AS MENTIONED last week, living alone puts on your shoulder responsibilities of keeping one's self healthy and one's space squeaky clean. Solo living requires that you budget your money, eat healthy, and scrub your own bathroom regularly.
Years into young adulthood and after dozens of strange houses I've lived in since college, I learned that one of my favorite household chores is cleaning my bathroom -- that is if I don't share it with anybody else. The last time I had that "luxury" was when my sister and I lived in Ma-a. We had our own bathroom so I was comfortable scrubbing the wall to floor tiles on my knees. When the place smells of strong bleach after everything, that's when I feel satisfied.
But I'm careful when I share the bathroom with strangers. I just clean as I go but not as intense and obsessed as with our own bathroom in Ma-a.
Let me share with you some cleaning hacks for the bathroom (and other parts of the house) I've learned from the internet that you might also find helpful when cleaning your own spaces.
Tiles
When cleaning stubborn spaces, baking soda is your best friend.
In killing mold and mildew living just in the comforts of your grouts, baking soda might be the solution you're looking for. Dissolve 1/4 tablespoon of baking soda in a small (approximately 16 oz) spray bottle. Spray it in areas where mold and mildew are found. Wait for a few minutes before rinsing. And repeat the process and let it air dry this time.
For more stubborn cases, you can also use vinegar and mix it with the dissolved baking soda. The mixture is more powerful and guarantees cleanliness in your tiles.
Toilet bowl
It's easy to just grab toilet bowl solution/soaps from the cleaning aisle of the grocery stores. Mix with bleach, water, and sometimes muriatic acid, that works. But there are also more natural alternatives -- those that don't hurt the skin, eyes, and nose.
You can even make your own! This one I saw online. Mix together 160 grams of baking soda and 60 ml of lemon juice. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 tablespoon vinegar. Add this to the baking soda-lemon mixture carefully, one drop at a time. After that, mix in your choice of fragrance oil, about 15 to 20 drops.
You form this into balls with your hands and set aside to dry overnight. Once completely dry, put them inside an airtight container. Whenever you feel like your toilet bowl needs some cleaning, put in drop one ball of this. You can do this two to three times a week.
Stains
Depending on the fabric, there are actually a number of stain-removal solutions with ingredients that are natural and can easily be found in your kitchen.
You might have a sofa in your place or an upholstered piece of furniture that, unfortunately, had stains on them that you wish to remove. I chanced upon a stain-removal recipe that has simple ingredients that you can mix at home. You need to prepare white vinegar, water, 1 tbsp dishwashing soap, and 1 tbsp baking soda. Mix equal parts of the vinegar and the water before adding the soap and the baking soda. Stir well and transfer in a spray container.
You can spray this solution on your sofa and wipe with a clean cloth. The stain is supposedly easier to remove with this solution. You can choose to air dry or use a hair blower to dry the sofa.