How to fit your whole cleaning cupboard in a shoebox

Take everything out.

This is the step everyone skips.

Not just the front row. Everything, onto the floor or an old towel, so you can see it all at once.

You can't sort a cupboard you can only half see, and you'll find things at the back you forgot you'd bought.

While it's empty, give the shelf a wipe and check the pipes for leaks.

Shine a torch on them and run dry fingers along each joint. Any damp means a drip.

Clear out anything that's past it.

If it's separated and won't mix back, gone lumpy, or smells or looks different, it's done.

Bleach slowly loses strength over time, and faster somewhere warm like under a sink.

So aim to use it within six months to a year.

Don't pour leftovers down the sink. Most council tips take them in their original bottles, so check your council's website.

Rinse the empties and recycle them with the trigger left on.

Line up the doubles.

Group what's left by job: laundry, dishes, surfaces, and the specialists like toilet and oven cleaner.

This is where you see how many bottles are doing the exact same job.

Keep one open and one spare of each, and finish off the rest first.

After that, only buy more once you've opened the spare.

Put it back the safe way.

Everything goes back in its own bottle, upright, with the cap on tight.

Long boxes placed front to back work like drawers, so nothing gets lost at the back again.

If you've got little ones, the products should go up high, or the cupboard needs a child lock.

Locks and child caps only slow children down, though, so up high is safest.