A mom on TikTok unknowingly opened a can of worms when she came to the app recently with a question about bath time.
The mom, who goes by the username mama_tiktok_here wanted to know how often you’re really supposed to clean your bath tub if your kids use it regularly. The answers she got prove parents have strong feelings when it comes to disinfecting (or not disinfecting) their kids’ bathing space.
Do you clean the bathtub before every use?
The mom explains that she was caught by surprise when a mom posted in one of her Facebook groups asking if she should thoroughly clean the tub before each of her kids takes a bath.
“She asked if parents were washing the bathtub before giving their kids a bath. Are we supposed to be doing this? I mean, I’ll do a deep clean a couple times a month, but not every night,” she says. “Am I the crazy one?”
Parents sound off in the bath time battles
The post quickly amassed more than 420,000 views and thousands of parents took to the comment section to voice their opinions. Some responses expressed disgust that the question even had to be asked.
“My mother always cleaned the tub before every bath, so I do as well,” one person writes. “I do not bathe in a tub unless it is deep cleaned.”
“Every one who showers before the kids has their feet in the tub and [is] washing grime off their bodies,” another person adds. “Why wouldn’t you wash it?”
Other people seemed to share in the mom’s confusion or even admitted they’re just too tired to clean the tub before every single use.
“If by ‘clean’ she means throw a few splashes of hot water before they go in the tub, then sure,” one person writes.
“We do deep cleans when we think it needs it. I will maybe rinse the tub if it looks like there is something in it, but no, I’m not cleaning,” another person explains.
Many people took a middle of the road approach, saying they don’t deep clean before every single use, but they do rinse the tub with hot water or a quick cleaning solution after each bath. Writes one parent, “I do a quick little clean and spray with vinegar after each bath, and I usually do a quick rinse before filling the tub.”
So, how often should you clean a bathtub?
Bathrooms can harbor everything from E. Coli to the virus that causes staph infections. Things like soap scum, body oil and dead skin cells can also be found in the bathtub.
There’s no official rule dictating exactly how often the tub should be cleaned, but researchers who spoke with The Washington Post and NBC News suggest cleaning the tub thoroughly every week to every two weeks, though cleaning more often is recommended if it’s used a lot. Additionally, the experts behind MarthaStewart.com suggest rinsing and drying the tub completely after each use.
Commenters on TikTok point out that cleaning routines can be impacted by people’s work schedules, how many children they have and how educated they are about proper cleaning routines to being with. Some also say that how long people go between bathtub cleanings may be related to their culture and how they were raised.
Writes one person, “I guess maybe it’s a cultural thing because I know in a lot of Black and brown households, that’s the rule: You always clean the tub before you get in or out.”
Ultimately, the TikTok mom says she was grateful for the discussion, though she wishes people wouldn’t jump to conclusions about her own cleaning standards or anyone else’s.
“We can either be a society that wants to work together, learn from each other and have open discussions, or we can attack each other based on small little snippets of each other’s lives without getting any other information,” she says in a follow-up video. “For those of you that came with kindness, even if you didn’t agree with what my video is saying, you are the type of people I want to have in my society.”
