2018 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Lol. I have 10 bottles of Tide with different scents and cleaning strengths, 7 different bottles of stain remover, 2 different bleaches, and the various other things like Borax, essential oils, and Oxy.

If they were different types of detergent or stain fighters in each bottle be sure she knows what you did.

Not a problem here. We only ever buy one detergent and one stain treatment. This was multiple bottles of the identical products. I never would have combined different products.

[Gailete]

Not a problem here. We only ever buy one detergent and one stain treatment. This was multiple bottles of the identical products. I never would have combined different products.

Oh well that is okay! I can't imagine opening more than one bottle of anything at a time. It has been a long time since I had a 'real laundry room' with plenty of space for detergents, etc. Just no longer have the space to have all sorts of bottles hanging around. I would have combined bottles myself if all the same stuff.

[disneysteve]

Oh well that is okay! I can't imagine opening more than one bottle of anything at a time. It has been a long time since I had a 'real laundry room' with plenty of space for detergents, etc. Just no longer have the space to have all sorts of bottles hanging around. I would have combined bottles myself if all the same stuff.

It might have happened as a result of travel. We often do laundry while we're away and we do occasionally buy detergent on the road so we come home with an open bottle even though we already have an open bottle at home.

[snafu]

In hopes of being helpful, I mention when we travel by car, planning to be away at least 5 days, I found it convenient to take snack size, zip bags of powdered detergent from home + a few Bounce type sheets [double duty as vermin repellent]. Much more convenient at laundromat or whatever availability. Since the availability of Tide pellets, I take them on all trips in a repurposed, larger sized pill canister, incredibly convenient if you are not allergic to scent.

[comicguy]

Got rid if a few more items:

2/19 13 books - donated, (13 items)

2/20 1 DVD - donated
1 screwdriver (dull) - trashed
1 pair of needle nose pliers (broken) - trashed
1 broken snow shovel - trashed
2 empty shampoo containers under the kitchen sink - recycled
1 thermostat - returned to store
1 used binder - donated
1 book - donated
1 mag lev kit - returned to school
1 broken clothes rack - trashed (11 items)

[creditcardfree]

88 pieces of paper recycled or shredded yesterday! I let go of our 2007-2009 tax files. I do keep a scanned copy of the actual return, and any tax forms received including the W2.

[disneysteve]

I let go of our 2007-2009 tax files.

I should do that one of these days but those old tax files are stored in file boxes in the garage and really aren't anywhere near the top of my list of things to declutter.

[disneysteve]

Not new decluttering but I did take a large box full of stuff over to Goodwill today. I figure the clutter isn't technically gone until it actually leaves the house.

I also did a batch of shredding today. That's not exactly decluttering since it's an ongoing need but at least I'm not letting it pile up.

[disneysteve]

I just put out the trash.

While I was in the garage, I decided to take a couple of minutes and search for anything I could throw out. I managed to find a very random assortment of 10-12 items that I was able to add to the trash can before rolling it out to the curb. Nothing major but every item that goes out is one less piece of clutter in our lives. I also found a couple of items that I added to the box for the next Goodwill run.

[Thrif-t]

Today I took to the recycling an old plastic laundry basket that was all ripped up and I finally had the will to throw out a collection of old cooking magazines that were probably 20 years old, Kraft Magazine and Taste of Home. I never look at them to get recipes anymore and they were just making the shelf under my end table look all junky. Now they're gone

[Gailete]

Gailete, try using Vinegar in place of fabric softener. That's what my mother always did, and I do too��.

My dryer broke 2 weeks ago, thank goodness the repairman is coming today. I'm fine hanging clothes, but DH has been taking towels and socks and underwear to his dads to dry. What a drag without a dryer and having a family. But I'd rather not have a dryer than a washer.

I was thinking I had heard about vinegar to help soften. Any idea how much? I noticed the batch of towels that I had done last time (before I posted here) wasn'ty so stiff and his stuff wasn't as bad either. I'm using the largest amount of water possible to be sure it helps with the excess soap even though I use minimal of that. We have free well water (other than the cost of pumping it) and those out in CA and other drought areas can be jealous, but we have such a high water table we have to replace one of our two sump pumps yearly since they wore out. Without them out basement would be a swimming pool! Doing the extra rinse, I'm sure will help too. I have never used the full amount of detergent suggested. I still haven't figured out how to dry king size bottom sheets though. I switched us to twin top sheets, one apiece after one too many times he about garroted me when he yanked the top sheet and rolled away from me. So bad it woke me up and I had to have a tug of war. No more garroting with the twins sheets courtesy of the thrift store, and cutting king sized ones in half and hemming them.

We have been working on a decluttering effort as well. As part of the Amazon Vine program I have gotten some nifty items, including several printers. The one I just got is wonderful, a regular office printer that can flatbed scan something like 12 x 17"! Great for me as scans work so much better than taking photos. But that really showed the excess of printers we had around and so several are pulled and waiting for better weather to CL them. When hubby has a minute, he will set up another new printer as our resevere one. Nothing worse than trying to beat the clock on prepping 10 orders to go out in the mail and the printer jams and I can't undo it! I have already gotten more space around my work area which is terrific. I also have a printer up in the sewing room for printing out patterns and such.

As I notice them I have been bringing cluttery things downstairs to either trash or thrift. I've pulled some books off the shelves, since they are full to make more room for favorite authors.

All I can do is a little bit at a time. Once I get more listings done, some more clutter will be contained AND listed for sale!

[Thrif-t]

I was thinking I had heard about vinegar to help soften. Any idea how much?

Honestly I don't measure. I don't use as much detergent as they suggest either and I keep my old detergent measuring cups and fill them up full with vinegar and put in the washer. I'd say anywhere from 3/4 to a cup for a full load of towels.

[creditcardfree]

Another 70 pieces of paper out of our filing cabinet. Primarily statements from investments that we have in digital form. May scan some of it that isn't digital later...don't want to waste a lot of time doing that, so will wait until I feel I've let go of every other piece of paper first.

[Bluebird]

On Tuesday, I gave a bag of boys clothes to a friend, and today, I delivered a bag to a neighbor. Tomorrow, I'm dropping off 3 bags to Goodwill. They consist of household items, 3 winter coats, and a lot of DH's clothes. My next project will be decluttering my 2 desk cabinets and book shelf. I hope to tackle it this weekend!

[disneysteve]

Our daughter’s fraternity did 2 social action craft projects last semester. It was her job to get the stuff shipped to the charities. She brought the stuff home at winter break and the boxes have been sitting here since. I had said I would take care of them for her and never did. So Thursday night I finally packed the boxes and got them ready to ship. I’ll take them to the post office on Monday.