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Housekeeping

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Hoarders Anonymous. Thread #9. We Are Keeping On Keeping On. Fighting The Cluttered Fight.

204 replies

Solo · 07/11/2025 23:20

We are a group of likeminded householders who are leading somewhat challenging lives; be that living with too much 'stuff' that we find difficult to deal with, houses that are falling apart (mine is), health issues within the family unit, wider family, or ourselves (me too) that means sorting out our households is challenging to say the least. So...
You are all welcome to join us for support, adding your ideas to help others out, storage ideas, and even tips on actually getting those items out of the house which sounds so simple when you say it, but this part can be a huge challenge; we are often attached emotionally to our 'things', afraid of letting things go just in case we need them, or it belonged to mum or gran. This is tough stuff to deal with.
Encouragement and support abound here in our band of clutterbugs. We never ever criticise anyone! We even try not to criticise ourselves as it's not helpful to anyone, but this can be very difficult to achieve.
We hold one another's hands, dab away tears, and snot virtually.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter, mess, disorganisation and generally don't know where to start. If you can't be bothered, but really do want to be bothered. If you think you are a bit lazy, or if you just need to see your highs and lows and everything in between on the screen here, join us, and we will support you. We'll virtually high-five your achievements - small or large, and virtually hug you when the need arises. If you want a hug, just ask because we are here for you, we're here for one another because we get it. The art of washing up is sometimes our great achievement of the day, but it's still an achievement. Every small step is an achievement.
My own journey is very long, I've tried to get it done, bug it's a work in progress. Single working mum (children now both over 18, but youngest has many physical issues as well as ADHD and ASD). I have chronic illness, and am in my 62nd year on the planet, so I need to deal with it. The point is. You aren't alone if you are also suffering.

Some helpful links which I hope are still valid. They aren't for everyone, but have a look if you fancy:
• Help For Hoarders by Jasmine Harman (the author/producer of the BBC1 documentaries My Hoarder Mum and Me and Britain's Biggest Hoarders)
• The FlyLady Cleaning Method by Marla Cilley
• The Organised Mum Method by Gemma Bray
• The KonMari Method by Marie Kondo
• A Slob Comes Clean by Dana K. White
• The Getting Things Done Method by David Allen

I'm not sure if The Flylady link is working, but if not, you know what to search for.
Welcome to thread #8 of Hoarders Anonymous. Thread #8. We Are Keeping On Keeping On. Fighting The Cluttered Fight (and winning, one small step at a time).

Decluttering Expert: Dana K White of A Slob Comes Clean
Learn more about decluttering expert Dana K. White and her cleaning and organizing blog: A Slob Comes Clean. Author, podcaster, blogger and YouTuber.
https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/about-me/

This is the default server vhost

https://www.theorganisedmum.blog/

OP posts:
BlackeyedSusan · 31/03/2026 19:21

That's bloody annoying!

I've cleaned and hoovered a foot square of living room carpet and the things that are stored there.

DD has put two washing baskets of clothes away.

BlackeyedSusan · 31/03/2026 19:27

Let's just say we don't need to buy washing up liquid anytime soon. Nor conditioner. Will need to work out how to store stuff under the sink when it is back in use so I can see what I have and use it and keep it tidy.

(Emergency cupboard emptying a while ago and it was all squashed in then shoved under the table. )

WearyAuldWumman · 31/03/2026 19:35

I appear to have multiple containers of specialist wooden floor cleaning substances.

Solo · 31/03/2026 20:37

WearyAuldWumman · 31/03/2026 19:35

I appear to have multiple containers of specialist wooden floor cleaning substances.

Do you have wooden flooring? Good if you do.
I often find multiple bottles of cleaning stuff. I try to whittle them down by pouring half empty bottles into other half empty bottles - if they're the same of course, bug it always feels good to get rid of some bottles into recycling.

OP posts:
WearyAuldWumman · 31/03/2026 22:07

I do, in three rooms - so it won't go to waste.

BlueSummerBaby · 01/04/2026 00:06

I suggest altering your mindset about the council wearyauldwoman.

You currently pay rent on a place you can't get into.
If you complain and the council do nothing, you'll still be paying rent on a place you can't get into.
So unless you need to stop paying rent urgently, ie you need immediate access to empty it, you have nothing to lose by complaining and wait-and-see. Don't see it as this huge stressful thing, just write the complaint and forget about it.

As a first step, you don't actually need to complain. Just report it as a repair - that the lock has been painted over. They own it, they're responsible for it. Doesn't matter how it got painted over, so long as it wasn't you.

Contact them to find out what the procedure for reporting a repair is.

See what response you get to that report. Chase it up after a month of no response. Raise a complaint if still no response. But go about the whole process expecting no response, then you won't be disappointed. If all else fails, get a locksmith out.

If the council don't sort the lock and you want the stuff back and don't want to pay a locksmith, just stop paying rent. Put your phone number on the lock-up along with a note that you'll come and collect the contents just as soon as you're given access. It'll save them the cost of a skip to call you instead. Even if they don't call you, whatever is in there you haven't needed it or missed it and DH probably didn't have the crown jewels in there or else he'd have mentioned it at some point! You could also tell the council you've stopped paying rent as you can't access it and you'll resume paying/come clear it out, as soon as they give you access. That should focus their minds a bit. Especially if it was their workmen who painted over it!

I presume you've tried paint stripper? It's less than £10/bottle.

WearyAuldWumman · 01/04/2026 00:16

@BlueSummerBaby To be honest, I've only tried WD40. Paint stripper is probably a better option.

I think that the lock-up contains his weightlifting gear, unfortunately. I mean 'unfortunately' in the sense that it'll be awkward to remove, but I think I can do it a section at a time - I'm talking about free weights that can be dismantled. (Worst case scenario, I can get a man with a van.)

I think there's also a standard lamp and possibly a mirror.

I know that he emptied his old house at one point, but I think that he just took everything to the tip and didn't put it in the lock-up.

Part of my problem is that I've felt so damned self-conscious any time I've gone down to the lock-up.

I suspect that photographing the lock and then attempting the paint stripper is the way to go.

In my defence, I've had a helluva lot on my plate. I finally got the old house sold last year and then I was hit by a couple of health scares...but, yes, I've been procrastinating over the lock-up ever since I realised that I couldn't actually access it.

Time to buckle up and get on with it.

BlueSummerBaby · 01/04/2026 02:44

wearyauldwoman hopefully the paint stripper will fix it. I've been procrastinating using it on a glass window panel that some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to paint over. If you can get in there maybe you can sell the weights straight from the lock-up, if selling is the plan, so you don't have to move them. You shouldn't feel bad for taking a time to get around to it, life is busy and sometimes hard, it's just how it is. Everyone here is struggling, you're not alone. We will all get on top of our things eventually, somehow, one day.

Solo · 01/04/2026 16:50

So...yesterday and today.
Washing up.
3 loads of laundry.
Changed bed linen.
Cleaned cooker top.
Cleaned kitchen sink. It's white, more than 30 years old and just won't whiten up anymore. Tips welcome, but I've tried flash (more for the dirt and greasy surface), bleach, Nanna's Secret.
Cleaned the outsides of the two stove top kettles.

@WearyAuldWumman I took a storage unit for 8 weeks about 9 years ago. The price has increased so much and I need to make enough space at home to empty the unit. In a few months I'm going to lose child benefit and the very small sum of universal credit i get for Dd and the little bit of child maintenance i get from her dad so I'm seriously going to struggle financially. Luckily I have no debts, but my house is in serious disrepair. And I need a new cooker. I also need a bed frame and mattress. These are two items I must have. And a boiler. And windows. And new electric wiring. And so much more. <sigh> God it's depressing

The storage unit must go. I have books in there. I'm probably going to cull the older cookery books, but the others will stay. My big tv. 3 oak doors for upstairs. 2 brand new Pax wardrobes and all the internal gubbins for those.

Right. Going to do some more.

OP posts:
Onebigargh · 01/04/2026 16:53

Solo · 01/04/2026 16:50

So...yesterday and today.
Washing up.
3 loads of laundry.
Changed bed linen.
Cleaned cooker top.
Cleaned kitchen sink. It's white, more than 30 years old and just won't whiten up anymore. Tips welcome, but I've tried flash (more for the dirt and greasy surface), bleach, Nanna's Secret.
Cleaned the outsides of the two stove top kettles.

@WearyAuldWumman I took a storage unit for 8 weeks about 9 years ago. The price has increased so much and I need to make enough space at home to empty the unit. In a few months I'm going to lose child benefit and the very small sum of universal credit i get for Dd and the little bit of child maintenance i get from her dad so I'm seriously going to struggle financially. Luckily I have no debts, but my house is in serious disrepair. And I need a new cooker. I also need a bed frame and mattress. These are two items I must have. And a boiler. And windows. And new electric wiring. And so much more. <sigh> God it's depressing

The storage unit must go. I have books in there. I'm probably going to cull the older cookery books, but the others will stay. My big tv. 3 oak doors for upstairs. 2 brand new Pax wardrobes and all the internal gubbins for those.

Right. Going to do some more.

If you havent used it in ten years can you just sell it as content and skip what doesn’t sell?

Onebigargh · 01/04/2026 16:55

I moved 6 years ago and stuff went it storage but we had no where to live for a bit and then we moved into our dream forever house - we have 50boxes still to unpack and I’m doing about 5 a week - but most of it is being charity shopped. If I didn’t need it for 6 years I can’t need it now!

Solo · 01/04/2026 16:59

Onebigargh · 01/04/2026 16:53

If you havent used it in ten years can you just sell it as content and skip what doesn’t sell?

Edited

That won't happen. I got a lot of things in preparation for my 'new' rooms. I'm definitely not going to get rid and have to buy again. No money. Less money coming in soon.

OP posts:
BlackeyedSusan · 02/04/2026 09:00

Well done Solo.

Slightly less vertigo this morning. Not enough sleep.

BlackeyedSusan · 02/04/2026 16:34

One dismantled Christmas tree hoovered (4 months dust Xmas Blush) and wrestled into its box. It's a mainly sitting down job. Sadly the box doesn't really have anywhere to live anymore. Just taken another vertigo tablet so hoping things improve more.

Really pissed off with this vertigo as it is not getting better (months now)

FiniteSagacity · 02/04/2026 18:36

@BlackeyedSusan well done with the Christmas Tree! I actually got our tree up in 2025 but took several weeks to get it put away and had to remove cobwebs. DS still has his mini one and refuses to take it down but it’s in his space.

Hello to everyone else, I have tried to lurk and keep up with news but haven’t commented for months as been supporting hoarding parent through illness. Sadly they died and now I no longer have to ‘protect’ things I kept when clearing their hoard. So in between the emotional bits I need to get back on the decluttering horse.

BlueSummerBaby · 03/04/2026 00:42

Sorry for your loss finite sagacity

Solo · 03/04/2026 18:45

@FiniteSagacity I'm also sorry for your loss. I hope you're doing okay Thanks

OP posts:
Solo · 03/04/2026 18:59

I've done another washing load including bed linen and Dd's second Oodie. I'll do a final load for the week tomorrow.

I've been continuing in the 2nd bedroom. I have two large carrier bags full of shoes. One is for rubbish as they've basically disintegrated, the other for charity shops. I have a bag of things to try selling, and a so far little amount of princessy bits for a friend's granddaughter. Every little bit out helps.
Mum needs a dinner ser, so I'm donating one of mine to her that she bought and gave me about 30 years ago. I probably haven't used it since Christmas 2003, so that's going! Yippee! I've managed to get a very old tea set into my china cabinet in it's place and so that's an empty box too. I pulled a plant pot (it has 2 unexplained chunks out of it, but I am using it anyway) and matching dish from the porch (the plant in it must have been dead for about 10 years!), and put my Aloe Vera in and on it instead of on the glass candle plate.

Right, back to business.

OP posts:
WearyAuldWumman · 03/04/2026 21:36

Not a lot to report today. Made myself throw out a pair of slippers with deteriorating soles.

FiniteSagacity · 03/04/2026 22:12

@Solo and @BlueSummerBaby thank you. I know a lot of us have experienced loss and it can make getting rid of things harder. In my circumstances it should remove excuses, in theory. I appreciate the solidarity of this group - and shared ideas and motivation. I’m loving the throwing out of deteriorating shoes! I am finding so much stuff isn’t good enough to donate now I look at it - shoes or bags that are ‘peeling’ as actually quite old. Struggling with recycling guilt again and some skips at the tip were full a couple of weeks ago. So I know little and often is what I need to get back to.

Elleherd · 04/04/2026 05:07

@FiniteSagacity Sorry for your loss and all the difficulties around it Flowers
IME what should remove 'excuses' or reasons, doesn't always turn out to, so be kind to yourself. Give yourself a recycling pass if it helps. These aren't standard circumstances. There are times when you just have to do whatever you have to do and not take on the responsibility of the world.

@Solo Good to see you rolling! Posting in a hurry, and will come back and read properly another time, but two things: If your sink is enamel or enamel coated then it probably needs recoatingt. It scrubs down over the years (my bath is also in need) and nothing will make it white again because the top layer is gone and the alkaline layer exposed.
. I don't seem to be able to send and receive DMs. (could make a throwaway email if needed) I'm pretty sure we're the same major city.
I have in one (of my not flooded) storage units; two brand new Queen sized quality mattresses looking for a home FOC. They were used on a tv ad for 1/2 a day! (One has a foot print where it was trodden on getting it down the stairs) As you know I too am trying to clear storage and ended up having to have a hospital bed.
May not be what you're looking for, but if you had any interest they're yours.FOC, and could be delivered for cost of fuel.
Just a thought. Pax wardrobes definitely the dream!

@Onebigargh Hello. Sounds like you're doing well letting things go. But that's the issue with HD, outside of it often being the stuff that was selected specifically because it was what was wanted, many people often can't 'just' insert logical solution here regardless of logic.

@BlackeyedSusan Well done. I still have lots of decorations that got temporarily put away to sort through and pack properly, as well as there's a raft of needles at aunts between a window and table that I can't currently get to. Sorry the vertigo isn't shifting, very unpleasent and unhelpful.

@WearyAuldWumman Inch by inch it's a cinch and all that.

@BlueSummerBaby re online resources, for (my) time management, I'm going to come back to and answer your important post another time if I may, as Im pushed for time as usual which is why I'm up at this time trying to catch up.

Tried to fix aunts washing machine, which hasn't worked, but she now has a very clean kitchen floor at least! Managed to repair and rehang her fridge door which the fixings broke after she grabbed it to prevent a fall, and the whole door fell off.

Handwashing done including a bedspread from hell that leaked red purple dye everywhere! Wondered if I'd ever be able to get it dry ever again, but it is. Launderette done. Basics covered, but an extra launderette run today while there's drying weather.

Builders have given me some more better fencing which is good, but it's the wrong type, so going to have to deconstruct it to use and make it fit. Another time consuming exhausting job, because no money to just buy what we need.
They've also given us some timber, which is a mixed blessing as it's had to go to storage until the overseer is off site, but it's for specific things and good quality.
Mice are in the communal area which is a worry.

Was hoping to use the BN w/end better for clutter busting, but very far behind on work (could be said of everything)and have to catch up or I wont have any work!.

BlueSummerBaby · 04/04/2026 13:55

Elleherd I'm good with being ignored, don't worry, I don't take such things personally, so reply whenever or not at all, whatever suits you. I'm glad the builders have tried to help a bit with things to make up for the upheaval you've had.ice isn't good but with warmer weather coming hopefully they'll go back outside where they belong. Where I am, I know if you advertised on Facebook with free mattress someone skint would happily collect. It's one of those expensive things where hiring a van is worth it. Or a homeless charity that helps people get set up in their first flat afterwards would want it. If solo doesn't want it.

Solo · 04/04/2026 18:44

@Elleherd thank you so much for the offer of mattresses, but I will decline as i need to clear the room out in order to at least get some flooring down and then I'm going to buy an ottoman bed frame and new mattress. I have been given a nice amount of money for my birthday from Mum which I'm going to buy the frame with, or at least it'll pay for most of it, then I'll get a Simba mattress from Costco as they do have a Simba in there for a good price. I've made the decision to go down from king size to double as the back room is smaller and the wooden frames seem to be wider. The king seems to be as wide as a normal super king, and the double the size of a king. I do appreciate your kind offer though.

Good thing about the help from builders. I hope you're doing okay.

I worked until 10.30 last night. I'm vacuuming the small spaces as I go.
Today, I've done more. I have bags. Charity. To sell. Rag.
Boxes of Ds's books to go to him. I found a watch that my Dad gave him before he passed away. Ds is happy.
I've got some baby stuff like manual breast pumps and cot linen sets. I'm going to freecycle or charity shop the pumps, but I'm considering keeping hold of the sets in case of grandchildren. I know I won't have the money going forward, and they are Mamas and Papas sets x 2.

Well done to everyone. Keep on keeping on.🥰

OP posts:
Solo · 04/04/2026 18:53

I just found 3 unopened letters in a shoe box from November 2019... one was an election voting slip.

OP posts:
Solo · 04/04/2026 19:45

Dd is home. I've just made a pot of tea, so it's break time. I didn't realise what time it is! I'll be putting a pizza in the oven for speed.

@Elleherd I forgot to say that my kitchen sink isn't enamel or coated. Not sure what it's made of to be honest - but it's blooming awful!

I'm sorry you've had to go to a hospital bed, but i hope it's making things easier for you at home.
Hope the mouse issue is sorted soon, too.

@BlueSummerBaby I did read your post regarding the online stuff. I think I'd feel under pressure, personally, but I'm glad it's working well for you.

OP posts: