I’ve always hated cleaning bathrooms. It was one of my chores as a teenager, and while I found it better than scrubbing out the slimy pool liner in the spring, it was near the bottom of the list. Scummy toilets, water deposits, and toothpaste smears … I found it all distasteful and I’d kind of hold my breath till it was all over.
I haven’t changed much apparently. I realized yesterday, when my husband told me the new tenants in our frontroom had cleaned the bathroom, that every all but one tenant we’ve had has done that at some point or another. Some guests too. To be specific, I do swipe the sink down fairly often, always scrub out skid marks in the toilet, and swipe around the seat when I notice it’s sticky. Sometimes I take a wad of toilet paper and wipe behind the sink and toilet. The floor gets washed when the boys have a splashy bath an I wipe it up. But it’s never clean. I’ve never cared enought to do a deep clean, unless I’m about to paint or we have new tenants moving in.
The last weekend guests we had went and bought new ccrubbies and dishclothes and cleanser, power-scrubbed the long-ago-finishless bathtub back to an actual white, and polished up my kitchen. I toyed with the idea of being offended for about .2 seconds, then attacked them both with hugs and kisses. A clean tub! A white tub! Amazing. Didn’t think it was possible. S’s biceps are 3x the size of mine (not hard to do) and I attribute it all to that. I do the bare minimum to not be walking in muck, and call it a day. I’d rather find something new to cook, read a blog, or be outside than clean.
As for the tenants, cleaning common areas has never been part of the deal. I’ve always said “If you feel like it” which apparently 3/4 of them have :). One attacked the bathroom a few days after Fynn was born, with bleach, gloves, cleansers, brushes, and rags … and it was white from top to bottom for the first time in 2 years. Then the next guy, well, can’t go there, I had to so some really disgusting cleanup after him. Then R was a tidy fanatic, but not a scrub the spots kind of guy. However the mold growing on the bathroom ceiling, which multiplied at 3x the usual rate since he took 2 showers a day and the room was never dry, got to him eventually and he scrubbed it with bleach and then was worried about the bits of paint that flaked onto his head in the process. It’s still clean as we’ve finally put a rotating fan in there to dry the room out after showers (no way to put an exhaust fan in).
So if you come to visit and are grossed out by my bathroom, the supplies are in the closet … have at it! I won’t be the least offended.