Cleaning Out the Cleaning Supplies

Okay, so here’s the thing… we have a lot of various cleaning supplies, and they all cohabit nicely in a cupboard above the utility sink in the laundry room. The problem is that we have multiple open bottles of the same product and some products I’m pretty certain haven’t been manufactured in either of the last two decades.

Yesterday, as I opened the cleaning supply cupboard to put away some Tilex I had purchased at Costco, complete with a refill container of course, I couldn’t. So, yes, it was finally time after all these years to get rid of crap. So I pulled everything out, and the first things I threw away were the bottles with broken spray nozzles. These bottles had been used over and over again, and not for their original product, but for a sanitizer bleach-water solution (1 tablespoon bleach to 1 quart water) and a cleaning bleach-water solution (1 part bleach to 4 parts water.) I had recently picked up a cheap spray bottle at the grocery store for the specific purpose of replacing the sanitizer version, figuring I’ll just pour out some of the water and add in more bleach for cleaning purposes. I’m cheap, did I mention that, so the fact that I bought a spray bottle WITH NOTHING IN IT is like a really huge step for me!

After that, I looked for like-products, such as the three open bottles of Lysol Kitchen Cleaner, and combined them into one. I then decided to toss the various brands of carpet cleaners that were near empty, as we got rid of all but one area rug in the house, which resides in the dining room, and is easily hosed off and dried outside for cleaning. Once everything was sorted into toss and keep, the toss got, er, tossed, and the keep I organized into purposes. I put the Tilex and mold inhibitor/killer stuff together, the kitchen cleaner and bleach solution together, the wood floor cleaners together, the wood furniture cleaners and dusting spray together, and finally the ammonia and vinegar. The Febreeze I put front and center, as whoever invented this stuff is a godsend for people with pets! This way, when I reach for a product, it is easily found without having to move everything out of the way first.

I do have other cleaning supplies, but they tend to be in areas that make sense for their purposes. I keep my soap under the kitchen sink, both dishwashing and liquid hand soap. I also keep the ceramic/glass stovetop cleaner in there too, as well as the stainless steel & aluminum cleaner and silver cream for pots, pans and baking sheets during their once yearly deep cleaning to get all the residue that has a tendency to stick during cooking and baking, even after cleaning. But these are other posts for this week, as it being spring, it is time for spring cleaning!