What would your opinion be of a person who always has cleaning supplies lying around?

My opinion would be that they either have no children or they have a smelly house.

I don’t what I think to be honest. I am always cleaning, I like to keep a clean house. I do keep my cleaning products in the cupboard under the sink though, they are always in and out of that cupboard.

Do you leave them out for a reason?

I think if I went to someones house and saw them, I think I would just feel bad for interrupting their housework. I definitely wouldn’t think you had a smelly house.

@Aspire thanks. lol.

I don’t know why I leave them out. It’s a habit. I just grab them throughout the day, to wipe down the counters or the sink or random spills. I don’t know. I do clean every day, I have kids and pets, so it is convenient. Maybe because the space that I keep them in is so small that it’s difficult to keep organized.

@ANef_is_Enuf Maybe you should try this.

I would think they spend a lot of time cleaning, or clean very frequently.

Or that they were from Mars~

@erichw1504 I don’t think that would work in my kitchen, but thank you. The cabinet is in a corner, and it is a very odd shape. It’s very narrow, and sort of curved. That’s why I can’t put a typical cabinet organizer in it.

There are cleaning supplies? Wow, I gotta get me some o’ those!

Do you keep all your supplies out? Like antifungal stuff and toilet bowl cleaner and the toilet brush? or just cleanser and dish soap and sponges?

I don;t think it is at all odd to keep some stuff out where it is handy. My only concern would be if there was poisonous stuff on the counter where it might get inadvertently mixed with food.

I have a tendency to leave some of them out, especially if I know for a fact that I will be cleaning, then doing a project (or cooking multiple meals) and I know I’m going to have to clean again on the same day.

When I cook, I’ll clean the counters before I cook, and then again when I’m finished cooking, so I tend to leave the wet wipes and the dish soap out on those days.

I don’t think it’s weird at all. The opposite is weirder when you go to someone’s house and you try to find a paper towel and not only do they not have any, they seem to be out of hand soap and window cleaner and 409 too.

I probably wouldn’t even notice, so no opinion at all.

I don’t think I would really form an opinion about the person. If anything I would ask “Were you cleaning earlier?” and then absentmindedly start organizing the cleaning supplies myself (especially if I already know where they are usually stored.) Because that’s just my little compulsion.)

I don’t leave them out because many of them are poisonous to children or pets. So I keep them put away.

I would think that you had a storage problem.

My opinion would that they have no more cabinet or spaces to put those stuff. Even if my surrounding is neat if those cleaning materials are randomly decorating the room I’ll assume that the owner is bit/getting messy.

I have a grandma that put her cleaning material in open space and not in the place where it should be, it because she didn’t have any more cabinet/storage to put those stuff.

I wouldn’t think anything of it. :)

Personally, for me, I need to have the supplies put away. Less clutter and everything in it’s place; I like the looks of it. :)

Pretty sure I’d just draw the conclusion that you’re mysophobic and leave it at that.

I don’t bother forming opinions of other people’s habits unless they affect me.

It’s kind of a relief to hear people jumping to the conclusion of the storage issue. I do have room to put my stuff away, it’s just a huge hassle because I have such a small space. My kitchen is extremely tiny for the size of my home, well.. it’s extremely tiny period. Storage is a major issue for us, as we have virtually no cabinet or closet space anywhere in the house. So putting away my cleaning stuff, only to have to pull it all out again later if I need a bottle, is a pain in the butt. I don’t plan to change my habits, I was just curious if it gave some kind of strange vibe about me to people who come over.

@zenvelo it is almost always: a can of dusting cleaner, like Pledge, a bottle of the (non-toxic) stuff I use to wipe down my kitchen, Windex, a bottle of water/vinegar mixture… and a rag. I also keep a small shop vac in my kitchen… because I use it every day, and the only place to store it otherwise is the garage. Which is not attached to the house. Huge pain in the butt. So it stays. I do have a decorative bottle of dish soap that stays on the sink, but nothing else.

@Jude I hate clutter like you wouldn’t believe, but this doesn’t bug me. I can understand how it could, though.

@noservice that’s actually quite insightful.

If the house is neat and cleaning supplies are always out I would think they placed great importance on a clean looking house and I would make a mental note never to let them see mine.

I wouldn’t mind honest just so long as you had your pinny on ;-) who cares so long as your house is presentable, besides I’m not one of those who’s eyes are all over when I enter someone’s house……. I probably wouldn’t notice anyway…….

I do notice them but I never judge or say anything. Like you said .. you can forget them there or you were just about to start cleaning while receiving company etc.

@Scooby is a “pinny” an apron? You would laugh hysterically if you saw my aprons.

I tend to leave the supplies out that I use often also…just seems silly to put them away when I might need them again right away….for instance, disinfectant for my kitchen counters. So, I wouldn’t think anything about seeing your cleaners sitting out.

@ANef_is_Enuf

Yep that’s it, spot on :-) you don’t want to see mine either Lol…......

I just looked around the family room I am sitting in and I see three different cleaning products on various shelves and tables. And that’s not counting the broom and vacuum cleaner. I didn’t even notice they were there until this question came up.

I tend to compartmentalize many of my personal opinions of people. If you’re a good housekeeper but a lousy conversationalist (for example), then I’d form an opinion to reflect each of those things separatel, not mush those aspects of your personality together and form a “grand opinion” based on that. And if you were good in bed – and particularly in my bed – then I’d fail to recognize any lapse of housekeeping skills. At least, my partners have done that for me, and I try to extend the courtesy.

I’d think that, like me, you intended to do more cleaning. Except you probably DO it. I often don’t get around to it and the supplies just sit there waiting for me . . . making me feel guilty every time I see them.

@Sunny2 you’re doing it wrong. When I start lacking motivation, and begin to feel guilty and still know I’m not going to clean, then put them away. Life’s too short. lol.

I think hiding bottles and things makes a space look a bit more put-together.

When I was was a kid, I had nightmares thanks to bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles… there is something disconcerting about scrub brushes with faces.

I would just think I came over at a bad time since it looks like they were ready to clean. Now if I saw it daily, then I would think they may be a bit of a clean freak or they are really lazy about putting stuff away or they have so much that they have no where to put it. I know I sometimes forget to put stuff away after I’m done using it, so I wouldn’t really put that much thought into it.

This question made me laugh. I’m by no means anal about cleaning or organizing, though my house isn’t “dirty”. If someone came over and saw my Ajax and 409 on the counters they’d probably think, “It’s a bit untidy in here, but hey! Looks like she was about to clean up.”

I would just wonder, “if you’re so worried about being clean, why can’t you put the bottles away?”

I know the answer is b/c you use them alot, but if you use them so much, you probably value cleanliness more than the norm, so shouldn’t it bother you that they’re out in plain sight instead of tidily tucked away?

@mrrich724 yeah, I agree that it is odd. It doesn’t bother me.
I don’t feel like I value cleanliness more than the norm, either. I am pretty sure that I don’t, but maybe I do. Now you have me wondering about that, too. hah.

LOL, I thought you already came to terms with that. But I clean as I use, or once a week so dust doesn’t gather. I definitely don’t use every cleaning agent every day, or clean all surfaces for that matter :)

Not that you necessarily do either, but when I hear you leave the supplies out b/c you use them every day, that’s what I imagine.

@mrrich724 I do, but, I feel like I need to. It’s not that I am crazy about cleanliness. I love making messes, I am all about letting the kids smear paint around or roll in the mud, I am at peace with the fact that my pets shed.
I just feel like those things make it necessary for me to clean more often. Right? I think. I think you are right that it is odd that they don’t bother me by being out, though.

Yes, children and pets are definitely factors that would make “normal” amounts of cleaning higher for you than others, LOL

Especially if you let them roll around in mud or paint!

So maybe you shouldn’t worry about it.

In fact, those are key facts to your question. Now knowing that, maybe leaving the bottles out is a necessity, LOL

Aha. I am not so odd. Thanks for that. lol.

Nope. I keep my cleaning supplies in three places: under my kitchen sink, under my bathroom sink, and on a shelf in the basement next to my washing machine. I try to avoid storing bleach and ammonia together in the same place.

We pretty much always have cleaning supplies out. Not a lot of cupboard space around the house, so the stuff we use on a daily basis is usually around somewhere.

Eh, not too much. If you’re a neat freak, then you’re just being convenient by having them close to hand, as I understand your details. I’m a neat freak too, but a lot of my neat freakery also includes order, so that’s why I put them away after.
I personally think you’re totally fine and normal for keeping em out. Of course, we eat every day, but most people keep their dishes outta sight for example, so when comparing to something as such, you might seem odd to some folks…but eh, there’s something about frequency of use here that balances that out, I think. Also, you said this was a habit. I’ve heard of way weirder habits. People have all sorts. I guess maybe you can tell a lot from someone’s habits, but in my opinion, not enough to really define them, unless the habit is something completely fucked up that goes beyond just being a habit. (whether good or bad)

But if you tell me that you start cleaning your cleaning product bottles and sprays and shit, Imma have to edit this. XD

I don’t clean my cleaning product bottles. lol. No, there are usually 4 bottles, they are lined up in the corner of my kitchen counter. That’s it. Nothing more exciting about it.

Reading the answers to this question was really fun, though. Thanks all. :)