Organized Cleaning Supplies: Check!

What's better than organizing? Getting to do it with pretty little baskets, of course! Or is that just me? Haha!

At the beginning of the month, I got these really colourful baskets at Michael's. I'd been eyeing them for a few months but didn't want to dish out 25$ a pop on them, but when they became 70%, I just HAD to get them! And I used a 20% off coupon, so I actually got them for 75% off!! Doesn't get much better than that, right? (Well actually it does, got my laundry shelve baskets for 80% off... But that's not the point.)


This photo was originally posted to Facebook. Want to follow me on Facebook so you never miss little sneak peaks like this? Just go here!

I didn't know quite what I wanted to do with them when I bought them, but after a couple of days of thinking, I decided to put them to work in my big closet to keep my cleaning supplies all neat and tidy and contained.

See, I don't have much storage space, so pretty much everything that needs a home has to fit into this big closet. It's not even a real closet, it's just a big hole in the wall that measures 35"x35", and I have a curtain as a door...


Sorry about the horrible picture, this is the best I could photoshop it.

I know, it's kinda odd, but at least you don't see the organized mess I have going on in there...



Alright, let's zoom into the problem area (for today). It's that bottom shelf with all the cleaning supplies.



I think the fact that almost all my cleaning stuff fits on one shelf is pretty amazing. I must say I wish I had a closet that I could dedicate to cleaning stuff, but as it is, I don't.

So let's get started. First thing's first, I had to make sure I could fit both baskets side by side next to the buckets. Check!



In the first basket, I put my little vacuum (I don't even have a normal size vacuum actually...) and all it's attachments. That way when the boyfriend (or I) wants to use it, he can just pull out the basket take it with him and have everything he needs. And hopefully he'll feel compelled to put it back in its spot (not yet tested).



In the other basket, I wanted to put all my rags, microfiber cloths, shamwows, etc. All neatly folded so you can see everything and not just have them stacked one on top of the other, I really love this way of organizing!



But then that meant all the actually cleaning products didn't have a home. Not that I have much. All bathroom cleaning products are under the bathroom sink, and laundry stuff in my laundry shelving unit. Basically I store stuff where I use them.. I think that's the best organizing advice I can give anyone!

So all I have here is all-purpose cleaner, CLR (which I actually rarely use and was a hand-me-down from our old roommate but I don't have the heart to throw it out just yet) and shoe protector (cuz I didn't know where else to put it). I threw out the Lysol spray(other hand-me down, and I've never in my life used it). The rest is an empty bottle that I'm keeping for homemade stuff. And my mop head.



So I thought out the box, and noticed that there was a lot of space still on top of those rags. With a little rearranging and an other small basket, I had found my solution: a basket within a basket! Genius, right?



I've got all the small rags and microfiber cloths in that smaller basket on top of the bigger towel-rags and shamwows on the bottom, easily accessible by removing the small basket. And the space I freed up is for my cleaning products.



The shelves in this closet are pretty deep, 16 inches deep, so I've got space for backup/bulk supplies behind the baskets.



And just like that, my cleaning supplies are all organized, easily accessible, and in pretty pretty baskets that make my heart dance when I open that curtain and see them.



I think it is safe to take those tags off now, don't you?

Now what to do about those other shelves, especially the one right above the cleaning supplies shelf, I've gotta do something about that!



Have you found some cute baskets at a discount price lately? Or have you gotten your organization on? I hope I gave you a little motivation for that, and some creative ideas to utilize the space you have to its full potential!

And if you'd like to see it in action, check out this post. I can easily fit 30 hangers on there, if there's more which has happened then it takes longer to dry is all. Thanks for reading, until next time!







I party at these parties.

Continue Reading...

Cleaning an Iron Cast Pan

I hope you guys enjoy my tips and tricks, because I have quite a few I'd like to share. Here's an other one:

How To Clean An Iron Cast Pan



My boyfriend has recently gone on a kick of cooking with the iron cast pan. Might have to do with the fact that he just found out that my grand-ma gave me an old one.

Now, my parents cook with an iron cast pan, so I've been washing these things for years. BUT we've been doing it the wrong way all this time. They use a specific cleaning product(cannot remember what just now), and it completely removes the seasoning.

My boyfriend likes to read up on things, and he was telling me that the seasoning of the iron cast pan is the most important part, and he forbade me from washing it with any kind of soap.

So in that case, what was I to do?!?! I started washing it with water only... Wasn't working too good, let me tell ya! And I always forgot to check on the internet when we had access to it.

Finally, finally, one day I remembered. What I found was that you could wash it with big grain salt (or kosher salt). I couldn't find any pictures proving this (pictures are worth a thousand words aren't they?!) but I had to try it.

And it worked beautifully!! And so, I am sharing this advice, with pictures, so you can see just how well this really works.

Edit: Just a quick note, this method of cleaning is for after you've actually cooked in the pan, not for old and rusted pans! Check out this post for more information on that!

After a yummy stir fry that the boyfriend made, I had a dirty iron cast pan to work with! Not the dirtiest it's ever been, but you can still see the majic :)



First, remove what you can with a clean sponge (as in rinsed out so there is no soap in it), or with paper towels.



Then, all you need to do is pour a bit of coarse salt in the pan and scrub away!



I use a plastic scrubbing pad or sponge to help with this part. DO NOT use metal scrubbing pads on cast iron pans!! And you'll want to rinse the pad or sponge out to get all the soap out again. Leave a bit of water in it, but not too much, just enough to help scrub.



Get up on the sides, too. I like using the sponge to move the salt around so it stays as a pile as much as possible. Works much better.



When you'll be done, your salt will be kinda gross... but you can see the clean pan underneath already! 30 seconds of scrubbing and you are good.



You'll just rinse out the pan with water, and you'll be left with a nice and shiny, still seasoned iron cast pan!

See how the water just glistens on the surface? That's a sign that it's still seasoned and you didn't remove the coating.



Once in a while, you'll also want to reseason it with a bit of oil after washing it. If you don't see the water bead on the surface after you rinse, reseason it. I think we reseason every 5 times we wash it.

Did you like this tip? Already know about it? If you have tried it out, let me know how it worked out for you in the comments!!




I party at these parties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Featured at:


http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/07/overflowing-with-creativity-features-31/

Continue Reading...