Guest post

Sorry the blog has been a little quiet this week but work has been completely manic, I am still itching to tell you so much news (I know I am a tease arent I). It has been a crazy few weeks & I am a little shattered but I am off for a well deserved weekend away with the family at Camber Sands so I am going to leave you with a very special guest today, talented interior designer & bathroom specialist Helen Davies from hdbathroomdesigner here she spills the beans on her top tips for purchasing a new bathroom

Keeping your bathroom suite looking like new

A new bathroom suite can be quite a hefty investment. And once you’ve scrimped and saved, and planned and waited, you don’t want your new suite’s looks to fade too fast. How, then, do you keep your new bathroom suite looking like new?

Buying a good quality bathroom suite in the first place is key to the longevity of your new bathroom. While greater cost isn’t necessarily an indicator of higher quality, cost does give you something to go by when you’re comparing bathroom suites. Check how robust a set of sanitaryware feels and check its specifications; compare your observations on different suites and choose the most robust you can afford. If you need some assistance companies such as Finish Touch Interiors will be more than happy to assist you in your search.

When things are allowed to get dirty they start to perform less effectively. Whether that’s dirt in the runners making your shower door open less smoothly than it once did or clogged drains making your basin and bath drain slowly, a build up of dust and dirt can cause problems. So assuming that you’ve bought good quality products that are designed to be used in a bathroom (no unfinished wooden furniture, for example), then once everything’s in situ, proper bathroom maintenance is mainly a question of cleaning.

And regular cleaning is more important than deep cleaning. Sure, you need to give the whole room a really thorough clean reasonably often - once a week is ideal, but we’re all busy and maybe once a fortnight or even once a month is more realistic - but spending a few minutes every day wiping down all your bathroom surfaces will make this ‘big’ clean a much easier task, and keep the place looking great all the time.  

When it comes to cleaning materials you’ll find that, again, cost isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality. Try out a few products and get one that works for you. Some people use bleach and cream cleaner on everything. Others swear by cleaning simply with lemon juice and white vinegar. Yet more people simply use an all purpose spray cleaner all around the home. The main thing is to avoid using anything abrasive on your shiny new surfaces, as even a mild abrasive will cause them to dull over time. Regular cleaning will mean that you can shine up your surfaces without having to scrub.

Finally, minimise everyday wear and tear by using a proper step stool rather than standing on your bathroom surfaces (when you need to change a lightbulb, for example); don’t rest heavy or rough objects against or on top of your bathroom suite; shade your bathroom suite from direct sunlight to prevent yellowing and fading. And check your bathroom over regularly. Minor damage is best repaired before it gets worse - there’s no point in putting off the inevitable.

This post was written by Helen Davies who is a keen blogger,Pinterest addict and currently works as a freelance writer. Photossourced from Better Bathrooms