Decluttering thread 10 - Spring is here, time to get those surfaces clear!

[TidyClutterIsStillClutter]

thread 9 is full, and I can’t find a new thread. Can anyone point me to thread 10?
tia

@Pigtailsandall I would absolutely love a pet but unfortunately my partner is highly allergic to pet dander & gets dreadful asthmatic breathing difficulties & eczema. He loves animals too. We had indoor/outdoor rabbits & the lung consultant said even that was a no-no because of cuddling the bunnies or the fur shedding inside. 😞

I did three loads of washing which was almost dry when I reckon we were the isolated shower at 3pm, no warning of it coming, my phone said no rain to 8pm, it was monsoon like, got most of it off the line with just the last few bits left on line as was wetter than when came out of the machine and I was soaked to my knickers (second time in two weeks).

4 lumpy pillows, binned
2 pillow cases that don't fit any of the pillows left, donated
1 jiffy bag covered in oil binned

Total is 3671

Oh that's annoying about the rain @Hasthisreallyhappened I am not stop washing still and putting it out over night. No rain here yet.

Ds13 saw ENT the day before we went on holiday and found out he is severly allergic to pollen and dust mites and two other things I can't remember. Because of that and ds17 mates staying while we was away ( said his mate slept on a fold out bed - he didn't because it's still covered in the same pile of clothes I had earmarked for charity). So I stripped all the beds. I also took dd and ds duvets to the laundry ( £11 for a wash! Possibly cheaper to buy new!) And have tumble dried ds pillows to kill off the dust mites. Just going to hoover his bed now. Not sure where this urge to clean has come from, but going to roll with it. I think the rubbish cleaner has motivated me partly.

Went to Costco today and looked at another hand held hoover. I have a barsted Shark upright that faints if it encounters a speck of dust. The hand held Dyson is so much more handy for a dash round rather than turning the shark over, checking the roller and giving it CPR.

Oh also cleaned half the fridge. Looks very good now which shows that it was filthy before.

Ooooo. Fab idea cleaning half the fridge. I have to psych myself up to clean the fridge. It’s a job I hate for so much. actually cleaning a half or even a quarter wouldn’t be that daunting.

I cleaned the bottom two shelves / compartments. And the bottom door shelf. Ie the ones you can see. So it looks spotless as I'm only 5,4 and can't look down on the other shelves 😂

My hoarding help from the council emailed me to sign me off! No warning and after only three visits I waited 6 months for. So in conclusion that was a bit crap and pointless. Let's hope it's because my house doesn't look like a hoarders house. They said they are inundated with referrals.

I'm going to declare myself cured now. I no longer buy hardly anything except food that very rarely has a chance to go off. My larder stash is semi empty of food. I can fit all clothes away ( mine is a very tight squeeze but I'm still working on that). Table is clear. Just have my clothes to continue to thin out and one room I continue to dump crap on when I need a emergency visitor tidy. Oh and my storage unit with 6 packing boxes in it.

So still work to do but I'm under hoarder thresholds nowadays and no longer exhibit those behaviours.

I just need to continue to do a little bit every day and not let the kids ehcp stuff throw me off every time.

Well done Incessant, that's great progress. You're really turning your house amd mentality around!!

Day 209 declutter was a small notebook/scrapbook I'd done as a 13yo. It was full of pictures of long-dead horses. I kept one pic of me actually riding one but the book and other photos I didn't feel the need to keep.

@IncessantNameChanger Both me and my partner have a collection of allergies between us. With pollen allergies it's best to dry clothes & bedding etc indoors or tumble dry as the pollen sticks to the fabrics. Use HEPA Vacuums and air filters & dust using damp cloths or vacuum. We have a mattress protector on the bed.
The hoarder charity who tried to help my uncle said hoarding is a lot more common than people realize. Well done for getting to grips with it.

Didn't think of that as I dry everything outside. Thanks.

I have cleaned one worktop counter and the kitchen windowsill. I need to put more things away in cupboards. So the next job can be to tidy a cupboard. It's all a bit random right now but as long as I'm doing something every day I'm moving forward. I have my kitchen scales on the worktop for example and very rarely use them.

I'm convinced just being more organised will make things easier and less cluttered to.

I went to the gp this morning to see the mh nurse and she is convinced I can get more respite and help for the kids. Talked about myself a diagnosis for ASzd / ADHD and not convinced this late in life.

saw dd early help worker in the afternoon and she said I need to park more stuff that I can worry about later. So need to think how to avoid burnout going forward.

Congratulations on your recovered hoarder status incessant 🎉🌟🎉🌟

Re diagnosis, I'd do it if it's being offered. It means people in the system who encounter you will have a better chance of relating to you better and treating you how it's best to treat you, versus if you have a condition nobody knows about then they can't make allowance for it or give special measures for it. You might be in a care home one day or need help from an employer.

Have you heard of the 4 Ds? Don't know if that'll help you organise yourself.
Do it: right away if it'll take no more than 5min.
Delegate it: if someone else can do it equally as well.
Delay it: if it can wait until later.
Dump it: if it's a nice-to-do rather than a necessity.

Out goes:
5 empty boxes.
2 useless hooks that keep falling off.
30 sticky floor tiles that refuse to stick to anything except me/each other.

Total is 3708

More outs:
12 COVID face masks
1 sheet of stickers
1 broken bicycle lock
Total is 3722

Congratulations @IncessantNameChanger
a good tip I got from a friend about kitchen cupboards was to put the larger things (and most used at front of a kitchen cupboard) then if you need something smaller from the back you don’t need to pull lots out of the cupboard.

I have friends who put their toasters away because they don’t use them much, I use mine nearly every day so I keep it out.

I'm definitely not a person who puts the toaster away. It's got a whole burnt loaf of crumbs in it for one thing. My friend puts hers away and I cat sat for her. I couldn't find it! I'm sometimes a bit horrified but ultra tidy people. My sister has sofas, a TV, tv unit and a thermometer in her front room. I don't think I will ever achieve that.

I'm aiming for toaster, air fryer and everything needed for tea / coffee out. I drink to much tea to put the tea caddy away. Plus I have an impressive mug collection where it should be in the cupboard over the kettle. Maybe one day. I'm trying not to buy more mugs. Mugs and teapots are definitely a impulse buy. I love them. The joy of a perfect mug. Maybe I will count them and report back. My boys say they will have a coconut shy type smashing thing when I die 😱 I'm going to get cremated with them. Mind you there's normally a fair few festering in my eldest room. How many is two many in a family of six?

My dil counted my mugs and cups, I have sixty or there about (and it’s only me now), but I have sets of coffee mugs, huge breakfast mugs for tea, afternoon cups with saucers for certain family and friends. Bone china for when my mum comes, DH’s favourite drum mugs in two sizes depending on morning tea or coffee. Various mugs gifted as presents with witty sayings like, sometimes I wake up grumpy, sometimes I let him sleep.

im sure I saw on a decluttering programme something like two (maybe three) per family member. But mugs make me happy, and so do tea cosies (I have six of those!).

Booklet recycled
Too small vest donated
Total is 3724

Yesterday paper bin six inch stack of tattered kids’ comics.

Great progress PPs

Had been lugging around a 10l fire extinguisher for 25 years after my lovely mum decided the rented flat I was in was a fire hazard. Got it collected today. Big tick

Have ordered collection of paint pots my dump won’t take them but another borough does free collections

Postponed dump trip tomor in a van. Lots to take. Going to do my bedroom next as fear I may run out of steam and that is a priority

Day 210 (yesterday) a torn canvas shoulder bag
Day 211, a small notebook/journal from my teenage years. Had a flick though and decided I no longer needed it.
Both from my memory boxes.

W/E 27/07 (Week 30)
2025 – (1223 + 50 = 1273 ) = 752 to go
Can't believe it's almost August...

Digital
None

Stuff used up and not replaced
Hair mask, eye cream = 2

Recycled/binned
Empty boxes x 8, curtain rail fixings and brackets x 9, watch strap, broken spectacle chain, plant pots x 2 = 21

Charity shop
Packets of curtain hooks x 5, fleeces x 4, blankets x 3, jumpers x 2, unopened seeds x 3, spectacle chain, ornament, vase, glasses x 6 = 26

Vinted
1

I've got the school polo shirts in the wash with a ton of stain remover in the hopes they can be passed on rather than binned.

A big piece of kitchen equipment sold 🎉

I did 20 minutes in the room of doom today. Some was tidying away / shredding papers and cards that had been in my bedroom. I also threw out information on a TV that we’ve had for 10 years - guarantees, instructions etc that we’ve never used.

Out a bag of books sent to charity shop via my friend that’s been sitting in the dining room for a month

Day 212, a little tie bracelet i got backpacking years ago. Not sentimental as I can't remember where I got it!