How often do you clean your bathtub

[Elizabeth86]

So, I learned yesterday that it is an actual thing that people clean their tub between each and every use. I’m curious how common that is because that doesn’t happen at my house. 🤣

[Amethyst]

Once a week

[ScoutTN]

Once a week.

[Farrar]

Once a month. It rarely seems to need much and it's obviously getting rinsed most days.

[Elizabeth86]

Well that’s a relief.

[TechWife]

Before I use it, which is about every four months. I don’t clean it after because it  accumulates dust in between uses and so it has to be cleaned before anyway. Why do it twice? 

When ds was little we cleaned his run weekly. You’re doing good, don’t worry about it! 

[Carrie12345]

Weekly. Ish. 
 

[alisoncooks]

So…don’t even ask what it was before DH had his bone marrow transplant. 🫣 Pretty much before company or when it got a bit too moldy to ignore. 

Now, I aim for every week or so, since his immune system is delicate. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by alisoncooks

[Heartstrings]

I think there’s some cleaning trauma involved with the people asserting that.  Or a bit of fibbing.  I’ve seen some say they just rinse it, which….by the time my water has run long enough to get warm it’s essentially rinsed.  
 

I wash the tub part weekly ish with dish soap in a scrubby and do the shower walls a little more often because I have blasted glass doors.  

[Scarlett]

I think it really just depends how many times it is used. Also is it being used to bathe or shower. When my son was little only he used his tub so it got cleaned about once a week.  

[Elizabeth86]

9 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

I think there’s some cleaning trauma involved with the people asserting that.  Or a bit of fibbing.  I’ve seen some say they just rinse it, which….by the time my water has run long enough to get warm it’s essentially rinsed.  
 

I wash the tub part weekly ish with dish soap in a scrubby and do the shower walls a little more often because I have blasted glass doors.  

I think fibbing too. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

Once a week

[fraidycat]

Considering the fact that I don't bath (only shower) but the grunge line that gets on the tub is from the two grown adults who DO bath... I clean the bathtub way too often. 🤬 

The real answer is about once every two weeks or so. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Weekly, but when we lived in a different state with high mineral content in the water and we had a finicky shower surround, I sprayed the glass with a daily spray from method and squeegeed it. I was also using toilet disinfecting wipes daily because the little boys would come in and use my toilet. So, maybe that could count as daily cleaning? But not really.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Weekly, with bathroom cleaner. We use it almost daily and try to rinse it out between uses. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

The tub gets partially cleaned daily because there is soap and hot water swirling around in it daily. It gets scrubbed before it’s going to be used as a tub. That varies. Occasionally it gets scrubbed earlier if it gets a ring etc. 

[ScoutTN]

Ha! Reconsidering my first answer. Actually I almost never clean it. My kids do!!! Weekly. Ds doesn’t do a fabulous job, but good enough. Dd is thorough.

[kbutton]

Not often enough now that DS is coming home covered in sawdust. 🙂 Actually, the kids clean it.

27 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

I think it really just depends how many times it is used. Also is it being used to bathe or shower. When my son was little only he used his tub so it got cleaned about once a week.  

This. Water hardness also matters. What kind of soap you use matters.

If I used it as a tub daily, I would be giving it a decent scrub daily and a deep clean more often (unless I lived alone, and then I might be able to do less and not be squicked out). I do know people who don't have a shower in the house at all--they always bathe.

[Pawz4me]

Every 10 to 14 days, which is my interval for bathing the dogs. I clean the tub after I bathe them. We're shower people and use Dove (so no soap scum build up) and our water isn't hard. If it were just us I'd probably only need to swipe it out once a month or so. But . . dogs get baths.

[Elizabeth86]

2 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Every 10 to 14 days, which is my interval for bathing the dogs. I clean the tub after I bathe them. We're shower people and use Dove (so no soap scum build up) and our water isn't hard. If it were just us I'd probably only need to swipe it out once a month or so. But . . dogs get baths.

Haha I do the same!! Bathe dogs, clean tub. 

[itsheresomewhere]

DS-  he has to clean the tub every day before he uses it. 
 

Deep clean-  weekly by me for both bathrooms.  

[lulalu]

Monthly unless it is dirty from something 

[Bambam]

It varies. Our tub is separate from our shower. The tub is sometimes used regularly other times it is used less frequently. 
Unfortunately, the tub is a jetted whirlpool type tub. I despise jetted tubs, but it was in the house when we bought it. I try to clean the tub and the jets monthly, but it might be more often if it is used more or looks like it might need cleaning. The shower? I just spray it with stuff semi-regularly (aim for monthly) and rinse it off. 

[rebcoola]

When it looks like it needs it.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Each and every time? This to me implies that the shower/tub is being cleaned after each individual use. If three people have to shower/bathe back-to-back, that is three cleanings with a cleaning in between 1 & 2 and 2 & 3 and after 3. I don't see anybody doing that other than a hospital or long-term care facility where strict rules apply.

Unless, showers don't count as baths. We only have one shower-tub in the house and it sees a lot of use when the kids are home. I do not clean it after each person uses it but definitely give it a quick scrubbing if the littles need to take a bath. Other than the littles, no one bathes; everyone over 10 showers.

When it's just me and DH, I do it weekly. His dandruff shampoo leaves a funky orange residue and the foot balm I use can make the tub slippery and it holds on to the dirt left from dirty feet.

[fairfarmhand]

Weekly

[Tree Frog]

I'm team @TechWife. I clean it before I use it. It's not generally too dirty because I dry the sides off, then put a towel in the bottom of it. It has a cover dh made when I asked him to. 

[Spryte]

The shower/tub combo that only DS uses (and only for showers) is cleaned well bi-weekly. If (big if) we bathe a dog in it, in between cleanings — I clean it again. Or if we have guests. Otherwise, I don’t look at it.

Our shower and tub are separate. Both get deep cleaned biweekly, and I spot clean as necessary. 

I no longer take baths, but for a while I was taking nightly epsom salt baths for sore muscles. I really did clean the inside of the tub each time (blush). That meant a quick scrubbing bubbles spray and a swish around with the rotating tub scrubber, then a rinse, before filling the tub. Nothing intense, but more than a quick rinse.

[elegantlion]

really about once a month. SO will use bleach (I can't use bleach cleaners) every so often. I will use a magic eraser every so often. It does wonders on the tub. 

[Clarita]

Much less than everyone else apparently. 

[strawberries]

When it starts to look icky. This usually means weekly in warm weather, less often when it's cold. 

[AbcdeDooDah]

Weekly, for reals. BUT, that is a recent development since I only have one kid at home and loads of time to clean that I never had before. While kids were growing up? You don’t even want to know how infrequently 😂

Edited October 25, 2022 by AbcdeDooDah

[momto3innc]

My separate tub in the master bath? Very rarely. We just never use it and it only collects dust. My da who cleans the bathrooms generally wipes the dust down once every week or two. My kids’ bath has a tub/shower combo. That gets cleaned weekly and generally needs a better clean once a month due to my son not being awesome at the weekly clean.

There is a bottle of daily shower cleaner in both bathrooms that is supposed to be sprayed on after the last shower of the day. My family is not super successful at this but when they are, cleaning is extremely minimal.

[KungFuPanda]

I KNOW if I wipe it down daily that it never gets hard to clean. We did this in the military. The showers stayed clean. IRL I don’t have it in me. Since my dd moved out we each have our own bathroom. I scrub my tub about every other week. I use liquid soap to avoid buildup. I also keep a green scrubbie on the floor of my shower and haphazardly scrub it with my foot about every other shower. I’m a bath person in the winter so I like to keep it clean enough to take a bath on a whim. 

[alysee]

We currently have 6 kids using the shower/tub so it's done weekly but when I had less people in the house I did it monthly. I think it all depends on how many people are using the shower. 

[TravelingChris]

Normally, every 2 weeks, when cleaning service comes.  But I haven't had a cleaning service here since late Aug or very early Sept (I was gone for 3 weeks in Sept and the last 2 weeks have been sick weeks here-first dh now me). Reminds me I need to get on this.

[Melissa in Australia]

When I had heaps of kids it would  get rinsed and wiped after every bath and cleaned properly once a week. 

The bath is in the bathroom that is now just for visitors so cleaned both before and after visitors visit 

 The bathroom we use only has a shower, which uses way less water and is right beside the hot water service and as we only have water we collect from rain., a much more environmentally friendly space. The bathroom we use gets completely cleaned twice a week, vanity wiped down multiple times a day and toilet cleaned every second day

Edited October 25, 2022 by Melissa in Australia

[Terabith]

I mean, the last time I vividly remember cleaning the whole tub was before my kid's 8th birthday, so like nine years ago.  Other people have cleaned it since then, and we shower in it daily, and you definitely should never, ever, ever take cleaning advice from me.  But, yeah.  Just don't really do it hardly ever.  

[Ting Tang]

Hmm, well, I mainly use a shower stall. I have a spray we use daily. And I keep a sponge, and yes, I will clean it before I clean myself. It’s just easier, lol. 

[Annie G]

The separate tub in our bathroom? Before our youngest grand takes a bath in it, since she’s the only one who uses it.  So probably four to six times a year. I do wipe dust out of it occasionally. 

Ds’s shower/bath combo? That’s his domain, and my guess on that is ‘rarely’. 
 

 

[Shoeless]

It gets a thorough scrubbing about every 10-14 days. It's a standard tub/shower combo, but we do not use the tub for bathing. I am trying to get into the habit of cleaning it weekly. 

Edited October 25, 2022 by MissLemon

[Ausmumof3]

Rarely as we rarely ever use it. Just when it gets dusty or looks gross and we have visitors coming or something. Our bathroom is a horrid shape and it’s awkward to get to and do and usually results in back pain.

[Heartstrings]

3 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

ach and every time? This to me implies that the shower/tub is being cleaned after each individual use. If three people have to shower/bathe back-to-back, that is three cleanings with a cleaning in between 1 & 2 and 2 & 3 and after 3. I don't see anybody doing that other than a hospital or long-term care facility where strict rules apply.

There are people on tik tok claiming to do this.  🙄

[SKL]

We almost never take an actual bath (vs. shower) so my standards are lower than if we sat in it.  😛  I do wipe out hair and soap yuck whenever I see any, but I don't do cleanser that often.  Basically it gets cleaned whenever the whole bathroom gets scrubbed, which tends to be about biweekly.  If I plan to do a sit bath, I will the tub beforehand.

[MEmama]

9 hours ago, Terabith said:

I mean, the last time I vividly remember cleaning the whole tub was before my kid's 8th birthday, so like nine years ago.  Other people have cleaned it since then, and we shower in it daily, and you definitely should never, ever, ever take cleaning advice from me.  But, yeah.  Just don't really do it hardly ever.  

Thank you for this.

Housecleaning threads usually leave me feeling inadequate, but at the same time we are a small family and don’t generate much mess. I’m astounded at how often some people claim to clean (not just bathtubs) but I guess it’s situational.

I should probably clean the bathtub this week though. Darn. 

[Carrie12345]

4 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Thank you for this.

Housecleaning threads usually leave me feeling inadequate, but at the same time we are a small family and don’t generate much mess. I’m astounded at how often some people claim to clean (not just bathtubs) but I guess it’s situational.

I should probably clean the bathtub this week though. Darn. 

My position is mostly that “adequate” means fulfilling your health needs and overall preferences and, yes, that’s gonna vary by situation!

For example, I’ve delayed dusting as long as possible, but kept my floors clean. Currently, I’m dusting more often due to puppies and dry October air, but mopping less obsessively because puppies are just going to bring in wet paws 800x a day. 🤷‍♀️ 

I am overdue on deep cleaning my capable kids’ bathroom, but mine is in good shape because I care more than they do.

[Indigo Blue]

When I was younger, I did it every day. Now, I do it every other week. I would rather not go that long, but I do. Vinegar and Dawn make it easy to clean. Thank goodness for that. 

[Kanin]

15 hours ago, Clarita said:

Much less than everyone else apparently. 

Yeah... I clean mine when it looks too gross and even I can't stand it any more 😝

[Jean in Newcastle]

As long as mold or mildew aren’t growing, I don’t see the need for too much scrubbing. Soap scum itself won’t hurt you. But some climates are more prone to mold and mildew growth and need more diligence in that regard. (Of course if you are scrubbing to maintain a mold and mildew free environment, then soap scum will be tackled as well.).  For other locales, especially if the tub stays dry, the most you would have to worry about is dust. So really, this answer is climate dependent to some degree. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

When DH doesn’t get to it first. He cleans it every Saturday or Sunday morning if I don’t clean it by then. Not a single complaint or word about it, if it isn’t done he just does it. He’s pretty handy to have around now that I think about it 😁