Tricks to Help Keep a Boys Bathroom Clean
Do you have boys? If you do, then you know how absolutely terribly, disgusting boys bathrooms can be. Especially when they’re little, but our grown men can even be bad. My family lived in a small 4 bed / 2 bath home up until a few months ago. All 5 boys shared one tiny bathroom. It was scary. I’ve learned a few tricks to help keep a boys bathroom clean. These couple of simple tricks can make a world of difference in the boys bathroom, though it won’t ensure a spotless room.
This post is sponsored by American Standard, who has provided me with product. All reviews and opinions are my own.
Tricks to Help Keep a Boys Bathroom Clean
1. That Bathroom Rug – Pull the bathroom rug as far away from the toilet as possible. Trust me. You’ll still want to comfortably reach it from the shower or tub, but try to keep it at least a foot away. The closer your rug, the more that will land there – and rugs collect smells terribly.
2. Keep the Soap Close – Plant that bottle of soap right next to the edge of the sink and within the reach. When it’s placed father back, which tends to look more presentable at first glance, you’ll have trails of soap and splatter the whole path to the sink. Or, your kids will pick it up and pull it closer, which means it will be placed most likely on the edge of the counter. Having it close and right on the edge of the sink will also help encourage your kids to use it!
3. Your Shower Curtain – It’s nice to have a pretty shower curtain that’s closed and covering what toys and soaps may be hidden behind. But in the boys bathroom, pull that curtain to the far other side away from the toilet bowl. If it’s too close it will get swiped with dirty hands and germs.
4. Keep a Clock in the Bathroom – Give them a time limit. Or make it a competition. Encourage them to spend as little extra, unnecessary, time in the bathroom as possible. Their best record time doesn’t count if they left out the toothpaste or didn’t wash their hands. My boys will goof around in the bathroom if I don’t give them a time limit. Just tell them they have 5 minutes to brush their teeth, go to the bathroom, and tidy up after themselves. Having the clock will let them be accountable for their time spent.
5. Just One Roll – In most of my bathrooms, I keep extra toilet paper right by the toilet. As easy to reach when in a bind as possible. In my boys bathroom, though, those extra rolls must, absolutely must, be hidden away. I store them at the back of the under sink cabinet. When they just have the one roll, they treat it better. At least at my house. Before I was finding full rolls in the toilet, sunken, or ripped up shreds all over the bathroom. Stick to just one roll in their sights.
6. Clean Often – There is no getting around this one. You’ll want to clean a boys bathroom a couple of times a week. It’s much easier to do a couple of quick clean-ups through the week and stay on top of the splashes of pee that missed then combating a stinking bathroom that’s sat a week or two.
7. Invest in a Self-Cleaning Toilet! I’m certain it must have been a mom of boys who came up with the idea of a self-cleaning toilet. American Standard’s new ActiClean toilet is completely genius! No more elbow deep in the toilet bowl scrubbing off the grime and build up. You can quickly tidy up the bathroom and around the toilet, then hit the built-in quick clean or deep clean wash button and let the toilet do all the dirty work.
A couple of weeks ago, we shared our cleaning shortcuts to quickly clean our home, including our new favorite cleaning secret, our ActiClean Self-Cleaning Toilet by American Standard. After a couple of weeks using this amazing toilet, we’re convinced – every parent, and especially moms of boys, needs this toilet!
Seriously, this toilet is so cool. It has a cleaning cartridge that can be replaced, as needed. Then, just choose a quick or a deep cleaning cycle. The solution will dispense into the toilet with a flush and then soak for a bit, and flush out with a clean rinse of water.
Here’s a quick demo:
It’s surprisingly not inside the bowl, though that can be bad. It’s those darn screws where the toilet seat attaches.
The ActiClean Self-Cleaning Toilet offers the solution. Just pop off the toilet seat off completely and cleaning is so much easier, and more effective. I’m in love with this feature!
The seat is super comfy, too, with a curved seat that really makes the bathroom trip more cozy. And the inner rim of the toilet bowl is a single, smooth line so no hidden grooves to need to scrub. American Standard thought of everything. And if you have boys, you need this toilet. Like yesterday.
Connect with American Standard on Facebook, Instagram @American_Standard, Twitter @AMStandard and on their Pinterest and YouTube channel!
So many great tips to keep ay bathroom clean really. I have two boys and they sure do get the bathroom dirty!
I have two boys in my house aka my son and my husband and I cannot wait to put these tips to use! My bathrooms are a disaster area!
I have two boys, so these are great suggestions for me. I need that toilet lid! So much gross stuff everywhere! lol
I need this toilet. The fact that the whole seat is detachable makes it so much easier to clean. I don’t have any boys but having a self-cleaning toilet would be amazing.
I think these are some good strategies. I hadn’t thought of keeping a clock in the room to keep them from rushing!
Every boy mom should read your post, the tips and advice are just perfect. I survived TWO sons who are now off at college, so believe me I’ve been there and done that.
This is one fancy looking toilet. I would love to have one. Boys are the worst in the bathroom.
These are some really good tips. I don’t have any boys though, just girls. They can get messy in the bathroom though too.
We have two family baths in our home.
My son is a very neat bathroom user so I lucked out.
I apparently need to have my boys read this post. I have 6 kids who all share a bathroom (3 are boys) it always smells like a urinal in there because of the misses from the boys!
Cleaning often is key. My son leaves quite a mess in the bathroom at 11!
The tip about the rug made me laugh. I need to do that with my boys’ bathroom.
Boy bathrooms are a bit untidy. This looks so great to have in there.
OH MY GOSH – Where was that toilet when I was raising my kids. We raised 10 kids (5 boys and 5 girls) in a house with only 2 bathrooms. (Go figure, now that they are all grown we live in a 5 bedroom 4 bath home – sigh.)This would have been a dream come true. LOL, I’m still gonna check it out, because HEY who need more work!
it is so gross how boys make the bathroom! My daughter gets so grossed out LOL! Thank you for the tips!
I have never heard of a self cleaning toilet! That pop off toilet seat is absolutely brilliant too. I will be taking a look at those next time we need to replace ours.
Wow!!! That toilet is AMAZING! I love these tips, too. I’ll pass them onto my friends with kids!
Oh…I had to laugh reading this! 🙂 Love the idea of keeping the rug away from the toilet! And hiding the toilet paper…haha…so true! I really love the self cleaning toilet! When we have to replace ours…I am going to look into those!
Wow I Didn’t know there was such a cool Toilet out there. Thanks for letting me know about it!
Boys are just terrible sometimes. i like your tips a whole lot. Keeping things clean and teaching them early is key.
Im sharing this with my daughter. She has two boys, her son and her hubby!
These are really good tricks. Boys leave the bathroom always messy. Thanks