5 Things Pros Always Do When Organizing a Cleaning Closet (2024)

If you're looking to make the process of getting your home into tip top shape a little simpler, you'll want to start with revamping your cleaning closet. After all, taking on a big clean is even more daunting when your supplies are difficult to locate or who knows how old.

By taking some key steps ahead of time, you'll ensure that completing important household chores will feel like less of a battle. We asked three professional organizers to weigh in with their five top tips for revamping a cleaning closet, and they're sharing tons of valuable insights below.

Take Everything Off the Shelves

A true cleaning project involves dealing with a little bit of mess at first. To get started on revamping your closet, you'll want to take everything off of your shelves. "As with any good organizing project, the first step is to always do a good purging," notes Carly Booze, the owner of POP Organizing.

Then, it's time to examine what you have on hand. "Make sure you don’t have a bunch of bottles that have an inch or less left in them and toss anything that hasn’t been used in over a year," she says. "If you haven’t cleaned with it that much time, you are not likely to use it ever again."

This may also be an opportunity to determine whether your cleaning closet is located in an ideal spot or if you should switch things out of another storage closet and do some rejiggering. "Keep your cleaning closet in a place that’s easily accessible, so you don’t have to go searching for it," says Alejandra Rivera of Your Organizing Studio. "A closet near the kitchen or laundry room is a great spot."

Install Shelving

Incorporating shelving into your cleaning closet comes with many advantages. "Installing shelves is a great way to make use of vertical space and keep your cleaning products organized," says Rivera. You'll want to then stock up on storage solutions. "Use clear plastic bins to store items like sponges, gloves, and rags, so they’re easily accessible," she says.

Make Use of Wall Space

Don't let any precious square footage of your cleaning closet go to waste. "Use the wall space to hang mops, brooms, and any others—consider a three-tier cart to put your sprays, towels, and other smaller supplies," says Booze."A bonus point is you can always tote the cart around the house with you for easy access to the supplies."

Organize Products Into Zones

It may seem tempting to place all of your products on your shelf and arrange them by purpose, height, or even color, but AshleyLa Fond, founder of home organization companyOf Space+ Mind, advises using a different method.

"One the best ways to set yourself up for success is to organize cleaning products into three categories: every day, specialty, and backstock," she comments. Everyday products are a pretty self-explanatory category, but specialty products refer to those that you reach for less often, explains La Fond. "Items in this category might be carpet cleaners, oven cleaners, and solutions with a more distinct purpose, like degreasers, silver polish, paint removers, drain cleaners, or upholstery cleaners," she notes.

When it comes to backstock, La Fond notes that creating such a category will prevent clutter and keep you more organized and focused. "Avoid having multiple half-used bottles by creating a backstock area," she says. "Keep only one of each cleaner in each category, and move the rest into backstock, storing these on the higher shelves in your cleaning closet."

While you're creating these zones, why not add some labels to each respective bin? "Labels are a great way to keep everything organized and easy to find," says Rivera. "This way, you’ll know where everything is and won’t waste time searching for things." A label maker can be indispensable in creating a streamlined system.

Add a Lock

Cleaning closets are full of all types of chemical products and therefore you'll want to ensure that they aren't easy for little ones to grab. "Store products safely and keep cleaning products out of reach of children and pets," says Rivera. "Store them on high shelves or in locked cabinets to prevent accidents."