The Boy Bathroom Cleaning Tips You Need Right Now

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This post has been sponsored by Aquavert. All opinions are mine.

Boy bathrooms are disgusting. My boys are seven and their bathroom has been grossing me out on a regular basis for about the past four years. I firmly believe that one day far into the future, my little dudes will actually care about perfecting their aim. Someday, peeing on the floor, the seat or the back of the toilet tank won't be as much of a common occurance as it is now. At least I hope not! I'm sure things will get worse before they get better but I totally dread going in there to clean. I'm thankful that they have a dedicated shared bathroom that no one else has to use. boy bathroom cleaning tips

I am teaching my kids to pull their weight around the house and they're still at the age where they think cleaning a toilet is fun stuff. Their cleaning methods are slapdash at best, but I still make them help me. See also any real cleaning is done by me. Our boy bathroom is never going to be spotless. I'm probably always going to be a little bit embarrased if a visitor to our home uses it.

The boy bathroom cleaning tips you need right now

Rugs are your friend

I used to think toilet contour rugs (and those matching toilet seat covers were tacky…right up there with those dolls with the crocheted skirts that hide the spare toilet paper roll.) Seriously, who wants to hide toilet paper in a bathroom? Honestly, I still think toilet contour rugs are tacky, but I bought three of them for our boy bathroom and I don't regret it.

The rug catches the pee splatters that are meant for the toilet but just kind of miss. And yeah, I know “meant for the toilet” might be a bit of wishful thinking on my part! I wash the rugs at least twice a week, usually three, which is why I have spares. Since the rugs are cleaned regularly, there's virtually no smell and, since the rugs absorb the splatters, there's less of a mess to mop up. Winning.

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A good cleaner goes a long way

We use Aquavert Multi-Purpose Sanitizer. For the longest time, I was an advocate of natural, chemical-free cleaners everywhere except our boy bathroom. The boy bathroom got the heavy industrial cleaning treatment, which honestly, I don't feel good about using in my home. Aquavert is a brand of unique cleaning and sanitizing product made from Hypochlorous Acid, a naturally occurring acid derived from salt, water and electricity. It effectively kills 99.99% of common but harmful bacteria found in the home like E. Coli, salmonella, and even MRSA. Aquavert is made with no bleach, no ammonia, no alcohols, in fact there are no harsh chemicals! There are no known skin, eye or respiratory irritations which means that you can clean and breathe at the same time.

So given all that, it can surely handle some boy bathroom splatters, right?

Right. The answer is yes, it can. I know we all have choices in what we clean with. I want something that gets the job done that's environmentally friendly and safe for my kids and pets. Aquavert does it all.

Keep your shower curtain open

While it's tempting to keep the curtain closed so I don't have to look at the mess – AKA the pile of toys and empty cups and bottles used to make “potions” and “invisible ink” – but look how close the bathtub is to the toilet bowl. Cleaning the tub is pretty easy and sanitary compared to washing the entire shower curtain and liner, although we wash the shower curtain and liner regularly as well.

Plenty of toilet paper…or not

A boy bathroom is one place you might not want to stock up on toilet paper. Little boys + toilet paper surplus = all kinds of icky, wet messes. I keep my toilet paper supply in the hall closet outside of our boy bathroom. This is near enough to grab a roll when we need one and saves the worry of “what are they doing behind that closed door?” Okay, maybe it doesn't completely wipe out the worry of what your boys are doing behind that bathroom door, but do you really want to know anyway? Don't store the toilet paper in the bathroom and you'll have less mess. And, we can all get on board with less mess, right?

Don't forget the surrounding areas

We clean the floors and the toilet and call it good…and then we wonder why we still smell that boy bathroom smell. You also need to clean the cabinets, walls, and cupboards that's in the path of…well, you know what. Our bathroom has dark tile and dark wood cabinets. For the longest time I was mopping the floors and cleaning the toilet bowl and calling it good. Once I started scrubbing the wall behind the toilet and the cupboard next to the toilet, things started to smell much better.

Clean often

As much as I dread cleaning our boy bathroom, the more I let it go, the worse it gets. I do a full clean twice a week, and if I can squeeze in a third, even better. Cleaning is much less cumbersome, time consuming and…well, much less gross if you do it often. And, with as often as I find myself wiping up pee splatters, I'm glad to have a cleaner that I can feel good about that doesn't introduce harmful chemicals into my home. Give Aquavert a try!

These boy bathroom cleaning tips are not designed to give you the end result of a sparkling, pristine bathroom that you're proud to show off to your company. No. These hacks are designed to save your sanity and a little bit of your time and to let you know you're not alone if you're wishing and hoping for the day your little dudes will actually care whether or not their urine stream makes it in to the toilet bowl.

Because a girl can dream, right?