Your bathroom should be a place where you can relax and enjoy a long hot soak in the tub, or just escape the general household chaos. When problems arise your bathroom can become less of a place to enjoy, and more of a place to cause headaches.
Even the simplest of problems, such as lack lustre towels, or a less than pristine shower area, can play on your mind. Here are a few tips on how you can deal with some of the bathroom problems you might experience.
Moisture and Mould
By its very nature the bathroom is a place that can be home to moisture; it’s also a place which can be prone to leaks, increasing the risk of moisture build up. Where there is moisture it is easy for mould to appear; not only is this unsightly, it’s also not good for your health.
Mould can cause irritation in your eyes and throat, and for people who have a mould allergy it can lead to a runny nose and skin rashes. If anyone in your home has asthma, the presence of mould can trigger an attack. It may not be possible to remove every mould spore from your home, but you can see how vital it is to keep the presence of mould under control.
There are several ways you can reduce the chance of mould appearing in your bathroom.
- The use of extractor fans to take the moisture in the air to the outside of your home.
- The use of small rugs if necessary instead of having any carpeted areas in the bathroom.
- These rugs can then be cleaned and dried regularly.
- Checking for leaks on a regular basis. The places where most bathroom leaks appear is around the basin, the bath or the shower unit. As soon as you spot a leak you should make sure you get it fixed straight away.
- Keeping a window open when you are having a shower; this reduces the temperature in the room, and helps to decrease the build-up of moisture.
- Not leaving any damp towels around, as this can be contributing factor to the build-up of moisture, and the potential presence of mould.
Drain Issues
Have you ever been in a bathroom and smelt a very unattractive odour coming from the sink or the shower. If you allow your bathroom drains to become blocked your bathroom can become a very unappealing place to be. Think about how easy it is for the drains in your bathroom to get clogged up; you are constantly putting sticky substances such as toothpaste, shower gel and shampoo down them. That’s before you even start with the yucky stuff, such as hair and dead skin.
One of the simplest ways to keep your drains free running is pouring really hot water down them once or twice a week. This can help remove any substances that have congealed, as it’s a lot hotter than the water you usually use to wash in.
You can also make good use of condiments that you probably already have in your home. If you pour approximately one tablespoon of salt into the drain, followed by a quarter of a cup of white vinegar, and leave it for at least an hour, when you wash it down with hot water, it should take any gunge that has built up with it.
Once your drains are clean it’s good practice to use bleach once in a while; just pour some into the drain and leave it for at least an hour before you wash it down. If you stick to a regular cleaning regime your drains should always smell as fresh as drains can.
Towels and Useful Toothbrushes
Everyone knows how great it is to wrap yourself in a big fluffy towel, when you have just emerged from a soak on the tub; but what happens when your towels are less than stellar? Here are a few tips you might find useful:
- Get rid of the lingering musty smells on towels by washing them in really hot water with a couple of cups of vinegar, before you put them in a normal wash.
- Vinegar can also help your towels maintain their bright colouring, if you use it with your detergent the first time you wash them.
- If your towels start to feel less soft and more scratchy, you may be using too much detergent. It’s also a good idea to skip using fabric softener every third or fourth wash as if you use it all the time the amount of absorption can decrease.
So that’s the towels sorted, what about the useful toothbrush? Of course the toothbrush is ideal for keeping your smile gleaming but it also a very effective tool for solving some common bathroom problems. Don’t throw away your old toothbrush until you’ve read these problem solving tips:
- If your brass fixtures have lost their sheen, just mix together some baking soda and lemon juice, put some on an old toothbrush, and gently scrub the area. Leave the solution to dry, then use a dry cloth to buff, and your fixtures will be glistening again.
- Toothbrushes are also great for reaching those really hard to clean areas, such as around the grooves in shower doors, or under the rim of the sink.
Now you have some useful tips that will hopefully help to keep your bathroom fresh and beautiful; happy bathing!
