Cleaning/Sterilizing/Disinfecting a closet

Drez

Long story short: Last year we kicked out our landlord (long story) and after he removed all the shit from our storage spaces that he actually wanted to keep, an entire closet was left with old, rank garbage, including (but not limited to) dusty papers, filthy towlers, a leaking cardboard box which oozed something that looked like he was renting the closet to Slimer from Ghostbusters, a bunch of dead roaches, and some live roaches. We threw away all the stuff in there but did not actually clean it beyond that. So for the past year, it's been a big, empty, dirty closet with shelves that no one has used. Basically, a wide linen closet that sits outside one of the two bathrooms.

I want to use the closet now. I am squicky about this stuff but I want to clean it out today.

Should I just go to town with Clorox wipes, should I spray everywhere with Lysol and wipe down with paper towels, or should I actually go for something like Scrubbing Bubbles?

I don't actually plan to use it for linens (maybe a few towels). Mostly going to store tools and some boxes on the shelves. But I'd really like to make it clean enough that I'd never eat off of it due to the chemicals I plan to use in there.

Xaquin

clorox wipes should do the trick!

edit: and maybe a small scrub brush for corners and trim

Enc

Depends on what the flooring is.

I would go in with some Kilz paint on the walls around where the leakage was, if not use it as a primer for the whole closet. That should deal with any biologicals in the drywall as far as you need.

If its tile flooring I would hit the whole thing with white vinegar & baking sode to do initial cleaning and get rid of any film or stains, then after it has dried go in with bleach to get rid of anything remaining in the smell.

If its wood or lineloeum you might want to pull it up, lean under it, and put it back in. Anything goey will be under the boards or flooring film too.

If its carpet, pull it out and toss the carpet and the pad and get some new ones.

Drez

I actually exaggerated slightly, I guess. There was a leaky box but it didn't seem to rot the shelf or floor. The floor is wood/parquet. It's fine. I just want to disinfect/sterilize the surfaces. There's no damage, really. It's just fucking gross to me.

I have to admit it looks a lot better than I remember it being. It was mentally off-limits for a year but I just took a look and it looks a lot less gross than I recall.

Enc

In that case, still reccomend white vinegar to clean it out over bleach or cleaning wipes as they can damage the varnish. If you hate the smell of vinegar, I'd pick up some Bona (wood floor cleaner) to do the ground and you'll be fine.

Just remember that it can get so bad you have to change the boards.

The boards?

See the blood drained into the boards and you have to change them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RySHDUU2juM

Djeet

Some masks, safety goggles, and gloves from HD or Lowes shouldn't set you back more than $20-25. With them you can really go to town on nasty areas where you need to scrub and not worry about it getting on your hands, eyes, mouth.

A paste of vinegar and baking soda for heavy duty scrubbing. If you just need to spray and wipe (without scrubbing) then Clorox cleanup or equivalent should be fine, though I might get some microfiber towels as they hold up a bit better than the normal ones. If there is a moisture concern you can hang a damprid bag in there when you're done.

WiseManTobes

If figure you'll have to scrub floors/walls, grab a scrubbing broom, save you some energy/keep some distance, and can just go to town and then wipe it all down after.

They usually pretty cheap too, if already have brooms in house you can just buy the head instead of a full broom for even cheaper.