Bathroom planning involves many factors, but one that might not seem important when you’re choosing faucet finishes or wall color is how to keep the room clean.
A little forward planning, however, will ensure that your bathroom stays fresh and clean with little effort.
1. Ventilation
Enemy number one for any bathroom is mold.
Mold thrives in warm, damp places, so take all steps necessary to ensure that your bathroom has adequate airflow.
If your current bathroom doesn’t already have one, install a ventilation fan to improve airflow. This should be in addition to having a window or skylight that opens.
An inline fan, with the motor located out of the room, is a good choice. Inline fans have a minimal noise level that isn’t as annoying as conventional fans.
Not only will the air in the room be better for your health, it’s easier to clean a bathroom that doesn’t have any mold in the first place!
2. Tile walls
To avoid spending a lot of time repainting or cleaning walls, consider a tiled finish. Not only are they durable, but tiled walls are easy to clean with a damp cloth.
Tile walls are useful near the sink, next to towel hooks, and around light switches, where hands brush against walls often.
Choose large tiles with narrower grout lines for a fresh, modern look that requires little maintenance
3. Waste trap
Keeping things clean is best done “little and often,” and a useful preventative measure like a waste trap in both your sink and shower drains can have a big impact on reducing housekeeping.
4. Vertical fixtures
Keep the bathroom floor free as possible by using a wall-hung vanity unit and toilet.
Choose easy to clean fixtures. For example, look at the toilet seat. Can you reach all the crevices with a cloth? It’s much easier to keep streamlined fixtures clean so even if you can’t go entirely vertical, choose a vanity and/or sink that is minimal in design.
5. Easy-Care Flooring
The right flooring can have a substantial impact on how much time you have to spend cleaning a bathroom and the cleanest and easiest floors are those with fewer joints.
For example, textured porcelain tiles are a poor choice as people tend to walk into the bathroom with their shoes on tracking in dirt and grime that can build up in the grout and even wear it down over time.
But materials such as cushion-backed vinyl or terrazzo are durable and have a minimum of joints, making them easy to keep clean.
6. Surfaces
Bathrooms are notorious for building up endless bottles of lotions and potions. Keep those items out of sight to make your bathroom easier and faster to clean.
Choose a sink with drawers underneath and pair it with slim, mirrored wall cabinets above. They don’t have to be large to be effective. To be both practical and discreet, they should be about the width of a toilet roll.
7. Hinged Shower Door
To prevent mold and limescale buildup, shower doors and panels need to be cleaned often.
Ensure an easy-to-clean bathroom and pick a hinged shower door instead of a sliding or bifold one; there are fewer places for water spots to build and for mold to thrive.
8. Hard-Water Buildup
If you have hard water, always use white grout.
Why?
A white bloom can appear on tiles and grout when hard water minerals are present. This is more visible on dark surfaces.
And while you’ll still need to keep up with cleaning pale-colored tiles and grout, you won’t notice the daily buildup as much if your grout is white.
9. Touchless faucets
Sensor-operated faucets are more than just for airport and mall washrooms.
Increasingly, they are being used in homes as well.
It is difficult for dirt and germs to establish a foothold without touch, so a sensor faucet is a good choice to minimize both.
A bonus?
There are also models that light up when you approach the sink – a cool, futuristic touch for when you’re stumbling around in the middle of the night.
10. Seamless vanity
Finally, opt for a solid countertop that comes in one piece. A built-in sink will eliminate the possibility of dirt and mold gathering at seams.
When choosing your vanity, stick with non-porous surfaces to keep it low maintenance.
For more posts on bathrooms, check out these:
10 Ways to Creating a Hotel Style Bathroom
