I am an extreme neat person. Ever since I was a child, I organized myself for pleasure, annoying my friends by arranging plush toys and meticulously arranging furniture for dollhouses. These days, even though I’m all grown up, I clean my countertops while I wait for the coffee to brew and vacuum the couch weekly.
But I also have a secret: I absolutely hate deep cleaning — the kind that takes hours and requires a laundry list of supplies and concoctions.
My biggest gripe with big deep cleaning tasks is that they eat up my precious weekends, which I firmly believe are for vacations. Of course, there are some chores that I can’t avoid, but I prefer the kind of cleaning that is built into my daily routine.
That’s why I’m eternally grateful to a friend who introduced me to an ingenious time-saving trick for holding a chopstick in the shower — and found the best one to use: Scotch-Brite Dishwand.
I like this bar for its simple aesthetic and practical soap dispenser. Firm yet flexible bristles get deep into grout lines and scrub better than the average sponge. Plus, at less than $7, it’s cheap enough to stash in every bathroom in my home.
About once a week, when I spot a little build-up out of the corner of my eye while lathering and rinsing, I just reach for the dishwashing brush and scrub a little on the floor, the tiles, the handle, and even the shower head. This process doesn’t take me more than a minute, but the results are amazing.
While there are many cleaning products and DIY recipes out there, I stick to a simple formula of equal parts dish soap and distilled vinegar, and I usually refill the bar soap container every three weeks.
Now I no longer spend an hour every weekend cleaning my showers and tubs. Instead, with a little weekly maintenance, my shower stays nice and clean. It’s such a simple hack, but it has changed my cleaning routine and lifted a huge load. With cleaning it’s like with many things: a little maintenance goes a long way in keeping my home looking fresh.
Buy: Scotch-Brite Dishwand Cleaning Brush, $6.47