One thing I've noticed as we've settled into normal life in our apartment is how much cleaning it differs from our last place. I don't know how much bigger it really is - maybe 300 square feet? But on cleaning day, it feels huge. It was time to think the situation through, and time to make a new batch of cleaners, so I thought I'd share the process with you. First up, here's the cabinet as we started:

It's not too too terribly bad, right? I mean, I've seen worse. All the infrastructure was there - shelf extenders to add vertical space, over-the-cabinet hanging baskets and paper towel holder, useless lazy Susan helpfully perched on top of some cleaners. But there's always room for improvement, so improve we did.

I started off by taking everything out, wiping down the insides, and storing the less frequently used stuff in the back - my backups, and the stuff I use to make other cleaners. I have a stash of Dr. Bronner's castile soap (cruelty-free, endless uses), which I get on sale for about $11 per large container, plus Borax, extra baking soda, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar and extra dish soap. I use Dawn, by the way. It's the best. But I may try using Dr. Bronner's for that, too. Anyway, All the extras go in back, leaving room in front for some stacking. Here you see a white plastic drawer, thrifted last summer, which is holding my trash, recycling and composting bags.

No, the irony of all those bags to reduce landfill trash isn't lost on me. But I took this picture because all of the bags fit so neatly into the drawer, and I just love it when things work out. Anyway, I ended up stacking this small drawer on the shelf extenders, and then put my lazy Susan on top of that. I know a lot of people might prefer a cleaning caddy of sorts - the blogosphere seems to - but my apartment is really not big enough to need a caddy for cleaning supplies. Instead, I want to be able to grab the cleaner I'm looking for without rearranging a bunch of stuff. Hence the lazy Susan.

Y'all know I don't use paper towels, so I draped my microfiber rags over the the over-the-cabinet-door paper towel holder on the left. I used a small Command clip to hang up my cleaning gloves, and I stored my homemade Swiffer cloths beneath my shelf extender. On the right, you can see a stackable wire drawer unit. I use the top for dish towels and the bottom for un-paper towels. It's just a bunch of rags that I use just like I'd use paper towels - but when I'm done, I hang them to dry and then throw them in the laundry. On the door we've got extra sponges, water filters, plant food and essential oils.

As for my actual cleaning routine, here you can see everything I use on a daily basis. It's really, really simple. I have three spray bottles: one 1:1 mixture of rubbing alcohol and water, one 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and water, and one homemade cleaner. I use the rubbing alcohol on glass, mirrors, my stainless steel fridge, and anything I want to disinfect, including light switches and bathroom fixtures. I also use pure rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball for things like remote controls. The vinegar is for almost everything kitchen related - cutting boards, counters, faucets. The all-purpose cleaner is adapted from Raleigh Briggs' Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills, which I really recommend. (Note though that the Kindle version is the regular version sort of photocopied, so you may want a paper version that's easier to work with - and which you can mark up if you make the recipes).

This stuff is so easy to make - I've actually simplified Briggs' by using only one essential oil - and, to me, smells like a gosh darn dream. In a measuring cup, combine

1 teaspoon Borax
1 teaspoon lemon oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid castle soap (like Dr. Bronner's) in lavender
2 cups hot water

Stir the ingredients, then pour into a spray bottle. This stuff is no good for glass or stainless steel, but I love it on my bookshelves, kitchen table, dressers, you name it. It's not quite a furniture polish, but it cleans and has enough oil from the castile and essential oil to shine. Feel free to use any combo of oils or scented castile soap. I am so in love with the lemony lavender, and lemon has some antibacterial properties, that I'm disinclined to experiment at the moment, but I'll keep you posted if I do.

I use the baking soda to sprinkle on my kitchen sink, pour down drains, and combine with hydrogen peroxide to clean carpet stains. I've also mentioned how I make a paste with it and the hydrogen peroxide and let sit on my bathtub before scrubbing and rinsing. The hydrogen peroxide is really handy for tile and bathroom cleaning; adding a sprayer to the bottle works well. You don't want to pour hydrogen peroxide into a clear container; it'll degrade. They sell it in those brown bottles for a reason. And finally, the Barkeeper's Friend is the best I've found for my stove top. I'll keep trying homemade versions, but for now, this is it.

So back to the cabinet:

It's nice. I feel better having things so easily accessible. And tidy. It makes the task of actually cleaning the apartment seem almost doable. Any homemade cleaning recipes you're into? Tips for vinegar or alcohol that I missed there? Do tell. And I'll see y'all tomorrow.