probably, but also things that do. 113 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,080 We're going to move all of it. We're going to relocate any 114 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,800 items to where they go, but we're going to set aside even 115 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:14,000 things that go on the countertop like the toothbrush holder and 116 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,240 soap dispenser and maybe a little plant or decoration of 117 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,440 some sort. Whatever you keep there 118 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:26,360 perpetually still needs to move aside somewhere so that we can, 119 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,320 you know, kind of go spray happy and clean that area. 120 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,760 Sometimes with a large master bathroom that nobody really sees 121 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,400 besides you and your spouse, there could be a tendency to 122 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,320 leave a towel or clothes or shoes on the floor. 123 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,600 No judgement here. Let's pick that all up or any 124 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,520 other random items that might be on your bathroom floor. 125 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,760 I want you to get that bathroom floor sweep and mop ready 126 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:00,200 because once we've cleaned the vanity area, the toilet, the tub 127 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,720 and shower, it's going to be time to sweep and mop your way 128 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,000 out of the bathroom. So we want to make sure that 129 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,520 that floor is completely picked up as part of the pre cleaning 130 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,640 process. OK. 131 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,640 And of course I'll give you a few minutes to do that. 132 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,200 Sometimes the pre clean can take a while and it might be why 133 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,560 you've been procrastinating on cleaning that large bathroom. 134 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,320 There's a tendency to just plot things down while you're doing 135 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,360 the pre clean. I'll I'll talk about my bathroom 136 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,000 drawers. In my large bathroom, I have 8 137 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,280 drawers and two cabinets. Yes, that's a lot of storage 138 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,320 space. It's wonderful. 139 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:51,200 But I recently cleaned out those bathroom drawers, basically kind 140 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:56,880 of redefining what goes in each drawer and storing like items 141 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,120 together. For example, there's a drawer 142 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,960 for hair accessories like claw clips, hair ties, scrunchies, 143 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,800 barrettes, Bobby pins. And I actually had a lot more of 144 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,640 more of those items than I thought because they'd gotten 145 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,440 kind of scattered. In fact, what kind of prompted 146 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,240 me to organize my bathroom drawers recently as I was 147 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,440 cleaning my bedroom and there's a ledge on the back of my 148 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,360 headboard. And I had a bunch of claw clips 149 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,520 and various sizes and scrunchies and earrings just lined up on 150 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,760 the back of my headboard because I have a tendency to take those 151 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,200 uncomfortable items when I crawl into bed. 152 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,320 I I accidentally go to bed with earrings and a clock lip and a 153 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,960 hair tie and then I take them out and they had started to 154 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,640 accumulate. So when I went to put them in 155 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:55,080 the bathroom drawer, I kind of wanted to see how many of those 156 00:09:55,080 --> 00:10:00,880 items I had and realized that there were clock lips and hair 157 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:05,320 ties in like 3 or 4 different drawers, even though there was a 158 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,000 drawer that they were supposed to go in. 159 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,120 But over time, you know, it's one of the laws of 160 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:14,920 thermodynamics, things become just more disorganized over 161 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,080 time. I'm paraphrasing a little bit 162 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,040 here, but you know what I'm talking about. 163 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,240 So I decided it was time after a bedroom cleaning session to 164 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,480 organize those drawers. I did not combine it with a 165 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,160 bathroom cleaning session. It's a big bathroom. 166 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,320 And I'll admit cleaning that bathroom is kind of a lot of 167 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:37,320 work when you're including the the shower and the tub and the 168 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,520 floor, it can take a while. And if you've been listening to 169 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,400 my show for a while, you know, I like to break tasks into 170 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,840 manageable parts. And so organizing the drawers 171 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,360 could be a different step from cleaning your bathroom. 172 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,880 However, if if you're quick, you might be able to combine it into 173 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,560 this bathroom session. But either way, I want to 174 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:05,000 encourage you to organize the storage spaces in your bathroom, 175 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,720 whether you store things in drawers, a cabinet under the 176 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,080 sink, because even our small bathroom that has a fake drawer 177 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,000 has a cabinet under the sink. And the way we organize that 178 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,960 cabinet is by having little plastic bends and I think a 179 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,600 couple shoe boxes basically for different people's toiletries. 180 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,520 They go in those containers and that's how we keep it organized 181 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,440 under the sink. And of course, we do keep a 182 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,680 couple things on top of that vanity area. 183 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:40,520 There's a little decorative bowl with small items in it, you 184 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:42,800 know, where my daughter can put her earrings and things like 185 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,800 that. There's a toothbrush holder, you 186 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,880 know, the typical stuff, but a lot of it gets stored in that 187 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,920 cabinet. So I definitely recommend having 188 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:58,160 individual containers if you're storing things in those 189 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,320 cabinets. For the drawers, I recommend 190 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,960 having, you know, like I mentioned earlier, either drawer 191 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:13,640 divider system of some sort or a, a cheap plastic, you know, 192 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,760 container that's designed for like a small silverware drawer 193 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,680 that one might use in the kitchen. 194 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,560 I have a larger wooden silverware organizer in my 195 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,000 kitchen because my drawer is large. 196 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,880 But at a previous house I had a smaller silverware drawer with a 197 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,520 little plastic organizer. Well, that plastic organizer is 198 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:39,080 now the organizer of my makeup drawer, which is basically one 199 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,080 of the top drawers that I keep just my everyday items in. 200 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:48,680 Everyday makeup items, my favorite brush, my deodorant, 201 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,240 and so on. So those make great drawer 202 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,720 organizers, but when you're only storage is a cupboard, you might 203 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,000 just use little bins. Another way to store makeup, 204 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:06,160 which I do have this in one of my master bathroom cupboards, is 205 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,360 a little acrylic turntable. It's kind of like a Lazy Susan 206 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,240 that's got a cylinder container in the middle and then some 207 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,800 little containers around it. It's the type of thing you could 208 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:23,480 use to store makeup brushes and long skinny makeup items. 209 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:29,080 So that fits nicely in a cupboard and then you could pull 210 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,200 that out and put it up on the counter. 211 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,720 Perfect for a bathroom where you don't have drawers. 212 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,040 If you do have drawers, you need to define the purpose of the 213 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,520 drawers so they don't all become catch alls. 214 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,960 Hopefully by now you've completed the pre cleaning step. 215 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,600 Now it's time for you to clean the sinks, the countertops, 216 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,440 obviously the faucet hardware and the mirrors. 217 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,800 OK, You know which products you use, but I typically use a 218 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:05,440 bleach powder to clean the sinks and then for the countertop 219 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:12,800 mirror and hardware, OK, I use a glass cleaner. 220 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:18,440 I attach a micro fiber cloth to the end of my Swiffer Swiffer 221 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,360 mop. You know how it's designed where 222 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,840 you can wrap it with that pre moistened cloth. 223 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,680 If you're familiar with those types of mops, you instead of 224 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,880 the pre moistened pad, you can put the micro fiber cloth on 225 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,400 there and then spray your mirror with your favorite glass cleaner 226 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,400 and mop the mirror. It's just so much easier to get 227 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,560 a street free shine that way. But regardless of whether you're 228 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:51,160 using a mop or just wiping a mirror by hand, you want to keep 229 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,760 wiping after you see the product is gone, keep on wiping. 230 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,600 That's how you get rid of the streaks. 231 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,000 You know what I mean? You get it wet with the spray, 232 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,160 you wipe it, but then you keep on wiping a little longer than 233 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:06,840 you think you should. And that works great. 234 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,880 But I love doing it with the mop. 235 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,880 But anyway, because my countertops are a shiny tile, I 236 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,600 like to use the glass cleaner on that whole vanity area. 237 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,200 You know, excluding the sink. Like I mentioned, I use like 238 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,120 bleach powder to whiten the inside of the sink. 239 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,680 But once I rinse that out and I'm done with that, I'm ready to 240 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,600 use a glass cleaner on the mirror, the sink hardware and 241 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:38,520 the vanity, the actual tile countertop in the bathroom. 242 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,280 You might use different products from having different surfaces 243 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,560 and a different size bathroom, but that that's the way I do it 244 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,720 in my large bathroom. So bonus tasks could be dusting 245 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:55,320 light fixtures, wiping down switch plates, outlet covers, 246 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,280 maybe your door frames, door handles, you know, look around 247 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,640 and see what needs to be done as far as your upper surfaces. 248 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:08,600 But you're going to be focusing on the vanity area over the next 249 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,760 few minutes. While you while you're doing 250 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,360 that, I'll talk a little bit about drawer organization. 251 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,280 This part's just kind of inspirational because I I want 252 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,320 you to do the heavy cleaning first before you worry about 253 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,480 organizing that. And that might even happen on 254 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,080 another day when you're cleaning your bedroom. 255 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,640 Sometimes organizing or cleaning a master bathroom combines well 256 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,680 with cleaning the master bedroom because it's kind of all in the 257 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,840 same room. You know, you shut yourself in 258 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,080 there. You put on a podcast or some 259 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,680 music. You go to town cleaning your 260 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,600 master bedroom and bathroom. But this episode is just about 261 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:48,440 the bathroom. I tend to make longer episodes 262 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:53,480 for my financial subscribers that have you cleaning more than 263 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,800 one area. In fact, right now I'm working 264 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,280 on a series crawling out of the hole. 265 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,200 I've already done crawling out of the whole day 1-2 and three. 266 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,440 There's going to be like 3 more days of it coming up, so now is 267 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,079 a great time to subscribe to bonus content for a small 268 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,720 monthly fee. If you're listening on Apple or 269 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,280 Spotify, the subscription is probably already being 270 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,680 advertised to you. Another way to access those 271 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,200 episodes is through a Patreon subscription. 272 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,400 Special special thanks to those who are already supporting the 273 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,760 show. I appreciate you more than you, 274 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,840 you know, hopefully you're cleaning the vanity area. 275 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,360 If you get done before I switch you to the next task, turn your 276 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:40,280 attention to the toilet. OK, because we haven't started 277 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,680 on the exterior parts of the toilet yet and then re scrubbed 278 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,240 the bowl after having, you know, after it had time to soak. 279 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,520 But just some examples. If you have drawers, how you 280 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:56,680 would define them, maybe there's a drawer where you keep your 281 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,680 electric hair Clipper and the attachments. 282 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,280 You know, maybe if your husband cuts his own hair, cuts your 283 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,560 son's hair with those Clippers, you might have a drawer for 284 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,320 that. OK, we do. 285 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,200 We have a Clipper drawer. Another example I mentioned is a 286 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,880 makeup drawer. Another example is a drawer for 287 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,760 the nail stuff, your nail Polish removers, the little things that 288 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,200 separate your toes, the polishes. 289 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:23,560 You might have a drawer for that. 290 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:25,400 You might have more than one drawer for that. 291 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,560 If doing nails is a hobby for you, everybody's organization 292 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,480 system is going to be a little bit different. 293 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,400 In my nail drawer, I have a little organ, a little metal 294 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,920 organization tray from the office department. 295 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,160 It's good to have little trays. I mentioned the hair ties and 296 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,080 claw clips. I put a little cardboard box in 297 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,560 the drawer for those for now, you know, because I, I just 298 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,040 wanted to get them all together. I think having them in a box in 299 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,160 one of the drawers kind of reminds me that they have a 300 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,000 specific place where they go, so I don't just shove them in any 301 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,480 old drawer. Something interesting that I 302 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,280 noticed when cleaning out the drawers and, you know, making 303 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:11,800 sure that like items were stored together in their respective 304 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:17,000 drawers, is that I had pens and pencils in almost every drawer. 305 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:22,400 It sounds weird, but over time I'd absent mindedly set a pencil 306 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,400 or pen on the vanity area. Then when I went to clean the 307 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,360 bathroom, I just kind of put everything into the drawers to 308 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:35,880 quickly clear that off, when what I should have been doing is 309 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,360 taking the pens and pencils just a few feet behind me to my night 310 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:43,760 stand. Not behind me where I am sitting 311 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,800 right now, if you're watching the video, but my night stand is 312 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,160 only a few steps away from my bathroom because it's in my 313 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,840 bedroom. I could have easily put the pens 314 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,040 and pencils in the little pencil cup that's on my night stand. 315 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,640 I just didn't really think about it. 316 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:04,880 But now that I've just reorganized my bathroom drawers. 317 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:10,920 Going forward, I'm planning to keep my pens and pencils in that 318 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,160 cup when I find that they've been left on the vanity, because 319 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,880 there's no situation where I would need to have a pen or a 320 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,400 pencil, you know, in the drawer or the bathroom. 321 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,880 I can walk over to the night stand if I'm on a phone call, 322 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,680 standing at the vanity, curling my hair and need to write 323 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:34,480 something down, for example. You don't want to store the same 324 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,040 kind of items in too many different places in your home. 325 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,840 You just don't. Now, pens and pencils you do use 326 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,680 in more than one place. I have that pencil cup on my 327 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,200 night stand. I often write things down when 328 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,080 I'm lying in bed. And then if you're watching the 329 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:57,520 video version, I'm holding up a cute little Hello Kitty pen and 330 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,920 pencil jar. And that's what that clicking 331 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,800 noise is for those who are listening to audio only. 332 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,400 That's on my desk in my office. And then of course, the junk 333 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,800 drawer in the kitchen is a good community location for pens and 334 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,720 pencils. Like if the kids want to grab a 335 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,800 pen or pencil, I'm going to have them go to the junk car. 336 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,080 Obviously they have a lot in their bedrooms and in their 337 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,920 backpacks and so on. In fact, I was pleased at how 338 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,920 many mechanical pencils I found in random bathroom drawers. 339 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,960 I'm not proud of this, but I'm pleased about it because my kids 340 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,440 are always asking me to buy those, and I'm able to replenish 341 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,480 their supply for free now because I found a bunch of them. 342 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,120 OK, for some reason, my kids prefer mechanical pencils. 343 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:46,640 I think a lot of kids do nowadays. 344 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,640 Maybe they don't like having to sharpen their pencils. 345 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,360 My husband and I were just talking about how we like the 346 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:56,640 wooden pencils. They're just dirtier, they're 347 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,760 cheaper, and we're kind of heavy-handed when we write, so 348 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,240 we're likely to break the leads on the mechanical pencils. 349 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,560 I think I do get my kids at least a .7 lead. 350 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,880 You don't want to go any skinnier than that with the 351 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,720 lead. But some of us like those old 352 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,080 school pencils. OK, Hopefully you've cleaned 353 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,280 your vanity area. It doesn't take that long once 354 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,640 you clear everything off, even in a large bathroom. 355 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,640 And I used to feel like it was kind of daunting when I was 356 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,760 cleaning the mirror by hand. I'd have to kind of stand up on 357 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,400 something to reach the top of the mirror or at least stretch. 358 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:43,320 But with the mopping method it's super fast and often after I 359 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,640 spray and mop that mirror I turn my attention to the shower and 360 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,000 do the same inside and out. For the shower doors and even my 361 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,960 shower walls, I clean the bottom of the shower a different way. 362 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,360 That tends to get more soap scum and grime and needs a good 363 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,400 scrubbing. But we have the same shiny tile 364 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:09,360 in our as our for our shower walls as we do on the vanities 365 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:13,400 and in our kitchen. And glass cleaner or the pre 366 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:19,360 moistened Swiffer pads work well on that type of tile I've found. 367 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,960 But like I mentioned, when I started to get a cloudy build 368 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:28,400 up, I did need to use that special Clr bathroom product 369 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,360 that's designed to shine your bathroom. 370 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,040 So a lot of you have asked for product recommendations and 371 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,000 that's something that I've discovered that I really like. 372 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,960 So hopefully by now you've wiped down your vanity, you've cleaned 373 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,560 the sinks, faucets and mirror. Let's turn our attention to the 374 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,040 toilet. Maybe you want to give that 375 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:56,280 toilet bowl another scrub, but then it's time to clean the 376 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,840 exterior parts of the toilet and obviously you don't want to 377 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,560 cross contaminate. I'm really big on using either 378 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:10,800 disposable disinfecting wipes or paper towels and some kind of 379 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:16,000 disinfectant spray. That way I'm throwing something 380 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,640 away after each step. There's more than one way to do 381 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,560 it, but I like to use something disposable. 382 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:28,160 One thing I still have not tried are those disposable toilet bowl 383 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:33,880 cleaners where there's like an end of it, like the stick thing 384 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,520 and then there's the thing that releases off the end of it. 385 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,440 I was thinking about trying it the other day but I didn't see 386 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,400 them in my Walmart. I don't know if they were out of 387 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,360 them or if they don't carry them, but I use just a regular 388 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:50,080 toilet brush and then in the little container that I set it 389 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,160 in, I usually fill that with some kind of cleaning liquid so 390 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:58,000 that that toilet brush is being sanitized in the liquid it's 391 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,920 soaking in, if that makes sense. More often than not, I'm using 392 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,480 disinfecting wipes. I clean the toilet seat behind 393 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,280 the seat, the rim everywhere basically. 394 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,320 And I, I start at the top and kind of work my way down. 395 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:16,000 You know, I use a different wipe for the top of the tank and the 396 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,040 flusher handle. Then I use for like the rim and 397 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,120 the seat. You know, I do the seat before I 398 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,240 do the rim. You know, you want to do it like 399 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:29,960 the, you want to start with the less, the least gross items 400 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,920 like, and then the grosser part, which is like the back of the 401 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,960 seat in the rim. You want to clean that after 402 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,600 you've wiped down the seat. If you're using the same wipe or 403 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,960 the same paper towel, that's how I do it anyway. 404 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:49,320 But once you've cleaned that, the toilet seat behind the seat, 405 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:54,840 the rim around the hinges and everything, and you know, of 406 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,720 course, the toilet tank, flush your handle, the harder part is 407 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,560 the exterior part of the bowl. That's where you've got to 408 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:06,440 really get down low, whether you're sitting on your behind or 409 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,800 on your knees and just really get in there. 410 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,080 And it's not very comfortable on my bathroom tile to get down on 411 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:21,000 my knees and clean down there. Sometimes I put a folded towel 412 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,400 on the bathroom floor if I'm going to get down on my knees, 413 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,280 just to kind of pad it a little bit. 414 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,280 That can make it a lot more comfortable. 415 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,880 But you, you've got to get in there and clean the exterior 416 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,760 part of the toilet bowl down where those bolt covers are and 417 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,120 the floor around it. You know, while you're down 418 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,080 there, of course you want to you want when you get to the bottom 419 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,240 of the toilet base, you want to clean the floor around it. 420 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,320 You want to clean behind it, the baseboard, all those areas that 421 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,160 are going to be kind of difficult to get to with your 422 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,840 mop. Take care of those by hand since 423 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,720 you're already down there on your knees around the porcelain 424 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:04,920 throne. OK, All right, I'm running out 425 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,760 of time. So hopefully you got that toilet 426 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,040 clean. The next thing I want you to do 427 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:16,640 is clean either your bathtub or your shower or both. 428 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:22,760 If you're quick, OK, you want to get that tub basin wet and 429 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,800 sprinkle something in there or spray something in there, 430 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,400 whatever cleaner you like, and clean out that tub. 431 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:34,560 I like to use a scrub brush on a long handle, a little shower 432 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,920 scrubbing tool so that I don't have to bend too much if that 433 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,800 makes it super quick. I also like to have a large 434 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:48,120 pitcher or maybe a plastic 32 ounce cup to kind of help me 435 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,320 rinse the sides of the tub after I clean. 436 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,800 When you've got the cup or pitcher right there and the 437 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,560 tool, it's super fast to clean your tub and maybe you have a 438 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,760 ledge around it. If it's a large garden tub that 439 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,440 you need to wipe down, sometimes I wipe that down by hand with 440 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:11,080 the with just a pre moistened mop ad that's designed for the 441 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,960 Swiffer. I just wipe that ledge, the tile 442 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:18,680 ledge off with that OK. And then once I've cleaned out 443 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,520 the tub and I know I can talk faster than you clean, can 444 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,920 clean, you might be just doing one or the other. 445 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,280 I, I head to the shower floor and I, you know, I turn on the 446 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,320 shower, get that wet, sprinkle my comment or Ajax or whatever, 447 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:39,600 grab that tool again, scrub that bathroom or that shower floor 448 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,360 real good. It's so much easier with the 449 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,640 tool than doing it by hand. You know, when you've got the 450 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,760 leverage, you don't have to bend as much, It's super fast. 451 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,760 You know, cleaning a shower can seem daunting, but it really 452 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,120 isn't. If the shower you're working on 453 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:01,760 right now has a shower curtain, I recommend opening the curtain 454 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,280 and then spraying the inside of it, the part that gets wet, 455 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:11,400 spraying it with some kind of a daily shower spray or even just 456 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:15,560 a mixture of bleach and water if you don't mind using bleach. 457 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,680 My mother-in-law used to spray the inside of her shower curtain 458 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,240 with a bleach and water mixture is just something I noticed. 459 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,040 I thought, oh, that's how you do that, you know, to make sure 460 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,520 that it doesn't get any mildew. But there are also products 461 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,440 designed to spray the inside of a shower and you can use that on 462 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,640 the inside of your shower curtain as well. 463 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:42,120 OK, I'm going to give you a couple more minutes to do that. 464 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,400 And then of course, the last step is sweeping and mopping 465 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:50,400 your way out of the bathroom. And when I mop a bathroom floor, 466 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,480 I often use like a string mop for my large bathroom anyway 467 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,960 because that allows me to scrub the baseboards and the floor in 468 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,760 one fell swoop after sweeping it. 469 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,280 It's super convenient and for those times when you're not 470 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:14,000 cleaning behind your toilet by hand, the string mop gets back 471 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,240 there pretty good compared to other types of mops. 472 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,320 You know, I'm just talking about the old school mop with the 473 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:25,040 white strings on it. And I if you have that spinner 474 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,360 one or whatever it's, it's similar, but any string mop will 475 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,840 do the trick. So when you're finished with 476 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:38,160 your tub and shower, I'm going to want you to sweep and mop 477 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,960 your way out of the bathroom. And it might be after the 478 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,080 episode because you might still be working on your tub or 479 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,720 shower. And of course, when you're in 480 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,400 the tub or shower, you want to kind of take inventory. 481 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,760 Are there empty shampoo, conditioner or body wash bottles 482 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,360 that need to be tossed? Do you need, do you need to put 483 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:03,360 some soap in there? Anyway, I'm out of time. 484 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,840 So once you finish your tub and shower, you're going to sweep 485 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,800 your sweep and mop your way out of the bathroom. 486 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:15,120 And I do want you to consider organizing your drawers under 487 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:19,480 the cabinets or perhaps some other storage solution in the 488 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,600 near future. You know, maybe you have one of 489 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,640 those shelves that goes over the back of the toilet, or maybe you 490 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,440 have just a separate little unit with drawers in it. 491 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:34,040 Wherever you store things in the bathroom, you probably have some 492 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,640 expired makeup products or things that just didn't work out 493 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:43,120 that you need to purge. And remember, decluttering is 494 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:50,400 kind of about purging, but the way to maintain that state of 495 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:56,880 non clutteredness, OK, is to organize the stuff you do have 496 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:01,160 because you're more likely to put things away as you go when 497 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,800 you have defined spaces for everything. 498 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:08,480 So make sure that your bathroom is organized, not just 499 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,440 decluttered. You want to get rid of stuff, 500 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,520 but you also want to organize all that stuff that you want to 501 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,080 keep. Thank you so much for listening. 502 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,080 I appreciate each and every one of you. 503 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,280 And as always, happy cleaning. I'll talk to you in the next 504 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:22,880 episode.