Utility room cleaning

For comedy purposes, ramming cleaning items, and cleaning equipment into a cleaning cupboard may well be successful and earn a raucous chuckle, but it really isn’t a practical approach to maintaining a logical cleaning cupboard, laundry cupboard or utility area.

This can be a wonderful space, especially if it’s nicely organised. It’s understandable when systems fail if they have to rely on several people using them, but the utility/laundry room needs to fulfil only a couple of purposes: it houses your washing machine and dryer and stocks all of the products you need to keep your house clean.

My laundry room is tiny – at the moment – so I’ve had to get very creative about storing the cleaning products and using the room effectively. Honestly, there’s just enough room for a washing machine. Five years ago, when we set up our utility room, we seriously lacked space – let’s call it a cleaning cupboard – was a source of frustration, but I stood and gazed at the space for a while until I stumbled on the solution. I had to build up!

We tiled the floor, which took all of 30 minutes, then fixed open shelves on the three walls from the top of the machine to the ceiling. With the washing machine whirring away, I decided what cleaning products I needed to store in the room.

Naturally, those cleaning items you use most frequently should be in grabbing reach. A pole hung to the wall is perfect for a reduced-space spray hanger. Things that you don’t use all that often – like wood spray, stain remover and drain cleaner should be put deeper or higher in the cupboard.

A trip to Ikea will sort you out with piles of small, clear boxes, which sit comfortably on the shelves. Arrange your cleaning products into type, room or frequency of use. The boxes in my cleaning cupboard have labels for laundry, shoe polishing, housewife DIY, and dusting. For the boxes get creative and produce a little label, so you know what needs to be in the box – this will help with keeping stock of which products you need to refill, and what you have plenty of.

Up high, place the cleaning products you only use occasionally and low down put the stuff you use most days. In order to make life easier, I pull out all of the kitchen rolls and stack them on a shelf as soon as I buy them, so I don’t have piles of plastic that is left and needs to be cleaned up at another time.

At Ikea, again, I found a narrow, two-section laundry basket that slides perfectly down the side of the washing machine and makes organising colours and whites incredibly easy. Staying with the laundry, instead of having a plastic laundry basket, I use Ikea shopping bags, which I fold back down after each wash and stash it in a basket that is suspended from the bottom shelf, so it’s in easy reach and out of the way.

With the ironing board, mop and broom clipped onto the cupboard/room door, I have ample room to store all of my cleaning products and access the washing machine easily. Honestly, a little time and planning will transform your comedy cleaning cupboard into a useful, practical cleaning resource – how would you feel if you know that entering the laundry room would be a pleasure (OK, that may be taking it a little far!) rather than a tiresome chore?