Let’s head back into the laundry this week and deal with those shelves full of washing detergents, soakers, sprays and pegs and everything else that goes with the all-too-frequent task of washing.
So how do we decide what stays and what goes?
If you need a refresher, revisit the criteria you created during Week 1 of our challenge to assist you in making decisions about your cutlery and kitchen utensils and give yourself a limit. If you are new to the challenge, you can see our Week 1 post here.
Let’s start with all of those containers of washing liquids, powders, sprays and potions to remove colour, enhance colour, remove stains and just about anything else you can think of. There are so many products we are bombarded with these days for our washing!
Consolidate partially used products of the same type, recycle the empty plastic bottles, refine back to what you use and like and dispose appropriately of the rest (refer here for more info about recycling household cleaners and their containers in the ACT).
Now let’s consider the washing baskets, pegs, hooks and hangers. If they are broken and no longer fit for purpose, it is time to get them out of the house.
If your peg basket is overflowing, remove those pegs that you don’t like using straight away, or reduce the quantity back to an appropriate amount for the basket.
If you have multiple washing baskets – can you pare back? If they are different shapes or sizes and they can’t be stacked within one another that is another thing to rethink. Laundries are usually limited spaces so you need to be minimalist, or efficient.
Put everything aside that no longer has a useful purpose in your home.
If you haven’t had a chance to tackle the cleaning stuff in your laundry yet, see our blog from week 22 here.
What do I do with the keepers?
Everyone’s laundry storage is different. You may be fortunate to have plenty of cupboard space, a shelf or drawer, or just the space under the laundry sink. Whatever you have, everything needs a home so you can access things easily – especially items like these that you access regularly. You also need to work within the physical limits of your allocated storage space.
I have limited storage space in my laundry so I have a small shelf dedicated to washing products. I also use a cleaning caddy (such as this one from Bunnings) to store the cleaning products that I use regularly to clean our home. I find this a great way to keep everything together, but also makes it very portable to take from room to room. It sits nicely on a shelf in my laundry and can hold all I need and is easy to get out and put back.
I have an over the door hook that my washing baskets can easily hook into so they aren’t taking up the limited bench space.
Does your washing machine need a clean while we are at it? Here are simple tips for both top and front loaders thanks to Stay at Home Mum using bicarb and vinegar. Don’t forget to remove lint from the filters in your washing machine and clothes dryers frequently too.
What do I do with the ones that no longer have a purpose for me?
If the items are broken or no longer functional they are just taking up valuable space in your home and need to go in the bin (recycling whatever you can of course!).
Recycle items appropriately wherever possible. Refer to the ACT Government’s Recyclopaedia for a list of items and options for responsible disposal or recycling.
If items are still in good condition or reasonable quantities of contents but no longer have a purpose in your home, here are some sell/swap and donation options.
- Sell, swap or give away:
- Swap with your friends or family or pass them forward.
- List on your local “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook.
- Garage Sale
- Donate options (for equipment/tools, not for chemicals):
- Charity shops such as the Salvos or Vinnies
- Green Shed (Mitchell or Mugga Lane)
- Let’s Recycle Canberra (Hume)
How did you go? Feel free to share your successes, challenges and tips on our Facebook page.
Happy decluttering!
Melissa x