Closets are part of what we call “common areas” in that they are common to many rooms in our homes. They quickly and easily become dumping grounds for anything we want to hide. They are also places that we often forget to clean and purge.
If you feel overwhelmed when you look in your closet, this article is for you. Let’s walk through the steps of a proper @gocleanco style closet clean and purge.

1. Take it all out
Yes, all of it. You don’t have to do this every time you clean a closet, but it does need to be done once in a while for a proper purge and clean. Don’t attempt to do all of your closets in one day. For today, pick one closet. Empty it and put everything into a pile.
Pro Tip: Do yourself a favor and put the pile on your bed (or any other clean, elevated surface). You’re going to have to go through each item individually, and this will save your back and knees.
2. Clean the closet
Now that everything is out of your closet, this is the perfect time to clean it. You can finally see the floors and walls that haven’t seen the light of day in months or years. And you will probably see a lot of dirt, dust and fingerprints.
- Grab your vacuum and vacuum every shelf and ledge. We work from top to bottom so that any dust disturbed on the top shelf will get sucked up when we get to the floor. Don’t forget the tops of door ledges, window sills, etc. You’ll also want to hit the top corners where the walls meet the ceiling. It’s easy for cobwebs and strands of dust to form here. Vacuum the floor last.
- Next, we will wipe down the walls and shelves. (It’s amazing how many scuffs and marks are hiding behind shelves and clothing bars.) We recommend using our Water, Bleach and Tide recipe. In a bucket, mix ⅓ cup bleach*, 1tsp Powdered Tide, and about a gallon of HOT water. Again, work from the top down, left to right, and wipe down all the walls and shelves. (*Omit the bleach if your closet has carpet to avoid accidental stains!)

- The last cleaning step is to deep clean your floors.
- If they are laminate, hardwood, tile or linoleum, you can use a fresh batch of your water, bleach and tide mixture and a spin mop to mop the floors. (Omit the bleach if your floor is marble.) Let the floor dry and follow up with a quick vacuum to get any remaining dust or hairs that were missed.
- If your floors are carpeted, a good, slow vacuuming should suffice, and spot treat any stains using a pinch of powdered tide and some hot water.

3. Purge
The next and possibly most important step is to purge your closet. Pick up each item and decide if you want to keep, donate, or toss it. If you haven’t used it or worn it in 6 months or your kid has outgrown it, you should likely donate it. If it’s wrecked, throw it out.
Group the items you want to keep into piles to make them easier to organize going back into your closet. I like to try most clothes on again to see if they still fit. Usually, I rediscover some long-lost favorites!
4. Put it back
It’s time to start putting your closet back together. Have a look and think about how you can best utilize your space. Of course, there’s always the option to have a total closet redesign and get custom organizers installed, but there’s a lot you can do to organize on a budget using a few clever items.
Off-season or less frequently used items can be kept on higher shelves in bins or baskets. You can utilize acrylic shelf dividers to keep your folded or rolled items organized and in neat stacks –measure your shelf first, please!
Have a lot of hanging space? Use velvet hangers to keep your clothes hanging nicely and save space. Shoe overload? Consider adding a shoe shelf to keep them contained.
Pro Tip: Put your hangers backwards as you organize your closet, and then after you wear something, put the hanger the proper way when you put it back. That way, when you go to organize your closet next time, you know what you’ve worn since the last time you purged.
Now the most challenging part is to stay organized. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste by treating your closets like a dumping ground. Won’t it feel nice to be proud instead of Monica’s closet of shame on Friends?
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Grab The Cleaning Army Handbook
If you’re interested in cleaning your closets, it means you’re serious about keeping an organized home. (I mean, most people just cram stuff into their closets, close the door, and smile like everything’s okay. So, kudos for caring about the details.)
Want to discover more cleaning techniques, processes and recipes? Grab a version of The Cleaning Army Handbook and get to work!

- Closet storage baskets, fabric (Canada) (USA)
- Grey plastic storage baskets (Canada) (USA)
- Acrylic shelf dividers (Canada) (USA)
- 7 tier wooden shoe rack (Canada) (USA)
- Cube storage bins w/window (Canada) (USA)
- Velvet hangers (50pk) (Canada) (USA)
- Wire storage baskets (Canada) (USA)
For a list of our favorite products, click here.
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gocleanco
May 31
I’m in the hot seat answering your burning questions on @downy Rinse & Refresh! I’ve been using the new @downy Rinse & Refresh for a while now, and this stuff is so good at making your fabrics fresh on the daily. Odors get trapped in fabric because we have a residue (like minerals, hard water, or body oils) coating the fabrics. @downy Rinse & Refresh breaks down the residues and helps eliminate the odors. You put it in the fabric softener dispenser cup and wash with your regular detergent (I use Tide in case you are new around here). Plus, it is safe for all washable fabrics. I just used it on my musty towels and it blew my mind! What have you tried Rinse & Refresh on? Tell me in the comments! #ad #downypartner #odorisnttheend
gocleanco
May 23
Petition to have all toilet seats removable from now until the end of time. Sign below ⬇️ #cleaningtips
gocleanco
May 21
Needed this to live on the feed forever cause you folks ask me about it everyday. This is the @malibucpro hard water treatment I use on my hair. If you have super hard water, it sticks to your hair just like your shower doors. It makes your hair coated and feel like straw—your shampoo doesn’t work as well and your hair feels limp and lifeless. It’s super to easy to use, you can do it at home and it’s safe for highlighted/colour treated hair. Linked it up in both our Amazon storefronts and on stories. @hairhouseyeg 💁🏼♀️ #hairtutorial
gocleanco
May 12
Dawn Platinum means serious business. Did you know that 3 bottles of the leading non-concentrated dish liquid equals ONE bottle of Dawn Platinum? @dawndishwash has a powerful formula to help you get through more dishes with less product, which will save you some moola plus you can use it outside of the kitchen! Dawn Platinum cleans windows and BBQ grills, tire rims…anywhere you need to fight a greasy mess, you can reach for Dawn Platinum. We love Dawn Ultra around here, but Dawn Platinum is even more concentrated so it’s the best grease-cutting you can get. You know it works on dishes but where else are you using Dawn, outside of the kitchen sink? Share your best stories below so I can test them out! #ad #dawnpartner
gocleanco
May 9
If you give a Mom a coffee…😵💫 ☕️ Don’t overdo it this week leading up to your big “day off”. #happymothersday
gocleanco
May 3
April in nutshell. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 28
dump scare > jump scare 🫣
gocleanco
Apr 27
DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ If you guessed: Spray Tan Residue, you win 5 gold ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and bragging rights to your friends. #dontdothisathome
gocleanco
Apr 26
You each get one guess: GO! #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 17
Check out my IG Live on Wednesday—I'll be chatting with P&G dishwashing scientist, Morgan Eberhard, to answer all your burning questions about the new Cascade Platinum Plus. Remember…the dishwasher pod that blew all your minds a couple weeks ago?! It’s the solution we have all been waiting for; cabinet-ready dishes without pre-rinsing or the need to dry them out of the dishwasher. My DM’s were DEEP when I showed you Cascade Platinum Plus in action and tbh, I didn’t think loading the dishwasher could get so many people steamed up! Drop your questions below so we can answer them on the live with Morgan. She knows her stuff —she’s a legit 👩🏼🔬 folks. #sponsored #cascadeplatinumplus #cascadepartner
gocleanco
Apr 15
Happy National Laundry Day! Not sure why we need a national day for laundry since we do it everyday but hey hey I’m always in the mood to hug a box of tide so here we are! Anyways, in celebration of Laundry Day, we have a blog post all about my new washer and dryer to answer your pressing questions. It will live on the blog so you can go back and check when (touch wood) your machine kicks the bucket. Link is in our bio to read! #laundryday
gocleanco
Apr 13
Nothing like a few before and afters to get your asses motivated! Remember you can start one drawer a day and build from there if you don’t know where to start. Also, try to rope in some friends to help you—6 hands are better than one! Pick a designated day each week for about a month and get everyone together and tackle projects around your homes together. It’s way more fun to clean/organize someone else’s house. Trust me, I made a business out of it. 😉 #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 12
Vacuum round up and break down of how they made it into our Amazon Storefront in stories today! We are also planning a Vacuum Fight Club…so drop your favs or the ones you want to see us test in the comments and I’ll hook us up.
gocleanco
Apr 2
#sponsored Did you know that household bleach is derived from sodium chloride - common table salt? During household use, it breaks down to mostly salt and water. Did you also know that you can use Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to keep your flowers beautiful longer? Wearing gloves, add ¼ tsp. of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to every 1.27 L of water you use in the flower vase and stir well to mix. Make sure to trim off the end of each flower stem before arranging it, to increase absorption. Check your flowers weekly and refresh the water as needed. Just mix up a fresh batch of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach and water solution. #yeahbleachdoesthat @clorox_canada
gocleanco
Apr 1
Wanted to catch y’all before you had breakfast. #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Mar 30
Some products you just have to see to believe. 🤯 Cascade Platinum Plus is a brand new product (you might have seen it on the shelves already) that is changing the GAME for your dishwashing routine. For years we’ve been doing work that really should be our dishwasher’s job! Spoiler alert: it’s not your dishwasher, it’s your dish detergent. TBH I was skeptical when @mycascade told me not to rinse and to let the dishes SIT OVERNIGHT BEFORE WASHING THEM but here we are. #sponsored #cascadepartner
gocleanco
Mar 29
It’s the final week of the Spring Cleaning Challenge! How y’all doing? Thrown in the towel yet?! 🫣 This round was fast and dirty (in the best way possible) and I’m telling ya—it feels like a fever dream 😮💨 😵💫 I’ll be recovering on my heating pad come Monday. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 25
Spring cleaning isn’t over until we clean the windows. Sparkling windows make all the difference, you can actually see outside and let the sunshine in! I have a Spring Cleaning offer with @oceansalesltd up in my stories, it is a package deal with the AquaBLADE and the Carbon Tuff Cloths. Check it out! #sponsored
gocleanco
Mar 23
Carpet Cleaner Fight Club 👊🏻 coming at you 3.23.23 get your 🍿 and pull up a 🪑 *Carpets were harmed in the making of this video* #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 19
Remember to change your mop head every once in awhile 😎 @hairhouseyeg #shorthair