Hoarding - Springing Ahead

thriftwizard

Well done, Happygreen: I still have a couple of bags/boxes full of teenage boy stuff that I really, really need to give to the friend who takes them to the homeless. Let's face it, I have one teenager left, and she just wouldn't appreciate them - not without some serious alterations, anyway!

Have spent the entire day battling traffic, which as far as I'm concerned is a giant waste of time I could have been Sorting Stuff Out. Typical - now I've found my motivation, I've lost my opportunity!

thriftwizard

Hmmm - I have just moved my "gigantic" fabric stash into DS3's room - where the sewing station will be set back up, after his quick trip home next week - only to discover that I can slide nearly all of it under one single bed, and it is all stuff that I am likely to use within the foreseeable future, much of it to make stuff to sell on. Not quite as bad as I feared, then. And piled high on DS1's bed is some of the stuff that I will be taking with me to set up at the vintage pop-up shop tomorrow - good wool blankets, an lovely old eiderdown, a big pile of mended/starched tea-cosies, table-linen & clothes. The room doesn't look that much better yet, but it's very visible now that it's not just my stuff cluttering it up; that was just the top layer and now you can clearly see the amplifiers, guitars, foot pedals, a big bag of dismantled drum & cymbal stands, boxes of Hornby railway, a stack of boxes of football programmes, a trunk & chest of drawers of DD2's old clothes, a sack of soft toys that apparently can't be parted with (youngest now 19) all DS1's old school & uni books under the bed (it IS his room) etc. etc.!

I'm beginning to have an inkling that hoarding/clutter might just be a strong family trait, and that it's been very convenient for everyone to think/be told it's all one person's fault for a very long time. And that that goes a long way to explaining why I've met with so much resistance in my efforts to get on top of "my" problem; it's been hiding everyone else's. But maybe I'm just being paranoid...

GreyQueen

You're not paranoid, they're hoarding, you suspected as much and now you can see it.............

I spoke to Mum about the leaky waterproof coats, the ones which you get soaked wearing, and have been replaced. And which can't apparently be removed from the premises because they are also warm coats, and the replacements are more like shells.

OK, so we have jackets for cold-but-dry, jackets for not-so-cold-but-very-wet, the puffa jacket, the blazer, various other jackets. Dad has the same problem with non-waterproof waterproof jacket, plus the old parka used for gardening, plus the heavy-duty only-used-once-but-very-warm parka from his former employer (he's now retired). Plus a miscellany of other jackets and coats inc formal coats for formal occasions in winter - one will probably have its bi-annual outing at a funeral next month.

Their hall is so bad that when I visit, I don't hang my jacket on the hall coat hooks because it disappears into the layers.......

It's no wonder I have Isshews with Stuff, is it? Familial patterns of behaviour etc.

pavlovs_dog

It is half term... Guess who's back?!

My efforts in the summer to confine all the junk to one room were largely successful, so this HT I want to clear some junk from there. Lots of half finished DIY projects to complete which should clear some carp. Got bits listed on gumtree too but no bites as yet.

Have a bin bag, recycling bag and charity bag. Am going to spend today tidying, will try to fill the bags as I boogie my way round the house

thriftwizard

House, garage & shed all looking wonderfully uncluttered - now let's hope a significant proportion of it sells!

BUT - there's always a but, isn't there? - I popped down to the Tip to see if there were any coat hangers late this afternoon, as I'm a bit short for the pop-up. They're much in demand amongst traders, it's one of their best-selling lines down there. And alas, because it's the last of the year's giant car boot sales tomorrow, they were clean out of coat hangers; apparently I'd just missed the last binliner-full. But they did have a bit of haberdashery they'd saved for me - 3 suitcases full!

I've managed to sort out one to take with me tomorrow, and a carrier bag of rubbish. The one I'm taking tomorrow is a beautiful case, too, and may well sell before its contents do. One case is going out into the shed with stuff for the next regular market. But one, you guessed it, is going into DS1's room; I haven't got enough time or energy to sort it all out tonight, it's all tangled wooden Sylkos, gorgeous old embroidery thread, lace and bias binding. All absolutely usable or saleable. And so it starts all over again...!

RadioHorse

My word, you lot have been busy! It looks like everybody got some serious things shifted out! :T:T:T:T:T

I did pretty well at the e.b.o.y thing as well - sold a bed, an old transmitter box, two more bookcases, a cat statue and I'm about to go and battle a little filing cabinet and a black leather duster coat. We shall be getting rid of this stuff, come hell or high water.

We've also built the stuff for the spare room and the study so all the bags of files and notebooks for mother's work have been returned to their rightful place. Have done loads of washing and binned all my ugly socks or those that didn't fit anymore. Did keep several pairs of my brother's to use when I moisturize my feet overnight.

He won't miss them

Did have to ruin my streak of economizing by having to buy a bra though. My washing machine decided to eat it! :mad: Very expensive bravissimo bra, but have replaced it with the same model from ebay, brand new without tags. Used a voucher too, so only spent a tenner when I should have spent twenty. :A I feel mature.

As a (personal) question: how do you wash yours without it being wrecked? I've tried handwashing it but it never smells as clean as it does when it goes through the machine.

mcculloch29

My DS31 has been doing some housework for me which is wonderful, much easier to see what's what. DD36 has a huge pile of stuff here awaiting collection, manufacturers have been sending me stuff to review and I'm passing on non-consumables. There are books, bags, mobile accessories, pet bits and pieces, an umbrella, and a toy that Amazon sent by mistake instead of what I asked for. I review for them as well, I probably mentioned it.
I have some lovely new cookbooks that I reviewed- one is the teenage blogger Izy Hossack's- I must stop accepting them as the kitchen is getting fuller. I bought Jack Monroe's latest book and it's great.
I also have a smashing new can opener that I was sent, need to make myself bin an old one that doesn't work as well.

mcculloch29

RadioHorse wrote: »

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As a (personal) question: how do you wash yours without it being wrecked? I've tried handwashing it but it never smells as clean as it does when it goes through the machine.

Get one of those little zipped net bags for delicates from the pound shop or even make one out of something suitable if you have it handy. The most expensive machine I ever owned ( a competition prize) ate bras regularly but always choked on the wires. Those bags weren't available 15 or so years ago and it was an expensive habit too.
You were unlucky to lose the bra but very lucky it didn't damage your machine. :eek:

pigpen

RadioHorse wrote: »

As a (personal) question: how do you wash yours without it being wrecked? I've tried handwashing it but it never smells as clean as it does when it goes through the machine.

I have never in my life had a bra try trashing my washing machine. I get rid of them before they are falling to bits usually.. the wires escape when they get worn and after my cousin had one impale her breast and having to have it operated on to remove it I am very careful not to let mine get to that stage.

Most of my bras were in excess of £40 .. I usually have 4 or 5 alive at once and replace as I can afford. I find the elastic starts to perish or the fasteners bend or the straps won't stay tightened and I get rid when they pee me off.

pigpen

mcculloch29 wrote: »

Get one of those little zipped net bags for delicates from the pound shop or even make one out of something suitable if you have it handy. The most expensive machine I ever owned ( a competition prize) ate bras regularly but always choked on the wires. Those bags weren't available 15 or so years ago and it was an expensive habit too.
You were unlucky to lose the bra but very lucky it didn't damage your machine. :eek:

they were.. I used them for my baby's socks and he is 23!