Knowing how to organize cleaning supplies properly is one of those home tasks that takes under an hour and immediately improves the experience of your kitchen and bathrooms. Most households have more cleaning products than they realize, stored in more places than is practical, with duplicates accumulating quietly in every cabinet. This guide works through the process the way we approach it at The Uncluttered Life, Inc. — one focused step at a time.
Set your timer for 60 minutes and take a before photo.
Pull Everything Out and Find the Full Picture
Organizing cleaning supplies starts with locating all of them. People tend to store cleaning products in several places at once: under the kitchen sink, under the laundry room sink, in a bathroom closet, in the garage, and in the pantry. Pull from all of those locations and make one pile. This is the KonMari Method® principle at work — seeing everything in the category at once makes it far easier to make decisions.
Keep bottles upright as you move them, and check that every cap is secure. Anything leaking should either be transferred to a different container or wrapped in a plastic bag and discarded. Under the kitchen sink is generally the most practical storage location for everyday supplies — unless you have young children and a particularly clever one who has figured out childproof locks, in which case a high shelf in the laundry room or pantry is the safer choice.
If you have partial bottles or duplicates you are not going to use, Habitat for Humanity's Restore is a genuinely grateful recipient for this type of donation. Volunteers there always receive them warmly. If there is not one near you, check with a local charity or look into safe disposal options for cleaning products in your area.
Group and Consolidate What You Have
Once everything is out and lined up, look for duplicates. If you have three bottles of the same spray in various stages of empty, consolidate down to one or two and recycle the empties. Under-sink cabinets almost always yield near-empty bottles, duplicates, and at least one product that is leaking or no longer the right color or smell.
After consolidating, group with intention. Consider whether any of your products do double duty and whether you genuinely need both. This is also a useful moment to assess whether your purchasing habits still reflect your values. If you have moved toward natural or cruelty-free products over time, you may still have older chemical products that no longer fit how you want to clean. I try to purchase only natural, cruelty-free products where possible, and I have found that almost all of my preferred brands offer refill bags or bottles. Buying refills instead of new pump bottles reduces plastic waste meaningfully and tends to cost less over time. If reducing environmental impact matters to you, this is one of the easiest places to act on it.
Edit Down to What You Actually Use
Decide what stays and what goes. Under my kitchen sink, I keep a small and deliberate selection: a liquid countertop spray, Barkeepers Friend for the sink and stain removal, cruelty-free dish soap, and a stainless steel cleaner for appliances. For the dishwasher, I use Dropps detergent pods, which use minimal packaging and work extremely well. I am also in the process of replacing paper towels with Swedish Dish Cloths from the same company, and looking at Geometry's Not Paper Towels as another option. For the bathrooms I have two natural cleaning products, something for the floors, and lemon oil for furniture. Most of what I own does double duty.
The less you own in this category, the more conscious you become about what you buy. When the cabinet is not overflowing, you notice when something runs low, you replace it thoughtfully, and you stop accumulating products you never finish. Donate anything excess to someone who will use it before letting it sit under your sink until it expires.
Return Everything to Its Place
I keep all my cleaning supplies upright in two mdesign plastic bins under the kitchen sink. Nothing tips, and if anything does spill, the bin contains it. Everything is visible at a glance and I can tell immediately when something needs to be replaced. A small glass bowl holds the sink stopper and drain cover. That is the entire system.
Simple containment is the goal. You want to open the cabinet and immediately find what you need — not dig through a crowd of half-empty bottles to locate the one thing you were looking for. Once the cabinet is this manageable, keeping it that way takes almost no effort.
Take an after photo. You are finished for the day.
Steps provided by professional organizers at The Uncluttered Life, Inc.
Pull the Next Card
The Declutter Deck® covers every room and category in your home with the same focused, step-by-step approach. Each of the 52 cards gives you one specific task sized for 30 to 60 minutes. Tag us at @lifehackdecks with your before and after photos.
