Bathroom is probably the room that needs the most care and cleaning, apart from the kitchen, perhaps. Not only is it constantly exposed to heat and moisture, which promotes mildew and germ development, our waste makes it an even more polluted environment which needs a regular, good scrubbing. When you consider the frequency with which you have to clean up your bathroom, and the fact that a lot of powerful chemicals are usually employed for the task, it is easy to realize that the toxic output coming from bathroom cleaning is much greater than would be ideal. Luckily, there are green ways to get your bathroom in order and get rid of even the most persistent germs and dirt.

Mildew

The best thing that you can do with mildew is to prevent it from developing in the first place. The combination of heat, moisture and poor ventilation is mostly to blame for mildew, which is why you should make sure that your bathroom is properly ventilated. If it’s already too late for prevention, you can remove the mildew without strong chemicals. You should use a cup of white vinegar with 5 drops of tea tree oil to cover all the problematic surfaces, and leave it in for a while, before scrubbing it off. Antifungal properties of the tea tree oil will also take care of other growths on the walls, so you might consider using this combination even on the parts of the bathroom that still don’t exhibit signs of mildew infestation.

Rust

Rust is not only terribly unappealing, but it also leads to the decay of your fixtures and pollutes everything that it comes into contact with. Again, proper ventilation might help you prevent the development of too much rust, but if some does get to form, you can use a fresh lemon to remove it (naturally this only works for superficial layers of rust).

Shower Curtains

A lot of people simply dispose of their shower curtains once they get too dirty, as they can look like cleaning them would be much more of a hassle than simply buying new ones. However, if you use a bit of baking soda as a cleaning agent, you can get your curtains clean in no time, without the use of potent chemicals.

Soap Scum

After prolonged use, it is no wonder if most of your bathroom accessories and fixtures are covered in soap scum.  Even though it is soap based, cleaning it can be quite a chore. Once again, lemons come to the rescue. By simply rubbing the scummy surfaces with a fresh lemon, you’re allowing its acid to dissolve the scum, which makes it easy to just wipe it off.

Magic of Vinegar

White vinegar, with or without the addition of baking soda is one of the most versatile green cleaning agents there is. You can use it to clean grout between your tiles, or the tiles themselves, but it can also be used to clean the toilet bowl or sink. You can even us a combination of white vinegar, baking soda and warm water to unclog blocked drains, just pour vinegar in, followed by baking soda and warm water, and try to cover up the drain so that’s it airtight, that way the pressure created by vinegar reacting with baking soda should dislodge the gunk and make the pipes clear again.