* Let's begin by removing everything already sitting pretty in your housekeepers cupboard. Wipe down the shelves with a solution of baking soda, washing up liquid and hot water and scrub for all your life is worth.
* Wipe down the shelves with a little vanilla essence, then if at all possible re-line the shelves with oil cloth or it's modern day equivalent. Failing that use contact paper, or if there is nothing else available, lengths of kitchen towel to soak up unexpected spills.
* Drag an unwanted comb through the bristles of your housekeeping brushes to remove all undesirable debris, then stand them in a shallow bowl full of heavily salted water to restore firmness.
* Go through everything you have taken out of the cupboard and arrange to dispose of anything you no longer use or know to be toxic.
* Decant, decant, decant! Using over-sized glass Kilner Jars, clearly (and prettily!) labelled, seems to me to be the best solution for the storage of dry cleaning ingredients and products including washing soda, borax, washing powder, grated soap/soap flakes, salt and baking powder because they banish ugly packaging and allow you to keep a careful eye on stock levels at one glance.Large plastic cereal dispensers are also useful.
* Having clips on the inside of the door would be a terribly useful addition to hang brushes and in the absense of anything better, a simple nail or three will allow you to hang brushes from attached lengths of string.
* Standing your ingredients jars on trays (even vintage baking trays past their best will do) will allow you to pull things out towards you so you don't have to move everything to reach jars and bottles at the back.
* Choose a vintage biscuit tin to store dusters, homemade spray polish, water spray (most modern surfaces only need the attention of a damp cloth) and a tin of scented wax polish, so you can easily collect everything you need when you are taken with the urge to dust.
* Use another tin for a small portable diy kit. Include a screwdriver, a small hammer, a collection of tacks, pins, screws and nails and some all-purpose glue for minor household emergencies.
* And my darlings, have yet another tin for the miscellanea
of your trade: old toothbrushes, scouring pads, small hand held brushes, bin bags, a blunt knife, matches, etc, etc.
* Add a stack of newspaper to the bottom of the cupboard and stack scraps of cloth, flannel and spare dusters into an easy to access basket.
* And finally have your home-made cleaning solutions on a small tray at the front of the easiest to access shelf, clearly labelled so you can grab'em and go!
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Happy Tidy Tuesday Housekeepers!
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