Organize Household Cleaners (Day 9): 30 Day Organization Challenge

I was looking around my kitchen today and realized it had been a while since I’d given my household cleaners any attention. Since moving into our new house, I’ve finally settled into a system I really love under the sink, so I figured it was time to update this post and show you what’s working for us now.

First thing first, let’s pull everything out from under our sink. Go ahead and wipe down the cabinet and wash any bins you are using to organize your cleaners.

Now we need to go through all of our cleaners. This is another one of those areas where I think people have a hard time letting go. How many times have you bought a cleaner that someone else raved about only not to like it? And then it just sits in your cupboard. Is that just me? If we aren’t going to use the cleaner, why hold on to it? Give it to a friend or dispose of it. It’s okay not to use it.

After you have gone through all of your cleaners and decided which ones to keep, see if there are any that need to be refilled, or combined. Now is the time to take care of all of that. Do you have old sponges that need thrown away? Go for it! Let’s only put back what we use, what we want, and what belongs under our sink. Everything else must go.

One quick tip: I like to store my cleaners in my kitchen, but also in the rooms that I use them. So, if you look under my sink, you won’t find my bathroom cleaners. They are in my bathrooms. I find it easier to do a quick cleanup, if the cleaners I need are nearby.

Under Sink Organization Products I’m Using Now

After a bit of trial and error in the new house, I landed on a setup I’m really happy with. I use a lazy Susan turntable for my sprays and bottles. It makes it so easy to spin around and grab exactly what I need without digging. Then I added a few labeled bins to corral everything else: one for sponges, one for cleaning cloths, one for dishwasher pods, and one for smaller cleaner bottles and pods. Having everything labeled means anyone in my house can put things back in the right spot, not just me.

I ended up going with these clear stackable drawers for the sponges, cleaning cloths, dishwasher pods, and cleaner bottles. I love that they’re clear so everyone can see exactly what’s inside, and the labels make it foolproof to put things back where they belong. They stack neatly, which makes great use of the vertical space under the sink.

That’s it for today’s project. Hopefully it was a quick one for you after yesterdays closet organization. Remember, if you fall behind or any of these projects take you longer, just slow it down. Every one of these organization projects I do a couple times a year. If this is your first time trying to get things in order, be patient with yourself. Staying clutter free and organized is a marathon, not a sprint 🙂