Best bathroom cleaner: Quality sprays, gels and pastes for toilets, showers, sinks and bathroom floors

Cleaning the bathroom has long been one of the most dreaded household chores. However, hours of scrubbing and sweating can be reduced to minutes of easy-going work if you have the best bathroom cleaner at your disposal.

Whether you’re looking for a multi-purpose cleaner to keep things simple, or a specific product for a stubborn job, there has never been a wider range of options for keeping your WC in order. You can choose from a multitude of sprays, foams, gels and pastes with various strengths and purposes.

Below you’ll find our handy buying guide, as well as our round-up of the best budget-friendly and environmentally conscious bathroom cleaners. The common element between all the products in our selection is that they actually get the job done – removing hassle and stress from your daily life, and transforming your bathroom into a source of pride.

Best bathroom cleaner: At a glance

• Best budget all round bathroom cleaner: The Pink Stuff Foam Bathroom Cleaner
• Best limescale remover: Cillit Bang 100% Limescale Remover
• Best refillable bathroom kit: Spruce Bathroom Kit
• Best environmentally friendly bathroom cleaner: Bio-D Toilet Cleaner

How to choose the best bathroom cleaner for you

How many products do I need to clean my bathroom?

The easy answer here is: as little or as many as you need. If you have a simple bathroom set-up your best bet is probably a multi-purpose cleaning spray or bathroom wipes for keeping your surfaces shiny and pristine. If your bathroom is tiled or has lots of nooks, unsightly dirt and grime can build up and a specific grout cleaner or abrasive paste might need to be enlisted. 

Similarly, depending on the hardness of the water in your local area and some other factors, limescale build-up can be a problem for showers, sinks and even toilets. A powerful and targeted limescale remover can easily vanquish these stubborn limescale deposits.

READ NEXT: The best toilet brush to buy

I have allergies/small children, are there chemical-free cleaners I can use?

Thankfully, the days of cleaning the house top to bottom with bleach and having to crack a window are now behind us. Over the past few years there has been a welcome increase in the range, availability, and affordability of gentler cleaning products.

As time goes on and refinements are made, these milder products are catching up with the strength and efficacy of their harsher smelling counterparts. These developments are especially welcomed by those of us with allergies, sensitive lungs and underlying conditions, as well as people with delicate co-habitants such as small children and pets. Keep an eye peeled for products marked ‘hypoallergenic’, ‘non-toxic’ or ‘eco-friendly’ as these products tend to be less irritating to the nose and skin.

Are there reduced-plastic options available for bathroom cleaning?

In tandem with more environmentally friendly formulas, there has been a move towards more thoughtful packaging in the cleaning industry. Eco-friendly lines tend to come in more sustainably produced or recyclable containers. 

Cleaning products have also joined the many household items now available via subscription. Refillable containers and tablet-based formulas are just some of the ways sustainable cleaning companies aim to cut down on plastic waste.

READ NEXT: Best shower head to buy

The best bathroom cleaning products to buy in 2023

1. Bio-D Toilet Cleaner: Best environmentally friendly bathroom cleaner

Price: £3 | Buy now from Big Green SmileIf you want to keep your loo fresh and clean without inviting strong smells and harsh chemicals into your home, Bio-D toilet cleaner is the product you’ve been searching for. The standard version is fragrance-free, as well as hypoallergenic, and in keeping with the rest of its products, the toilet cleaner is made from ethically sourced ingredients. If you’re the type of person who likes to scour said ingredients list, you’ll be happy to know you won’t find any petrochemicals, phosphates or preservatives.

It also comes in 100% recyclable and sustainable packaging, and its recently updated formula is designed for a general clean, as well as for tackling limescale, allowing you to keep your porcelain and your conscience squeaky clean.

Key details – Size: 750ml; Suitable for: All toilets; Type: Concentrated toilet cleaner

2. Pro Kleen Grout Cleaner: Best bathroom cleaner for grout

Price: £14 | Buy now from Amazon

When tackling the bathroom, cleaning out your grout is one part of the regime that can be easily overlooked. This grout cleaner is an effective and reliable product for keeping on top of it.

Pro-Kleen is highly concentrated, meaning a single bottle will go a long way, while still providing strong and consistent results.

Its 3-in-1 formula is designed to not only clean and brighten, but also remove stains, mould and fungus. It also works to clean your tile surfaces, not just the grout lines in between, and its grease-free formula means that there’s no sticky residue after cleaning.

Key details – Size: 750ml; Suitable for: Tiles; kitchen and bathroom; Type: Spray

3. The Pink Stuff Foam Bathroom Cleaner: Best budget all-round bathroom cleaner

Price: £8 (3pk) | Buy now from Amazon

While its sister product is undoubtedly popular, a do-it-all cleaning paste might not be the best option for you. That’s where The Pink Stuff Foam Bathroom Cleaner comes in. This cleaner has the same level of dirt-busting utility and value for money as the paste version, but in a familiar and easy to use spray bottle.

Its non-drip formula is designed to cling to surfaces for longer and penetrate dirt, grime, and grease for a deep clean. It also removes and works to prevent limescale, giving you sparkling and streak-free surfaces. This, along with its gentle, pleasant scent and cruelty free guarantee, make it one of the best all-round cleaning products and a key addition to any bathroom cleaning arsenal.

Key details – Size: 750ml (x3); Suitable for: All surfaces; Type: Cleaning spray

4. Spruce Bathroom Kit: Best refillable bathroom cleaning kit

Price: £8 | Buy now from Spruce

The Spruce bathroom starter kit is a wonderful jumping-off point for anyone looking to reduce plastic-use in their home. It comes with a reusable aluminium Eternity spray bottle, and one refill packet, which is made of compostable paper.

To use, simply empty the refill packet into your spray bottle, fill with tap water, and get cleaning. The cleaner is non-abrasive, has a soft eucalyptus scent and works well on limescale, soap scum and water marks. Each refill lasts for roughly two months, meaning the kit provides good value for money, as well as being good for the planet. Spruce also guarantees that its product is vegan, cruelty-free, and British-made, making it an obvious recommendation for our list.

Key details – Size: 500ml; Suitable for: All surfaces; Type: Spray

5. Dettol Big and Strong Bathroom Cleansing Wipes: Best bathroom cleaner wipes

Price: £4 | Buy now from Wilko

When tackling a variety of large surfaces in your home, sometimes nothing is simpler to reach for than a cleaning wipe. These robust cleaning wipes from Dettol work as advertised – they’re big and twice as strong as normal cleaning wipes, making them the ideal product for tougher jobs. 

The wipes work well on most types of dirt and grime, removing soap scum and limescale, and less visible nasties, killing bacteria, such as e-coli. They’re suitable for use on everything from bathroom sinks and toilet bowls, to glazed tiles, shower screens and glass surfaces, and can even be used on vinyl, lino and sealed laminated floors. 

If that wasn’t enough, they also have lovely fresh scent and decent resealable packaging to keep the wipes from drying out.

Key details – Size: 25pk; Suitable for: All surfaces; Type: Cleaning wipe

6. The Pink Stuff: Best bathroom cleaning paste

Price: £6 | Buy now from Amazon

Usually cult-status is reserved for movies and rockstars, but somehow The Pink Stuff has achieved this standing as a cleaning product, with the paste becoming a favourite on TikTok’s cleaning hashtags. Users have attested to its uncanny ability to tackle worked-on stains that other products fail to budge. 

This bubble-gum coloured cleaning paste is also highly versatile and simple to use, a quick dab on a damp cloth or sponge and its ready to be rubbed onto sinks, showers, tiles, as well as outdoor grills and garden tools – so buy it for the bathroom and keep if for using all over the house.

The Pink Stuff is also free from strong chemicals and is non-toxic. On top of all that, it’s an economical purchase, – a single pot will last for months. The one thing to watch out for is that it’s mildly abrasive, so avoid using it on plastic, acrylic surfaces or highly-polished metal.

Key details – Size: 500g; Suitable for: All surfaces except plastic, acrylic, or highly-polished metal; Type: Cleaning paste

7. Cillit Bang 100% Limescale Remover: Best bathroom cleaner for limescale

Price: £4 | Buy now from Amazon

Several products on this list have limescale removal as one of their multi-functional attributes. However, not all limescale is created equal and some jobs require a more direct solution. This limescale remover from Cillit Bang is the go-to product to enlist for tougher and more specific limescale build-up.

In testing, the product has proved fully effective at removing limescale, soap scum, and rust, as well as stain removal. What’s more, recent changes to the formula mean it now offers mild water and dirt repellent properties to surfaces it’s used on. This minimises stain build-up in between cleans, making clean-up easier next time.

Key details – Size: 750ml; Suitable for: All surfaces; Type: Cleaning spray