Bathroom cleaning...

[~Tara~]

I'm sure this one has run its course here, but, indulge me will ya?

 

(oh, and nak, please excuse errors)

 

How often do you clean your bathrooms?

 

I'm having a problem with one of ours. The upstairs bath is beginning to smell like a gas station restroom. I have a mess of boys, if you need reminding. I'm sure this has something to do with my dilemma.

 

What's odd though..when I first noticed this foul odor, in spite of my cleaning regimen (one quick swipe day and one real cleaning day), I thought, well, we do have several children whose rooms are up there. But then I thought..but they aren't upstairs most of the day. They are down here with me, using this bathroom which does not have the same odor problem. Now what sense does that make? The more frequently used bath smells fresher?

 

What is it about the slew of boys that's stinking up my bathroom?

 

Am I going to have to resort to daily SCRUBS and sanitizing? That sounds soooo....unappealing. *sigh*

[KSGrace]

I only have 2 sons and I have to clean our ONE (sigh) bathroom every single day. It gets too funky if I don't.

 

Try those leave in tablets to get rid of any toliet odor but other than that, you'll probably just have to clean it (or have the kids take turns cleaning it) each day.

[LisaKinVA]

Other things could be causing a stink... we had a decomposing mouse stuck under the cabinet base (EEEW!) Maybe there is something less pleasant stuck in the trap (my young children stick all kinds of stuff in our bathroom sinks...)

 

I doesn't sound like it should be a cleaning problem -- but if the boys are that bad, give 'em each a sponge to wipe down all the walls, and clean every square inch.:D

 

(unlike my mom, I believe boys should be taught to clean the bathrooms. I still resent cleaning the bathroom after my 3 brothers because I was the girl.:tongue_smilie:)

[Baseballmom]

Try removing the old caulk and recaulking around the toilet. It did wonders for our bathroom. :001_smile:

Dorothy

[Adrianne]

This happened to my upstair bathroom and it turned out someone had "missed" and hit a spot I normally to not clean weekly. (he it the baseboard radiator near the tub - I don't want to think about how)

 

Once I found it, the smells returned to "normal"

[~Tara~]

I'll look for any hidden 'misses' next time I scrub...didn't notice any last week, but I'll look even harder next time.

 

Caulk, ok, I'll check into that as well.

 

And I just had one of the boys up scrubbing the floor before posting this thread. ;) Not afraid of making my boys clean, not at all :thumbs up:

[Adrianne]

 

And I just had one of the boys up scrubbing the floor before posting this thread. ;) Not afraid of making my boys clean, not at all :thumbs up:

 

 

You go girl!:)

[super grover]

My DS 7 and DS 5 take turns cleaning every night before bedtime. Wednesday my day :) I splurged on some of those throw away wipes -- 1 wipe for the counter and 1 wipe for the toilet. Put toothbrushed and toothpaste away, make sure there is no garbage. It has helped a lot. It is also funny to note DS 7's comment -- "Mom, is that yellow stuff around the toilet pee? Thats gross!"

 

Exactly.

[LisaKinVA]

"Mom, is that yellow stuff around the toilet pee? Thats gross!"

 

Exactly.

 

:lol:

[Ohio12]

My DS 7 and DS 5 take turns cleaning every night before bedtime. Wednesday my day :) I splurged on some of those throw away wipes -- 1 wipe for the counter and 1 wipe for the toilet. Put toothbrushed and toothpaste away, make sure there is no garbage. It has helped a lot. It is also funny to note DS 7's comment -- "Mom, is that yellow stuff around the toilet pee? Thats gross!"

 

Exactly.

 

I LOVE this!

[Tammyla]

You are not lacking in your cleaning routine. However, I may know the answer to this one. (Btdt) Boys do not have the greatest of aim when they are wide awake...Night trips can lead to misses that smell the place up:svengo:. Check the waste basket, baseboard, behind the toilet. And paint can hold the smell. Vinegar works pretty well in there.

 

I'm sure this one has run its course here, but, indulge me will ya?

 

(oh, and nak, please excuse errors)

 

How often do you clean your bathrooms?

 

I'm having a problem with one of ours. The upstairs bath is beginning to smell like a gas station restroom. I have a mess of boys, if you need reminding. I'm sure this has something to do with my dilemma.

 

What's odd though..when I first noticed this foul odor, in spite of my cleaning regimen (one quick swipe day and one real cleaning day), I thought, well, we do have several children whose rooms are up there. But then I thought..but they aren't upstairs most of the day. They are down here with me, using this bathroom which does not have the same odor problem. Now what sense does that make? The more frequently used bath smells fresher?

 

What is it about the slew of boys that's stinking up my bathroom?

 

Am I going to have to resort to daily SCRUBS and sanitizing? That sounds soooo....unappealing. *sigh*

[supermom]

And it took us weeks to figure that out. If the smell is coming from underneath the toilet, then yes...you can caulk it up, but that still means you have water underneath your toilet....which I would not want on a second floor. Just a thought.

Monica

[~Tara~]

yeaaaaah I've seen their 'lack of aim' LOL

They've been told to clean up their misses immediately, though, they are sorely slacking in that department.

 

I think I've decided to get another box of disinfecting wipes...specifically for that bathroom..to be stored in the upstairs bathroom. They will be required to wipe things down each night. (and yes, one wipe for counters, a separate one for the toilet..they already do that once a week) AND..I may get those disposable toilet scrubber deals. I'm not usually one to get that sort of thing, but, that sounds like a viable option here. No extra cleaner to cause problems and no brush to fool with. Just pop on a scrubber pad, scrub, flush, done. Assign them each a night to do the swipe down as part of their getting ready for bed routine. Hmm I may want to go ahead and add some Windex wipes to that list...as the amount of toothpaste found on their mirror is frightening :p But at least it doesn't reek!!

Now...what about the toothpaste on the shower curtain? HOW does it even get there? LOL

[mcmom4]

was purchase white paneling (I don't know what it's called, but it looks real nice) and put it up behind the toilet from the bottom of the floor to 3/4 way up the wall and then put molding on top of that. We keep a squirt bottle of vinegar/water mixture that my son sprays the wall down and cleans DAILY. He swears he doesn't miss anymore, but......it has eliminated the odor completely. Oh! Another thing I learned is to keep your rugs washed. I hate to admit that my girls even have been known to miss the toilet...you figure that one out....and peed on the rug.

[Crissy]

Yep. We clean the bathrooms every day.

 

And because I want my future daughters-in-law to love me, my boys really know how to keep a toilet clean.:D

 

(You are welcome, Annsley!)

[greenwillow]

We do a FlyLady variation......on Monday, the master bath gets a regular cleaning (includes tub, cabinets, mirror, floors, etc) while on Tuesday the hall bath gets it. Then, for the remainder of the week except Sunday (Wed - master, Thurs - hall, Fri - master, Sat - hall) we alternate a "quick clean" method: a quick scrub of the sink and toilet, then wipe down toilet and counter with one cleaning wipe each). Quick clean takes about 5 mins or less and I do it each morning after brushing my teeth. This keeps it looking fairly presentable and odors to a minimum.

 

When the kids were old enough, I taught them to do the quick clean days for the bathroom that I assigned them, while I did the Mon and Tues regular cleaning. When they got older and could scrub the tubs properly, I added them the job of the regular cleanings on Mon and Tues to their chores, freeing me up a little more.

 

Now that ds is going to college this fall, I will take back over his bathroom, but at least he will know how to keep one clean in his dorm. Will he, though?? I seriously doubt it, but he DOES know how!! LOL :)