These two comments, from Sanna and Ideealistin, kicked of the responses to yesterdays Mini Mission post.  They make a great point about how we don’t need to be cluttering up our homes with stocks of items that in no way constitute emergency supplies. Especially when one spare is enough or in some cases aren’t even crucial. How often do you urgently need an envelope, a scented candle, four cigarette lighters or a can of fly spray.

And how far ahead do we really need to restock these items before they run out. Do you really need to have another bottle of shampoo waiting in the wings immediately after you start the current one. Same goes for your deodorant, dishwashing liquid, moisturiser, toothpaste, laundry detergent etc. Why clutter up your cupboard. Let the supermarket do your storing for you. Leave buying their replacement just before they are about to run out.

Believe it or not the world is not going to stop spinning even if you do run out of these things before your next grocery shopping day. So what if you use your husbands deodorant or your daughters conditioner or wash your hands with bubble bath for a day or two until you can get to the grocery store.

And I think this theory especially stands true when it comes to changing products. Like when you want to try a new shampoo and your current one is still about half full. How tempting is it to ditch that perfectly good current product and start using the new one if it is right at hand. Especially with all its promises to make your hair shiny and manageable.  Best to wait until the old one is all but spent before purchasing the replacement. How easy is it to end up with three or four moisturisers, conditioners, body washes or even breakfast cereals etc when the temptation of the exciting new one is right at hand. And what are the chances that you will go back to using the old discarded items when there is always a new temptation waiting at the store.

I have to admit I enjoy the chance to improvising. Like the time when I was half way through making a Thai beef curry only to discover I had no coconut milk and I did not want to rush out to the store. So I mixed together some milk, cream, palm sugar and a little coconut essence and no one noticed the difference. However if improvising is not your thing then you may want to be more careful with your stock of products than I am.

And for those who just love to have variety at hand or live a long way from the grocery store then this will, I guess, be an area of clutter you will be happy to live with.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter the excess of anything with elastic. In my underwear drawers there are always those couple of old bras, pairs of knickers, socks and stockings that only get used on the rare occasion that the ones I prefer to wear run out. On more than one occasion I have encountered the problem that these spare pairs are no longer useable because the elastic has perished during their lack of use. I have found the same problem in my sewing kit, the stationery drawer (rubber bands) and even among the sports gear (swimming goggles, elasticised shin pads, support bandages). So with elastic it is truly a case of use it or lose it.

Eco Tip for the Day

When all else is equal between one product or another choose the one with the most eco friendly packaging.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

When I asked readers to write in about topics they wanted me to discuss here at 365 Less Things Shirls sent in this request…

What to do with the dozens of body lotions and shower creams people keep giving me as gifts or that I’ve bought myself. My skin has become super sensitive in my old age and these products irritate rather than soothe. Trouble is, having opened them I can’t regift them or donate to the charity shop. Yet tossing them seems such a waste.

Rebecca B.A.R sent in this very good and helpful suggestion…

I would ask friends/family if they wanted them. If not, I would see if any of the local homeless shelters or the domestic violence office would want them to give to their clients.

~~~~~~~~~~

I would also say that just because the toiletries you have are open doesn’t mean you can’t donate them to a charity shop. They are not going to be eaten so I don’t see that they can’t be sold to someone who might want them. Just drop them off personally so you can check to make sure they are accepted.

If you are a member of a craft or social group why not take them along to your next get together and offer them to your fellow members with the explanation that you have become allergic to them. Don’t even worry if some of these product may have been given to you by the members of this group. They will understand when there are allergies involved and won’t make the same mistake of gifting you any in the future. In fact to avoid receiving any more toiletries as gifts in the furture would let all your friend loved ones know about this allergy problem.

In general I have a few suggestions when it comes to toiletries.

• Only buy one type of product at a time. One shampoo, one conditioner, one lotion, one sunscreen, one deoderant… Multiples just clutter up your space and add decision making time to your routine. (You may need a set for each bathroom)
• Do not buy a replacement until the current one is just about used up.
• Be a responsible consumer. If the product isn’t quite what you like persevere until it is all gone anyway. So long as you aren’t allergic to it or it has the opposite effect to what you expected it won’t harm you and you will know better next time.
• If the product does cause a reaction or does not perform as advertised I would suggest taking it back and attempt to extract a refund from the retailer.
• Before trying new products see if you can acquire a trial sample to test. Some shops and department stores are better for this than others. If you care to investigate on line, you will find that some manufacturers will send you product sample.

Here are some alternate uses for toiletries if you really can’t tolerate using ones you already own for their intended use~

• Shampoo can be used as hand soap or body wash (Check this Link for more ideas)
• Mouthwash as drain cleaner or toothbrush soaker (Check this Link for more ideas)
• I use body lotion to shave my leg (Check out this Link for more ideas)
• I have been known to use toothpaste to clean silver jewellery (Check out this Link for more ideas)

For more great ideas for alternate use for toiletries just google ~ Alternate use for (Insert the the name of the products) (eg alternate use for shaving cream). The computer is an invaluable tool when it come to decluttering.

Good luck and happy ablutions.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a fashion accessory or obscure clothing item that no longer matches anything you wear or your personality for that matter.

Today’s Declutter Item

This faux fur collar belongs to my favourite leather jacket. I think I have probably worn it on the Jacket twice in the eleven years I have owned it. Heaven knows why it hasn’t been decluttered before now.

Faux Fur Collar

Something to be grateful for today

I have to go in for day surgery tomorrow and I have got the 8am slot. That is like the jackpot of time slots. I only have to fast in my sleep and surgery couldn’t possibly be running very late at that time. Yay!!!

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

These photos are the result of a 10 minute clean up under my bathroom sink. It took me longer to actually get all the items to their new homes, but the decluttering itself was a breeze and look at the difference. I removed and found new homes for:

The before shot

• 12 bottles of nail polish (neighbor)
• a foot scrub brush (this was broken apart – some recycled, some trashed)
• 2 Aveda Be Curly hair products (neighbor)
• Color Me Beautiful color guide (Anyone else remember Color Me Beautiful? trash)
• a large box of latex gloves (moved to the paint supplies, which is where they’re more useful)
• 4 boxes of hair dye (returned to store)
• hair gel (friend)
• bag of cosmetic sponges (my mother)
• 2 nail files moved to the top drawer where they’d be more accessible
• while rearranging the cabinet, I realized that one of the bottles of hairspray was almost empty. I made sure that we used it on Easter, and now it’s been decluttered too.

How much progress can you make in just 10 minutes today?

Hi everyone,

How did you all go with the Use It Up challenge? I am quite happy with my efforts, not only because I got rid of a few things but it also encouraged me to do a bit of craft.  I was excited about getting through as many “left over bits” as possible. My plan is to keep going with the challenge for myself until I have depleted a lot more of my craft supplies and a few more toiletry products.

Here is the list of things I used up…

• A box of adhesive tabs (craft supply)
• The last of a roll of Terrificly Tacky Tape (craft supply)
• The last of a tube of craft glue
• A bottle of shower cleaner
• A small bottle of body wash
• The last of a bottle of UnDo photo cleaner
• A sample bottle of face cleanser
• The last of a jar of hair sculpting paste
• A bottle of metal cleaner

There were only two items that I used slightly differently from their intended purpose. I used the shower spray  for cleaning the kitchen bench tops and the toilet as well as the shower. I had bought the metal cleaner to polish up a silver tea set. Then I decided I didn’t want to keep doing that painful task for the rest of my life and gave the tea set away. I used the rest of it to clean my stainless steel kitchen sink and my ceramic cook top.

Now I am curious to know what you all managed to Use Up over the last two weeks. Please send in those comments I am expecting big results.

ITEM 171 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Today’s offering is of course the items from the Use It Up challenge. I got a little over zealous and threw away the first couple of containers but then remembered to keep the rest.

I received a lot of comments on Tuesday regarding the Use It UP challenge it seems there are lot of readers out there who can relate to this topic.

We have already discovered alternative uses for two products..

• Mouthwash can be used for several different things according to The Frugal Duchess.
• Shampoo can be put in your liquid soap container and used as a hand cleaner according to Patricia in her comment. I suppose you could also use it as a body wash like my son does when he washes his hair.

I also have a post from back on day 77 with my take on multipurpose uses for cleaning products.

So now, not only would I like your feedback on what you used up but also any creative, out of the box methods utilised to achieve your objectives. I would say Willow, who has some nasty mouthwash, may end up with some clean computer screens and a sparkling white toilet if she uses the advice from The Frugal Duchess.

ITEM 161 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Today’s item is a pile of  books of my husbands. He is still doing a champion job of decluttering his stuff.

I want to lay down a challenge this week to all you readers out there.

THE CHALLENGE

Find at least 5 consumable items in your home that have been lingering on a shelf somewhere. My definition of consumable is something that can be depleted or worn out by use.  Concentrate on choosing these items over similar items you prefer to use until they are all used up and no longer cluttering up your home.

Possible reasons for lingering

• didn’t live up to expectation
• for some reason you just stopped using it
• just have so many of a similar item to choose from
• bought a similar item you like better
• Something from a pass-time you don’t do so much any more

Items examples that might come under the term consumable…

• Bottle of perfume
• Craft supply item
• Cleaning product
• Toiletries product (Shampoo, body wash, moisturiser etc)
• Food item
• Product samples

I know I have a list to choose from and I am sure most of you have your own little secret stash. I will give this challenge two weeks and I will share with you on Sunday the 20th of June how the challenge worked out for me and I would love some feedback on how you all went.

I am looking forward to the challenge I hope you will join me.

ITEM 159 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This dome clock was a wedding gift, its pendulum was damaged during a move some years back but we kept it all this time because it was a gift. It is long past time to let it go.

Today’s item is this rusty shower caddy.

How many of these items have passed through our home over the last 23 years I couldn’t say but it has been quite a few. I am yet to find one that didn’t go rusty after about 2 years. There must be one out there in the market that is made of a substance that doesn’t perish  with such monotonous regularity.

I know they only cost about $20-$30 but I’m stingy and I expect more for my 30 bucks. So I have come up with a cheap alternative to this design. I have purchased 4 plastic coated hooks with screws on the end at a grand total of $2 and I have screwed 2 of them into the bottom of my shampoo and conditioner bottles and hung them upside down on the edge of the shower screen.

The beauty of this design apart from the $2.00 price tag is that the liquid in the bottles is constantly in the ready position, that is since they are hanging upside down the liquid is always nearest to the exit hole so it is as simple as flip the cap and out it comes.

I will keep you posted as to how well this invention is working but for now I am quite happy with the result.The other items that used to reside on the old shower caddy were my razor and a comb for applying conditioner to my hair. The razer is also hanging over the edge of the shower screen and the comb is sitting in the channel above the door of the shower which works quite will.

I might add that the shower in question is very small and this new hanging method has freed up a Little moving room as well.

Now I know that uncluttering your ironing basket doesn’t actually remove anything from your house but it sure would lighten your To-Do List leaving more time for real de-cluttering. Speaking from someone who spent at least three hours slaving over a hot iron today, I am up for any suggestion as to how to reduce this workload.

It would certainly help if we bought clothes with less cotton content and more in the way of  poly/cotton blend.

I put fabric softener in all my loads to try to cut down on the wrinkles and I am sure that helps but not enough. I also hang the clothes on an airing rack inside the house so they aren’t out going stiff in the wicked heat of the sun. Drying them in the clothes dryer isn’t an option either because I have a washer dryer combo (all in one model) and I find it wrinkles the clothes even worse than hanging them. In a way this is a good thing because then I am not tempted to resort to this method because that would be a huge waste of electricity.

All I can hope for as that the current clothes will wear out and we can all buy replacements with a higher polyester content or that someone will leave home so there is one less person to iron for. The chances of that someone ironing their own clothes is about as likely as the clothes ironing themselves (now there’s a dream).

ITEM 107 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Since a photo of my pile of ironing is not an example of real de-cluttering you will find below today’s actual contribution. Yet another couple of toiletry items I unearthed when raiding the cupboards for the out of date medications from day 103

Colleen’s Helpful Hint of the Day

Denture cleaner in warm water makes a great silver and gold jewellery cleaner.

(Always test method first and never use this method on pearls)

Although my toiletries are one of those things I have well and truly under control, sometimes certain items do seem to multiply and then reach their expiry date while I’m not looking.

Sunscreen is one of those items that tends to do this due to a number of reasons like…

• An unplanned trip to the beach where a “pink pelt” like me has to lather on the sunscreen or that pink soon turns to blistered red so you duck to the nearest convenience store to buy a bottle.
• A planned trip to the beach where you forget the sunscreen and rather than go all the home you are forced to buy another bottle.
• A family picnic to the park where you forget the sunscreen and you borrow someone Else’s bottle, forget to give it back and can’t remember which family member owed it.

Needless to say now you have four bottles of sunscreen, two of which have passed their used by dates, taking up space in the bathroom cabinet.

This is only one small item but the same story applies to lots of different things. For example…

• The extra suitcase you bought while on holidays in America to bring home all the stuff you bought because things are so cheap over there
• The extra esky (Cooler) you bought last Christmas because you had a big family BBQ at your house and didn’t have enough room in the fridge
• The snow chains you had to buy because of unseasonal weather when visiting the mountains last April.

Need I go on.

The next thing you know you think you have outgrown the house you live in and start looking for another “dump site” with a bigger garage. It used to amuse me when I lived in the USA how many cars in our neighbourhood were parked on the street or in the driveway because the garage was full of other “stuff”.

Check around your house today and find one of these things and relegate it to the “get rid of” pile. Just remember you always have the option of borrowing things when in need, then you just give them back when you are done.

Two bottles of sunscreen past their used by date

Colleen’s Helpful Hint for the Day

A slightly damp microfibre cloth is great for removing deoderant stains, dust and other accidental marks from your clothes. I keep one handy in my bathroom cabinet just for this purpose.

Another place that I have found lots of the same thing tends to accumulate over time is in the bathroom cabinet. Bottles of moisturiser in particular have this tendency. Someone gives you one as a gift, you pick up a couple at a motel you stayed at or a friend has a Body Shop party and you feel obliged to buy something and so on until there are five slightly used bottles/tubes you use on a rotational basis taking up a lot of space. My solution is to chose one today use it and only it until it is empty then move on to the next one until you are down to one and only buy another when that one is about to run out. This is only one little de-clutter but every little thing helps in the quest to getting organised and making space.

Goodbye to another sports item that hasn’t been used for years