Clutter Reduction/Organization

Today's tip:

We live in a very acquisitive society, and often there are few social rewards to being less acquisitive. Many of the images we see and hear are geared towards getting and not giving away or at least simplifying our existence. One of the most obvious places where one can see this is by opening nearly any American's clothes closet.

Hence, organizing and weeding through a clothes closet may seem like a monumental task. Let's try to break it down into manageable chunks. Since yesterday was the Summer Solstice, today we're going to look at Winter clothing. Here's what you'll need:
* A made bed or at least a large, clean flat surface (it can be a bed with just a sheet on it or a large table)
* 2 large bags
* A pad, pen and tape
* A laundry basket
* A sewing kit

Here's what to do:
* Remove all Winter indoor clothing from the closet and place on the bed (not shoes or boots or coats, just shirts, pants, suits, blouses, dresses, skirts, sweaters, etc.)
* Write 2 notes on the pad. One should say Get Rid of and the other Dry Cleaning. Tape one note to each plastic bag
* Write a note an entitle it Instructions. Don't tape it anywhere but keep it available.
* Write 1 more note but don't tape it anywhere. It should be a list heading entitled, Shopping List
* Check each individual piece of clothing for the following:
(i) Do you want to keep it? And then, if the answer to that question is yes, also ask yourself:
(ii) Does it need to be cleaned?
(iii) Does it need to be repaired?
(iv) Does it need to be altered?
(v) Does it fit?

For anything you don't want, toss it into the Get Rid of bag.

For anything you want which passes all of the other tests (e. g. it's clean, it fits and it's in good repair), put it back in your closet. Keep similar items together, e. g. all pants together, all sweaters together, etc. We'll go into how to organize these items in a later entry.

For anything you want which is dirty, toss it either into the Dry Cleaning bag or the laundry basket.

For anything you want which needs to be altered, determine whether you can perform the alterations yourself. Personally, I'm lousy with a needle and thread except for the most basic tasks. However, I can move/replace a button and also fix a hem. That about covers my sewing talents. Therefore, if I need something taken in (or let out), I give it to a seamstress/tailor. Usually these folks are associated with a dry cleaner. So, if you're going to give an article of clothing over to a tailor or seamstress, grab your Instructions note and write about the item in question. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just "grey pants - waistband too big" or "hem on blue skirt is too high". Put the note and the article of clothing into the Dry Cleaning bag. If you're going to take the item to a seamstress or tailor not associated with a dry cleaner, toss the article and note into another bag, and mark the bag accordingly. Note that it's considerably easier (and often cheaper) to have items taken in than let out, as the act of letting out a garment depends upon the amount of available fabric.

For anything you want which needs to be repaired, assess the damage honestly. Will it be a very expensive repair, costing more than a new, comparable article of clothing? If so, then move the article to the Get Rid of bag. Will it be a difficult repair, which can never look good? E. g. a large hole in the fabric, burns, significant fading in any article of clothing that isn't denim, etc. If so, then move the article to the Get Rid of bag. If the repairs will be reasonably priced, and can reasonably be expected to look good, either attempt them yourself or toss the article into the Dry Cleaning bag, along with the Instructions note indicating which repairs need to be effected.

For anything you want which doesn't fit, assess the matter honestly. One thing to keep in mind is that most people put on a few pounds (some put on a lot more than a few) in Wintertime. Therefore, if an article of Winter clothing is too big in the Summer, it may be reasonable to assume that it will either fit just fine in the Winter or will fit well as it accommodates a shirt underneath or long underwear or the like. If an article of Winter clothing is too small in the Summer, you will need to ask yourself whether it's reasonable to assume that you'll fit into it in a few months. If it's only one or two sizes too small, and you're in the middle of a weight-loss program, it's possible that you will fit into the item. However, if you're not making any sort of effort to lose weight, and the article of clothing is five sizes too small, you can forget about fitting into it this year. Toss it into the Get Rid of bag.

Once all of the clothing is divvied up, take another look in the Get Rid of bag. Honestly assess why you're getting rid of something. Is it damaged beyond repair? Is it out of style? Do you suddenly dislike it? Does it no longer fit?

If an article is damaged, consider replacing it with a similar item that's more durable. E. g. a silk blouse can be very hard to keep looking good, and often once it's stained, it's stained for good. Consider a comparable item in an easier-care fabric. Write this down on your shopping list. E. g. "new ecru blouse for work, in easy-care fabric"

If an article doesn't fit, consider replacing it with a similar or identical item in the correct size.

For items that you no longer like, just put them back in the bag.

For items which are out of style, consider replacing them with comparable items in style. Write this on your shopping list.

Now, take the applicable items to the dry cleaner and/or tailor or seamstress and have those tended to immediately. For stained clothing items which you're going to wash at home, try pretreating with bleach and then immediately washing them. Give them three chances to get clean. If they're not clean after three tries, toss them into the Get Rid of bag and note the items on your shopping list if you want to replace them (indicate that you want to replace with an easier care fabric).

As for the shopping list and the Get Rid of bag, keep them both for two weeks before doing anything with them. Once the two weeks are up, honestly reassess the items in the Get Rid of bag and the items on your shopping list. If necessary, send items to the dry cleaner or tailor/seamstress in order to attempt repairs or cleaning. If you keep an item, remove it from your shopping list.

For whatever remains in the Get Rid of bag, next week I'll give tips on how to get rid of those items. And don't forget your shopping list. It's the Summer and Winter clothing is generally not available yet. So hold onto the list but don't do anything. I'll cover that in a few weeks.

The kitchen

Today's tip:

Every week, as you cook (or reheat or microwave or bring in takeout), your kitchen gets dirty, even on days other than Fridays. In order to make Fridays easier, prevent bugs from colonizing your home and keep your home close to "company-ready", you'll need to do a little cleaning during the week.

Not to panic, this isn't intended to be more than perhaps five minutes of your time every day. Simply, wipe up crumbs and spills as they happen and wipe around the burner every time you use the stove, and the top of the table after you've eaten off it. You're probably doing much of this anyway. The trick here is to attck small problems before they turn into bigger ones, and leave Fridays for major kitchen clean-up jobs, such as the microwave.

Glass surfaces/Mopping

Today's tip:

When mopping, try to use as little liquid as possible. So if the directions say to dilute with, say, a gallon of water, try reducing the directions by half or more, or at least pour most of the liquid into a plastic container used only for that purpose (mark it clearly so that no one gets confused and accidentally puts food into it). This prevents sloshing (so your shoes don't get wet) and also assures that the floors dry more quickly, thereby preventing slips. Be sure to dilute the cleaning fluid, though, as straight cleaning fluid often results in a sticky, slippery floor once it dries.

Vacuuming

Today's tip:

If you've seen bugs in the bathroom or kitchen, be sure to vacuum not only the floor in those rooms but also along the baseboards and corners, and along where the walls meet the floor.

Dusting

Today's tip:

One way to make dusting easier is to simply arrange it so that you have less dusting to do. That may sound simplistic (or impossible), but bear with me here.

What I'm talking about are choices that you can make at any early stage which will help you later on. The downside is that you don't have many opportunities to do this.

When purchasing furniture, most people look for the following (in whatever order is appropriate to them): look, price, fit in the home, storage capacity. All I am suggesting is that, in addition to these factors, that you add effort to be expended in dusting. For example, I recently saw a pretty coffee table in a catalog. However, it was extraordinarily intricately carved. While that made a lovely effect, one of the first things I thought of was, how the heck am I going to clean that? So I passed on it.

Another idea is to weigh ease of cleaning as a factor in your decision-making process. E. g. books may be stored several ways -
* in crates on the floor
* on open shelving
* in open bookcases
* in glass-fronted closed bookcases

The above choices go from hardest to keep clean to easiest although, perhaps not coincidentally, they also go from cheapest to most expensive.

Bathrooms

Today's tip:

Conceivably, this tip could be posted as an organizational tip as well as a bathrooms tip.

The best way to keep from buying too much of something you don't need and to keep from running out of space and to keep from throwing away too much unused merchandise when it expires is to keep an inventory. It's not as difficult or time-consuming as it may sound, since much of the work is done one time only.
(a) Grab a pad of paper about the size of 4" x 5", a pen, a pencil and something to lean on, plus tape.
(b) Take everything out of the medicine chest.
(c) Go through everything with the following in mind: (i) Has it expired? (ii) Do anyone in the family use it? (iii) Does it take up too much space? (iv) Can you purchase a cheaper alternative? (v) Can you do without it?
(d) Using the five questions in (c), throw away whatever has either expired or no one in your family uses. If you are throwing away something expired that someone will use again, write that down, and write down the quantity you found in the medicine chest and the approximate amount left in the container when you discarded it. For example, a 500-tablet aspirin bottle is discarded, and about half of it remains.
(e) Consider discarding anything you can do without, but only discard it if you truly feel you can do without it. Otherwise, keep it but keep in mind that it's taking up space. You may want to revisit these items in a few months.
(f) Review items that are taking up too much space. Can you consolidate them at all? Make them smaller? Buy less?
(g) Remove all items that don't belong. The medicine chest should generally hold basic medications, bandages and topical ointments, prescriptions, toothpaste and razor blades. Anything else should be moved out of the medicine cabinet.
(h) Taking a new sheet of paper, list everything that you're retaining, in pen. Alphabetize as best as you can but it need not be perfect.
(i) In pencil, list the quantity of each type of item. This isn't the number of pills left in a container. Rather, it's the number of containers. For items with an expiration date, list the expiration date in pencil.
(j) Tape the list to the inside of the medicine chest.
(k) Moving onto the area under the sink, repeat steps (a) - (j) except make sure you're only putting cleaning items or oversized items under there. If you have young children, you will need to lock this cabinet. This list should be taped to the inside of the undersink area.
(l) Move onto all other cabinets where toiletries are kept. Organize by function, if possible (sometimes there's inadequate space), or by person using the items (e. g. Mom's drawer, Dad's shelf or whatever). Repeat steps (a) - (j) . These lists should be taped to the inside of the appropriate cabinets.
(m) If necessary, remove makeup from the bathroom, which doesn't need to be applied in a bathroom, takes up a lot of space, plus the humidity will break most of it down and render it unusable.
(n) Take your list of discarded but needed items and review the remaining amounts when you discarded them. If you discarded a half-full 500-tablet bottle of aspirin, then the next time you buy aspirin, you should buy 200, 250 or 300 tablets (depending upon how it's packaged). If an item is desired but was too large, you should be buying a smaller size, if available (note that smaller sizes tend to be more expensive per unit). If an item is desired but is too expensive, consider alternatives.
(o) Rewrite your list so as to account for all correct amounts, brands and sizes. Transfer the corrected list to your main shopping list, which should be on your refrigerator.
(p) As you use items, change the quantities in pencil. When you are in the middle of using the last of any particular item (or if it is three months or less from its expiration date), place it on your shopping list. Again, check for how much has been used and how close the item is to its expiration date, and change the quantity accordingly, if need be.

Trash day/Outdoor work

Today's tip:

Another way to make trash day a bit more pleasant (or at least less unpleasant) is to reduce the amount of garbage. This means looking for environmentally-friendly packaging when you shop and also cutting down on certain throwaway items such as paper towels, and using washable rags instead.