Tidying up the Laundry Room and Organizing the Linen Closet

Yes, yes, I’m a little behind and just finished weeks 22 and 23 in 34 Weeks of Clean. Well actually I’m not done but I’ve come to a stopping point.

Last week that chore was cleaning and tidying the linen closet and the week before the chore was to tidy the bathroom.

Reflection

But before I start talking about what I did in those two rooms (because truthfully I’m not even done with them). I want to talk a little bit about why this deep cleaning of your home in 34 Weeks should be a regular thing.

Lately I’ve been helping a neighbor pack and prepare for her move. She really had it organized and well planned. I was impressed.  But as moves go when it came down to crunch time things just didn’t seem to go right. Too much stuff, not enough room, not enough time. And all hands on deck at the end!

And then the cleaning. That was the main job I volunteered for (along with some packing). My own move is still so fresh in my mind and I know this is the last step that nobody wants to get done. Some people call in a cleaning company. My friend aimed to do it herself but she just ran out of time.

I took on the cleaning and while taking it on I realized that 34 Weeks of Clean probably would have helped this process go smoother!

Now this neighbor already kept a neat and tidy home.  She and I had kind of gotten into the habit of sharing any decorating or home updating stories.  She had just put her home on the market so it still had that staged cleaning look but just a few months of living are all it takes to undo your great work.

Sometimes we clean up an area of our home and are so relieved it’s over we don’t think about cleaning it again, until the dirt or unkemptness is obvious and by then it’s way past due.

Another thing she I bemoaned often while all this packing was going on was all the stuff. It pays to go through your belongings. She unearthed items she had lost, gave away a lot of excess and came to the realization she had way more belongings than she would have thought.

If you haven’t joined us yet, start now. Get in there and start at square one with the Holiday Decorations. I’m working fast and furious on the ebook to hand out at the end of this but it’s only available for those who have joined in at least once.

Find out all the details over at Family, Faith, and Fridays.

Now on to my cleaning chores from these past two weeks.

Laundry Room

Back in the good ol’ days (last year before we moved) I had my laundry room on a nice routine. Once a month I would send the washing machine through the cleaning cycle, clean out the lint drawer, wipe down both machines, sweep and dust the room, and tidy up in general room. Well I haven’t done that in about 10 months so it’s high time I got back to it.

Our laundry room is really small. Like 5×5. Definitely one person in there at a time. I do have a little window and one day I mean to jazz it up a bit. But for now it just needed a little cleaning.

One of the first things I did was washed the detergent tray.  As you can see from the images below. It needed it. I took it out and scrubbed it down. I also wiped, and wiped, and wiped in the little drawer area where it goes.

I don’t really like to think of what that black stuff is but we already know don’t we. I have an older Whirlpool Duet Sport Washer and Dryer and they have a habit of becoming quite icky inside.  A couple of things that can help that are….

1. Leave the door open after washing so that the inside can air out.
2. Don’t leave wet laundry in there to ferment (I’m guilty of that ).
3. Run the clean washer program and wipe the seal monthly (guilty of not doing that).

 

Some other things I did were straighten up the teeny tiny shelves and wiped down both appliances. This room could really do with a makeover but that will come at another time.

 

Extra holding space behind my laundry room door.

Linen Closet

Sigh! I don’t really have a linen closet. The row of shelves in our master closet DO NOT COUNT as far as I’m concerned but it’s how I’m using them as I suppose somebody meant for them to house lineny things.

I removed everything and refolded it as best as could and put it back. Not much work there.

Don’t think I’m going to leave you hanging there. Perish the thought. I have some posts for you on…

• Organizing Your Linen Closet
• Laundry Care for Your Bed Linens
• Make Yellow Bedroom Pillows White Again