Hoarding...not just on TV

kiss_me_now9

whitewing wrote: »

Unless you particularly want to sell the DVDs, why not see if a local hospice could put them to good use, either in the hospice or by selling them?

Oh, that's a good idea - I would like to sell as many as possible but equally I'd rather they went to a good home IYKWIM. Not sure most of them would be suitable (I like action/sci-fi/thrillers primarily) but the idea of sending them to a hospice is much nicer than the bin! Unfortunately, the charity shops around here are so so picky about what they want, most of them won't bother taking DVDs or CDs because they get so many of them and they don't really sell. Not to mention that charity shops around here are actually more expensive than some high street shops :eek:

lostinrates

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Cleaning products not hoarding...hmmm...



In Her kitchen, I found:

Ariel colour capsules x3
Ariel colour powder tabs
Ariel normal tabs
Surf capsules x2
Ariel stain remover powder x2
Ariel stain remover liquid x2
Vanish powder x3
Assorted stain removers

Dishwasher tablets (she doesn't have a dishwasher)

Fairy foaming spray x4
Fairy liquid x2

Plus a double cupboard full of various products. And at least 20 other tubs, pots and whatnots of cleaning stuff. I never did the front room, the hall, the bathroom or upstairs, but I think I could have filled up three wheelie bins with cleaning products, all used once, if at all.


Plus I saw at least 5 mops, 3 brooms, 4 vacuum cleaners and countless tv shopping specialist products. The steam cleaners are in a cupboard, apparently. None ever used.


So, cleaning products can count. Everything counts. Or then x and y don't count, then a, b and c and then nothing in the hoarder's house counts as hoarding.



She has loads of books, clothes, toys, videos, DVDs, small electricals, 3 fridges, at least 2 freezers, thousands of out of date tins, packets, jars, garden tools, garden electricals, electric knives, real knives, scissors, cutlery, pots, pans, salad spinners, kitchen gadgets, glasses, plates, cups, bowls, Tupperware and lock n lock....


Everything counts.



Oh. Bother. I forgot the stuff out on the back porch blocking the windows and the way from the kitchen door into the garden.

And the stuff in the garden.

They count, too.

I would easily buy that much cleaning stuff at a time ( though different things). I hate shopping for stuff like that, so tend to go infrequently. E.g. I use aldi washing up liquid, but only go to aldi about three times a year, so buy several bottles at one time.

I do not like not to have a spare box of washing powder etc for similar reasons, i will buy a coue or a few boxes on a good offer.

Other cleaning stuff.....well, i bought stardrops when i started osing more, and i hate it, but have not thrown it out, i use it for some jobs, but i prefer flash. I also buy hob brite, two bottles at a time. And vinegar, half a dozen bottles at a time.

I think of that as planning ahead not hoarding, and ipt makes sense for my lifestyle, really it does.

What i do have an issue with is my dad buying other stuff as he likes wipes and sprays and things which i do not, and he does buy new ones not finishing the old ones and then gets cross if i chuck it. I have about three astic boxes of his stuff like this in the utility (to be tackled at the weekend, well, friday. )

I wanna chuck it. What will i say to him?

lostinrates

I agree, jojos posts are motivating and liberating in a strange way, i hope she is finding them so too.

Also, i kinda wish i had a jojo. Part of the thing for me is energy, and part of it is just a bit of being daunted, i wish i had someone to enlist to keep dh and i de richarding. Instead is me driving him, and he just tells me to keep all of my stuff....which has reinforced the idea its more his problem than mine.

(me, three hoovers, a gifted yellow one which i hate...its my dad's, a gifted miele whoch needs to go and be sevriced and a new cheap one which i bought because the miele needs to be serviced). I don't even know how to arrange a miele service. I will ask my mother and sort that out this week.

Byatt

I am having a tiny moment of joy, as I can begin to see some sort of order appearing. I know it's still a long way to go, but to have some tidiness and able to move around without tripping and falling over will be wonderful.

A hoover has gone in the car, along with steamer and a few other things, wires, cables etc.

blossomhill_2

Byatt wrote: »

I am having a tiny moment of joy, as I can begin to see some sort of order appearing. I know it's still a long way to go, but to have some tidiness and able to move around without tripping and falling over will be wonderful.

Without having to slalem? Nice to share your joy! One good reason for keeping my curtains closed was so passers-by didn't see that I couldn't walk in a straight line across the room!

I found I made faster progress once I had gained a path both in front and behind the hoard, so I wasn't always tackling it from the same angle

wannabe_sybil

Jojo - I hope you are getting as much from this thread as everyone else. Herself is not a nice person. I think you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. And there are times when some people do not deserve help, at least not from the people who have suffered from them. Try not to give her too much head space, just enough to stop it festering. You have done nothing to get this grief.

I have an opinion that the more variety of cleaning stuff, the worse the cleaning :o:o:o My late mother had lots - all bought in bulk at different times for 'when I do a grand spring clean'. It is aspirational buying - I will buy all this stuff for the day I start to clean house.

One of the things I have done is get rid of the cleaning kit that I am not using. Cleaning putty from approved food, glass cleaning sprays or wipes, etc. That was really hard, because 'it might come in useful' and cleaning stuff ought to come in useful. More stuff needs to go.

On the other hand I do consciously stock up on washing powder, white vinegar, loo roll and washing up liquid. tbh, an awful lot of cleaning can be done with just soapy water. Spray cleaner with bleach is something else I want to keep. All else, I am determined only to buy in when I am actually just about to clean.

I also think that a lot of hoarders have a messy house and some are downright dirty (not all!) so you buy cleaners in the subconscious hope that they will magically get the house cleaner without any effort. sigh. Can you tell that I do/did that?

Byatt

blossomhill wrote: »

Without having to slalem? Nice to share your joy! One good reason for keeping my curtains closed was so passers-by didn't see that I couldn't walk in a straight line across the room!

I found I made faster progress once I had gained a path both in front and behind the hoard, so I wasn't always tackling it from the same angle

I started off in one area, the kitchen, which still needs a lot of work, but now I'm making space I can put things away in their rightful place, so I am venturing into the bedroom (took out the old hoover I had) and some cables which are ready for either the CS or tip. If I haven't got room for it or a space for it, it's going. And there's room in the understairs cupboard now for the actual hoover I do use and which has been lying around/tripped over in the living room.

I know what you mean about the curtains.

Byatt

The funny thing is Sybil, when I clean I am so thorough, everything has to be perfect, OCDish...

dktreesea

Just catching up with the thread and noticed quite a few posts about good quality things that are really too good to give away. If not having much luck with Ebay and not wanting to take the time to pack and post, with the hassles if things get broken/don't arrive etc) I have a few suggestions:

1) Antique fairs. Car boots can be okay, but really for more general stuff than really good things. What can be good though, if you have one nearby with a good reputation for having a lot of people through, is an antiques fair. Don't be put off by your lack of experience. 90% of dealers probably don't have a lot more knowledge than you; just a lot more practice at selling the stuff. Also, things don't have to be 100 years old. collectibles go just as well as antiques.

2) How about putting some items into the auction, again if you have a reputable one nearby? A good way to get an indication of what things might sell for is to go along and watch the auction one day. You might be pleasantly surprised. People mentioned candle snuffers and teapots earlier in the thread. Bonhams, for example, had a Royal Worcester candle snuffer that sold recently for £1,750 including the premium. If anyone would like some information about which auctions are good for which items, please feel free to PM me. I was looking at the same auction (one coming up) for teapots. Made my mouth water, some of their estimates.

I know hoards can look like a whole heap of junk, but they probably aren't. This isn't a random heap of stuff you are looking at. It's all been selected and collected with some purpose in mind. Of course it's true to say that the "purpose" has fallen somewhat behind the hoard in coming into fruition. Plus, time can be unkind to The Things, so some of it may have deteriorated beyond saving.

If you have items that haven't gone in the car boot, just everyday things, you could put them into a few boxes and send them to the auction to be auctioned in one or two lots. Again, you might be pleasantly surprised. You might need to use a different auction house to the one you choose to sell the more valuable items, but it is nice to get the money at the end of it all without actually having to stand out in the freezing cold selling it.

3) Books can go well on Amazon rather than Ebay. No listing fees and no problems fussing about with Paypal. They collect the money, you send the items off, and you just pay down the money as it comes in (or wait for Amazon who they pay out automatically every fortnight). However, if you don't fancy sending it off, standing in the queue at the post office etc, how about trying Fulfilled By Amazon? Provided you are just sending them things you know are likely to sell, this can work out more money in your pocket than doing it yourself.

4) If you don't mind people coming to your house, Gumtree can be a good website to list items for sale on, and very easy to list on.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

http://www.miele.co.uk/owners/service/vacuum-valet-service/

Hope that helps.



I think that having stuff in reserve is useful. I'm systematically working through the things I've put by at the moment. I've got 1 box of washing powder tablets I'm halfway through and a small bottle behind that. I've also got a second washing up liquid in the cupboard and I haven't bought cleaning sponges for a year since I got a load at once.

But cleaning stuff, like with food, is only useful if it gets used. In the case of Her, it was never really used - it was pushed back in favour of the new and shiny each time. And that continues until there is no more room. When it starts to colonise other areas. Hence finding around £100 of soap powders and suchlike scattered around outside with everything else, getting wet and covered in muck.


But I'm not some super duper perfect thing. I was rummaging in the back of a kitchen cupboard this evening for the liquidiser, as I was making beetroot soup (which was yummy, by the way) -

- and pulled out some monstrous looking potatoes that must have been there for a very long time, as they had two foot long shoots and had been trying to create little potatoes on them.

They're in the compost heap now.