In this blog, we take you through a guide to deep-cleaning an ordinary bathroom in a Swedish detached house with plastic flooring and wall coverings. Using simple supplies such as soap, a brush, and hot water, we remove dirt deep from the mat. We also share tips for cleaning other bathroom fixtures, such as the toilet, shower curtains, and floor drains.

 

Last edited on May 8, 2024

 

 

In this blog, we will guide you through deep-cleaning a bathroom with plastic flooring and wet-room matting on both the floor and walls.

 

This is what the bathroom looks like before we begin. An entirely ordinary bathroom in a family with children’s home.

 

Above, you can see the starting point. An entirely ordinary bathroom in a typical Swedish detached house built in the 1980s, with plastic flooring and wall coverings. The bathroom is used by a family with several children who, like everyone else, have too little time for cleaning. We are going to help them with a deep clean, and you can follow along step by step.

 

Plastic bathroom mat or wet-room mat: this is how to deep-clean it

 

This is what the bathroom mat looks like up close. As you can see, the mat has a textured surface. That is useful because it makes the mat less slippery when wet, but dirt also settles into the texture. Manufacturers and tradespeople recommend drying or mopping plastic mats at least once a week to keep them clean, but honestly… not everyone does that. There may not always be time to mop once a week, and dirt then becomes embedded in the texture. At that point, it is no longer possible to mop the dirt away. Instead, we will remove it with a regular scrubbing brush and soap.

Soap with excess fat and a high pH value will easily dissolve the dirt embedded in the mat’s structure. The alkaline component of the soap removes all dirt originating from plants or animals—which is most of it, whether it comes from us or is brought in with us.

The fat in the soap will dissolve all the greasy components of the dirt—following the principle: like dissolves like!

 

What you need to scrub the dirt off a bathroom mat or wet-room mat

 

Here we use our own Bathroom Soap, a soft scrubbing brush, and an eco-fiber cloth. A small amount of warm water and soap—and then you simply scrub on your knees. Scrub carefully in corners and joints, and everywhere the dirt is embedded in the mat. Note that joints between mats, wet-room mats, and floor mats often contain traces of glue or silicone. If you try to scrape off the silicone or glue, you risk causing water damage. Unfortunately, dirt and mold can find their way behind and under silicone and glue and discolor them. To fix this, you need to contact a professional. Scraping it off with, for example, a scraper can damage the moisture barrier. So if you discover that a glued edge has become discolored in such a way that it cannot be scrubbed clean, you need to contact a qualified flooring installer to resolve the problem.

 

Wet-room mat after being scrubbed with soap

 

This is what the plastic mat, the wet-room mat, looks like after being scrubbed with soap. As you can see in the image, the dirt in the texture has come loose and the mat is clean and fresh. Keep in mind that when scrubbing plastic with soap, you must rinse and dry it thoroughly. Soap should not be left on inert materials such as plastic. Plastic will not absorb the grease in the soap the way a wooden floor does; instead, the excess will form a film and become very slippery when the floor gets wet again. So after scrubbing the dirt out of the mat, wipe up all the water and dirt with a cloth. If you can hose down the floor, you can do so and then carefully remove the water with a floor squeegee. However, make sure the room allows this so that you do not cause water damage.

 

Before and after scrubbing a plastic wet-room mat with soap

 

On the left, you can see the mat and the dirt in its texture, and on the right, the same mat after being scrubbed with soap and a brush.

Quick overview

 

1. Scrub with a brush, warm water, and soap.
2. Wipe with a scrubbing cloth, or rinse and squeegee it with a floor squeegee.
3. Make sure no soap is left on the floor mat, as it can make it very slippery when it gets wet next time.
4. During the next cleaning, the floor can be mopped as usual with a couple of drops of dish soap in the mop bucket.

 

The toilet and how to clean it

 

Scrub the toilet with soap

 

Wiping the toilet with a cloth and a little soap spray now and then is a good habit, but it does not replace a thorough cleaning.

 

Most toilets are attached to the floor with screws, creating an edge between the porcelain and the floor where dirt readily hides. We solve this by scrubbing around the toilet itself with soap as well. The scrubbing brush, water (warm water), and soap remove the dirt that you can never get rid of, no matter how much you wipe with a cloth—in the screw grooves and between the floor and the porcelain. So, by giving this area a thorough clean with a scrubbing brush as well, the toilet becomes really clean and fresh. While you are using the scrubbing brush, take the opportunity to scrub under the cistern and the pipes that supply water to the toilet. These pipe connections and joints quickly become dirty, even if they are not very visible. If your toilet has a flush button, there may also be an edge around it that benefits from being scrubbed with soap.
The toilet seat itself and the holes it is attached to are cleaned in the same way. Remove the toilet seat, place it in the shower or bathtub, and scrub it clean in the joints and around the “pegs.”  Scrub the porcelain clean and wipe it with a cloth before replacing the seat. Your toilet is now as good as new.

 

 

Bathroom fixtures that so easily become grimy

Things we keep in the bathroom quickly and easily become dirty, and we find them unhygienic. It takes an awful lot of time to wipe and polish everything clean, especially when there are many people in the household and the number of bottles and accessories quickly adds up. A very simple trick is to gather everything in the bathtub or shower, use soap, a brush, and an eco-fibre cloth if needed, and scrub them clean. Rinse them off and let them drain and dry while you clean the rest of the bathroom. Small edges and folds around pump-bottle pumps will then become completely clean—almost like new.

 

clean things in the bathroom with soap and a brush

 

clean things in the bathroom with soap and a brush

 

Shower curtains and how to clean them

Shower curtains are a chapter of their own. They’re useful to have, but few things become as dreary as the curtain itself.

 

What you need to clean the shower curtain

 

To get the family’s two shower curtains free of mold and algae, we use bathroom soap, an eco-fibre cloth, and the washing machine. Both curtains are affected by mold, so we pre-treat both sides along the edges where the mold is, using soap and warm water on an eco-fibre cloth. We then machine-wash them according to the care instructions. Note that a very plastic-like (often inexpensive) curtain cannot always be saved. The washing machine may ruin it, but it may be worth trying to save it. Everything we can use again, repair, wash, and reuse instead of buying new is both an economic and environmental benefit. If the care instructions allow it, 60°C is preferable.

 

Shower curtain before and after cleaning with soap

 

Before on the left and after on the right. Shower curtains become completely clean when the edges are pre-treated with soap and then machine-washed.

When deep-cleaning your bathroom, don’t forget to clean the floor drains and drains.

It’s not fun, BUT it’s by far the easiest way to prevent water damage. Keeping floor drains clean so all the water flows where it should is inexpensive insurance and something that can actually be done fairly quickly. There’s a whole blog post about floor drains and the not entirely pleasant task of cleaning them on the cleaning blog.

Don’t forget to remove the front panel of the bathtub, if there is one, and wipe the tops of the bathroom cabinets. Is it necessary, asks the more practically minded among you? Yes—by keeping the entire bathroom clean, dust and dirt won’t swirl around and immediately make your otherwise cleaned surfaces dusty again.

Don’t forget to clean on top of the bathroom cabinets either

 

The bathroom is clean!

 

Freshly scrubbed bathroom; the plastic mat looks like new after being scrubbed with soap

 

 

As a little bonus, we took the opportunity to replace the family’s toothbrushes with eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes and their shampoo and conditioner with solid shampoo and conditioner bars. It is not only climate-smart but also saves an incredible amount of space in the bathroom. Imagine not having all those shampoo bottles and jars; instead, you only have two small, beautiful solid “soaps”.