How To Organize Cleaning Supplies
Updated: Mar. 15, 2023
Use these tips and tricks to organize your cleaning supplies and make your cleaning projects that much easier.
Store Cleaning Supplies in a Single Spot
No matter what cleaning task is at hand, storing all of your cleaning gear in one location makes it easier to start. Ideally, store your cleaning supplies on the main floor. Look for space in a utility closet or kitchen and/or bathroom cupboards. Your main floor laundry room is another terrific option.
If the main floor isn’t possible, the basement is the next-best choice. Look for a spot with room for shelves, hooks and some floor space. If you can carve out a spot near a sink, it will be easier to fill and dump buckets of water and wash your gear when you finish cleaning.
If you live in a temperate climate, consider in a cabinet in your garage to keep supplies protected from dirt, insects and mice.
Whatever location you choose, be sure to keep everything out of the reach of children and pets.
Hang Brooms, Dusters and Mops From Hooks
Maximize vertical space by installing hooks in your cleaning storage area to hang long-handled items like brooms, microfiber mops and telescoping dusters. Most come with a hole in the handle to make this easy.
If any long-handled items lack holes in the handle, store them in a five-gallon bucket against the wall so items can lean. Tuck dusting attachments and window squeegees inside the bucket or on a nearby shelf for easy access.
Another option: Self-adhesive gripper holds.
Organize Cleaning Essentials in a Handled Caddy
Corral all of your basic cleaning supplies like sprays, liquids, scrubbing agents and brushes in a caddy. You’ll have all your supplies at the ready and easily transportable from room to room.
Use a plastic cleaning caddy or other handled container and place it on an easy-to-access shelf. Plastic is a good choice because it’s lightweight and easy to clean.
Another option: This wearable cleaning supplies caddy. It won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s rated 4.6 stars on Amazon with more than 2,600 reviews.
Store Hydrogen Peroxide in a Spray Bottle
Hydrogen peroxide is a natural disinfectant and an eco-friendly replacement for chemical disinfecting sprays. Unfortunately, it’s often sold in a pour bottle.
If you can’t find hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, outfit the pour bottle with a sprayer, or repurpose an empty spray bottle. Be sure to choose an opaque bottle because hydrogen peroxide breaks down when exposed to light.
Label the bottle with a label maker or a permanent marker so you (and others) know what’s inside. Tuck it in your cleaning caddy to keep this germ-buster right at your fingertips.
Store Baking Soda in a Shaker Bottle
Repurpose a Parmesan cheese container to store baking soda for cleaning. Remove the original wrapper and add a label to remind you what’s inside.
The shaker container makes it easy to dispense baking soda where you need it. Plus you can close the container completely, which is hard to do with the cardboard box baking soda usually comes in. Your baking soda will stay fresh longer, and you’ll avoid unwanted spills in your cleaning caddy.
Organize Specialty Cleaning Supplies by Project
If you have the shelf space, store items for a specific task together in a designated spot, or corral them in a plastic storage bin, cleaning caddy or handled bucket.
You can create a window-cleaning caddy and with a squeegee, newspaper, rubbing alcohol and liquid dish soap. Then next time it’s window-cleaning day, just grab your caddy and an empty bucket and you’re good to go. This approach can work well for floor and bathroom cleaning supplies and dusting essentials.
Keep Cleaning Cloths Fresh in Wire Baskets
Store microfiber cleaning cloths, cleaning rags and replacement microfiber mop heads and dusting attachments in a wire basket. Establish one basket for clean cloths and store it on a shelf near your cleaning essentials caddy. This way, you can simply grab what you need before starting a cleaning project.
Use a second basket to collect used and dirty cloths waiting to be laundered. Drape damp towels over the side of the basket or the handle to allow them to air dry so they don’t smell.
Store Kitchen Cleaning Supplies Under the Sink
Simplify daily kitchen cleanup by stashing all your cleaning essentials under the sink.
Start by lining the cabinet with a waterproof shelf liner, then add shoe-size plastic drawers and plastic bins. This prime storage space is a great spot for dish soap, dishwasher detergent, a sink scrubber, sponges, kitchen-cleaning sprays, cleaning cloths and brushes.
Another option: Build pull out under-sink storage trays. Organize items by type or task, keeping daily-use items closest to the front.
Use an Over-the-Door Organizer for Cleaning Supplies
If there aren’t enough closets in your home to dedicate one to cleaning supplies, create space with an over-the-door organizer. This can be used on any available door in the pantry, linen closet, basement or even a bathroom.
Use this organizer to store spray cans and bottles, shaker cans of powdered cleaners, squeeze bottles and tubs of paste cleaners. You could also store packets of disposable wipes, boxes of disposable dusting sheets and disposable sponges in the storage workhorse.
Note: If you have children or pets, only use an over-the-door rack if you can lock the door with the rack inside. Also, put any potentially dangerous products at the top, and use the bottom bins for cleaning cloths and other harmless items.
Hang Cleaning Sprays From Cabinet Doors
Keep often-used spray bottles at arm’s reach with this simple hack. Hang a door towel bar on the inside of a kitchen or bathroom cabinet door and hang the bottles from the sprayer.
This towel bar can be used with a s-hook and a binder clip to hang rubber gloves and cleaning towels so they can dry between uses.
Use a Mini Over-the-Door Organizer to Store Cleaning Essentials
Another way to keep often-used cleaning items handy: An over cabinet door organizer. This can be used in the bathroom to store disinfecting wipes, cleaning sprays and disposable sponges. Or hang one from the kitchen sink cabinet door to organize dishwasher pods, dish soap, stove cleaning supplies and sink and countertop sprays.
Originally Published: March 15, 2023
