Laundry Room Day

Okay. I am a total loser! At least I will get my downstairs organized by Halloween! And my blogger friends-half the battle is continuing the battle!

When was the last time you cleaned under the lid of your washing machine? Mine was a LONG time ago. So start with that.
~GO CLEAN UNDER YOUR LID! (Tip of the day #1: Do you have some towels to wash? Turn the water on hot, add the soap and then with your rag clean away while the drum is filling. Use a tooth brush to get around any annoying objects (the bleach dispenser, who uses that thing anyway), and don’t forget the underside of the lid part.

You know the part with all the writing on it.
~Take you vacuum now and suck off all the lint that gathers on the top.

I also enjoy vacuuming off the lint trap itself, gives my dryer a new lease on life.
~Take you cleaning rag and quickly wipe off the dryer. It will thank you!
~Do you have a shelf? Cabinets? Cupboards? Drawers? WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
I have a shelf and two utility cabinets.

(I’ll call them cabinets because no one knows the difference!)

~On my shelf I have baskets, 4 to be exact. 2 big ones and 2 little ones.
In one big one I have all my cleaning rags, dust rags and

my little velvet brush for when the kids are naughty and need to brush the couch.
In the second big one I have (well not me really) Bill has his battery charging units. For his Dewalts! You know the black and yellow power tools that grow like weeds in your garage? Okay maybe just my garage. Anyway, down here, five miles from hell, dewalt chargers don’t do well in the heat, so ours live in the laundry room.
(Here is a side note of caution: Make sure the batteries have some room to breath.

Don’t cover them up!)
In the first little one I house my box/boxes of dryer sheets. I usually buy a big box from the big C store and the basket conceals it perfectly.
In the second little box I have a big box of baby wipes. Sorry Steph! We still use them occasionally. Sometimes big kids make messes too. Mine are no exception! And that concludes the tour of my shelf.
I set all the baskets on the washer and dryer and then dusted off the shelf, tidied up my rag basket a bit. And put everything back. Neat and tidy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~On ward and upward!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have two of those cabinet/cupboard things hanging off the wall. Cleaning supplies, paper towels, wood glue, and gorilla glue is what lives here. Guess what I did? I bought some plastic tubs down the house wares aisle at the W store. These are about 3 inches deep and like 12”x16”. I tried to find a picture for you but at no avail. They are like old fashioned little plastic wash basins. I didn’t want anything with holes because my cleaning supplies might tip over and if there were to spill I want it contained. Sense?

~I organized out my bins in this way. Weekly/Daily cleaning products in one bin. (toilet bowel cleaner, dusting spray, laundry spot remover, etc) Not so often cleaning products in another. (Oven cleaner, Leather cleaner, carpet cleaner, etc) Then when I need something I pull it out and set it on the dryer, use the product, come back and put it away. All the way away!
~On my next shelf I house paper towels. That is it. I love it when the whole thing is full. That means I have enough paper towels to be able to buy them on sale! Oh and my favorite ones are soft and absorbent. And kind of pricey!
~Then I have a shelf of antibacterial wipes. Some are homemade: I have a great recipe! And some are store bought with coupons on sale.
~The last shelf houses all the Garage things that should really live in a garage anywhere other than 5 miles from H-E-, well you know, hockey sticks.

Now here is my unpainted laundry portrait. Notice I didn’t mention my laundry soap? Not really! I found these great big glass canisters at the Big T. I want to dump all my soap into one of those, wrap a cute ribbon around it and find a metal vintage scoop. I am sure someone I know had one in their flour. Then I would like a smaller glass canister for all of my “half” used dryer sheets. I hate throwing those things away. Really really hate it! Then I would place both these canisters on a cute little place mat on the dryer so it was so pretty that I wouldn’t want to mess it up. What do you think?

Then I want to put a cute little quote about laundry around the room so you have to spin circles to read it. Help me out here please:
Drop Yer Drawers here!
A mother’s love is like laundry, never ending!
I think I can, I think I can. I think I can…

Those just don’t seem perfect. Give me your ideas! Maybe if I like it, I’ll buy you one for your wall! (Anyone, Anyone?)

Snap snap, get to it! Your laundry room thanks you!