KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Floss

Pop the containers into the freezer for a couple of days, the any wax should just come away quite easily.

mrs-moneypenny

I've got a huge stash of toiletries and make up, I won't throw it away as that's not me. But I've put all like items together in various boxes in the bedroom cupboards and put the product I'm working on in the bathroom. I will work through my stash and I'm not adding to it. Apart from gifts.

Tidied the crafting stash cupboard under the stairs this morning, it's a lot tidier and there is actually space in there now. I've sorted my knitting needles and have lots of duplicates to donate to the CS on my next visit.
Used some stash to make a couple of Mother's Day cards for my mum, and while sorting the cupboard I sewed up two little knitted hats.

I've put some small balls of wool in a little bag with the pattern and a pair of needles so I can turn them into instant smoothie hats for next years appeal.

greenbee

Floss wrote: »

Pop the containers into the freezer for a couple of days, the any wax should just come away quite easily.

Thanks Floss. As they are scented I'll make sure I freeze them with the lids on, and inside plastic bags!

Dustykitten

Hi all

Plan to get back to Kondoing in March. Have got rid of some things this month. Five huge bags of clothes to the CS (mainly from the loft) plus a box of random stuff.

Sorted out a basket of stuff which we packed away when the hallway was decorated almost a year ago.

Plan is to do a bit each day. Clothes for all are pretty much in order. Toiletries pretty much under control. Going for the random piles of stuff which are in various rooms and then going to start inside cupboards and drawers, feel ready to get rid of stuff, rapidly.

Burning of candles is going well. New ones for birthday already in use. I've got some which don't burn well which will be being binned.

PollyWollyDoodle

Watty1 wrote: »

Am doing bathroom and find I have lots of stuff the same. This means that the cupboards are full of stuff I use sometimes. (Like 6 tubes of arnica cream). Clearly I buy it, use it, lose it, buy it repeat.
I've now put all the stuff the same into a basket - but - the cupboard is crammed.
I can't decide if I would be better keeping say 2 of something and releasing the rest or keeping it all on the basis it will be used up eventually.
Thoughts ???

Unless its something you use frequently (e.g. moisturiser) I would keep the most recent one and ditch the rest. The money has already been sunk, and now you know where the stuff is you won't be buying duplicates again. If it's going to take years to use it all up, it'll be really old by the time you get to it, so I'd just write it off to experience and enjoy the space you create.

gentlepurr

:hello: Hiya! Wow! How quickly this thread moves! I posted on here at the very beginning of the new year, need to get my head round so much, but hav'nt posted updates because i didn't think there were any to post, but........

Finally made the decision that although i'm likely to be selling my house within the next year/18 months, i really have to invest in a new shed as the old one isn't water tight and i have anything that could get water damaged in the garage, and the shed is a waste of space. So, tumbledown as the shed was, with bits missing out of the roof, i've managed to sell it for £40!! I had peeps queuing up wanting it for pigeons and allotments and the like. So chuffed as the main thing is its been dismantled and taken away and i would have struggled to do that on my own, which was one of the reasons i had'nt moved forward with doing anything about it. So, shed gone, and new shed expected on Friday, which will be brill as i can move so much stuff from out of the garage and then have some space to work in for the rest of my decluttering, and sorting out of car boot stuff.

I managed last Friday to sort out some of the stuff i wanted to car boot (albeit two huge boxes of boot stuff are buried under the shed stuff) filled the car and was first to arrive at the boot sale at 6am on Saturday !! Quite pleased with what i sold as it was quite quiet being so early in the season, and so cold, but ive sold 2 big boxes worth of stuff and amazingly, most of it was the crap i would otherwise have binned, and good stuff thats still current wasnt even looked at, so i have some nice stuff for the table on my next boot. I only ended up with £40 after i paid my pitch but that was mostly made up of stuff that was sold for 30p(books)/50p(clothes)/£1 and an old nokia flip phone i got £5 for, so i feel better already, and having done my first boot for about 4 years, ive broken the "duck" of starting that again.

So, im already getting excited at the prospect of getting all the garden stuff back in the shed and having room to breathe (a bit!) in the garage, next move is to relegate stuff from the house into the garage on its onward journey out......

Onwards and upwards

Karmacat

Watty1 wrote: »

We burn a lot of stuff here. So make a pile then set it alight - you will probably need an accelerant of some kind especially if you have a lot of stuff with leaves in - laurel doesn't burn well not sure about cherry laurel. Once alight - and this is key - watch it while it is burning not all the time but regularly and use something to safely scrape the pile together into the centre so it keeps burning. Does that make sense? We do this here and end up with a very long burning but small pile of proper ash. Neighbours end up with a quicker burn as their piles remain spread out but not a properly burn pile.
Umm...wordy answer hope it makes sense

Thanks Watty

I'm fairly sure cherry laurel is as much a non burner as ordinary laurel

Watching it and scraping it together every so often makes complete sense - at its most basic, keeping the fiery bits in contact with one another, I suppose.

I'm very squeamish about setting up a bonfire on the ground - a lot of worms and soil life would die I need to do more research on this, as I'd be using an old cast iron barbecue I bought at a street market.

Thanks for posting.

Valli

greenbee wrote: »

I have a couple of candles that didn't burn well - one in a tin and one in a glass jam jar. I'm hoping GQ can suggest how I can get the remaining wax out so I can recycle the containers appropriately.

When I have used the oven, after it's been turned off I pop my candle holders in (on a tray) and melt the wax. Only takes minutes.
Then decant the wax (carefully!) into 'something' to throw. Depends what's going in the bin...

I have shredded about 20 years of mortgage statements. They did not give me joy. I have retained (properly filed) only the 'current' statement.

I also have a bag for the charity shop[. I was telling my sister about KonMari (I have been helping her declutter - and, of course, I have no emotional/guilt attachment to her stuff so I was ruthless :rotfl:) and mentioned my white towelling bathrobe, which I rarely use. She asked if it 'gave me joy' - when I thought about it, no it doesn't and, in fact, is rather annoying. It's in the charity pile.

It's hooded and full length.. I would offer it to GreyQueen but it appears she's covered...and it might irritate her as much as it does me! I think it was from BHS...

dragonette

Watty1 I think it depends on if its stuff you use all the time, in that case I would keep it but if its an occasional use then I would offer it to friends and family

I'm struggling again, had some worrying health symptoms this week (neurological) and feel like I've slept most of the week. The resulting stagnation in getting through things in the flat is dispiriting, though thankfully I had 2 girls over to clean this week. My mum came over yest and will be over tomorrow evening, assuming I've not been sent up to the hospital, she can help me sort some things. My flatmate is away due to a family emergency, so the flat feels way too big and empty atm - usually I love the airiness of the rooms.

I'll probably try to find a small or easy category to go through this week, just so I feel a bit more like myself

GreyQueen

Karmacat wrote: »

I'm liking the "cards waiting to be sent" solution, very nice


GQ, can I ask, how do you prepare the stuff for match-based kondo-ing? I have an awful lot of stuff I could do that with - everything from brambles, twigs and small branches, cherry laurel and leylandii. I'd quite like to torch it and put the resultant ashes on the garden, to help the soil along - do you have any tips?

I aim to get stuff as dry as possible beforehand, which means for a faster, less-smoky burn. I've had bundles of old sunflower stems (these were left in situ until the birds had eaten all the seeds, by which time they were pretty dry anyway) hanging up in leftover bean wigwams. I also had the broad bean haulms tied up in bundles on a temporary drying rack. If you tie them with natural string, they can go on the bonfire with that.

I also have a plastic dustbin on the lottie which is waterproof and which I use to collate some smaller, pending burnables.

A lot of the stuff I burned yesterday was bramble, and most of that was dead and dry. On clear soil (the worms are well under the surface at this time of year, the colder it is the deeper they go) I use a couple of twists of newspaper, some dry grass and tiny twigs, then just light it with a match. As it catches, add more and bigger material.

You do need an implement to keep dragging the stuff towards the centre as these kinds of fires sprawl. If there are big bits of wood, a garden fork is the best tool. I was using a rake. Keep bringing the sprawl centrally. You will end up with a conical pile of slightly smouldering material about double the size of a molehill, even after a big fire.

Leave it for a few days (it'll retain the heat for well over 24 hours) then rake it flat. I remove any useful looking charcoally bits (great for starting another fire) and fork the rest under. I wouldn't fork hot ash under because it'd damage too many soil organisms. HTH.

greenbee wrote: »

I have a couple of candles that didn't burn well - one in a tin and one in a glass jam jar. I'm hoping GQ can suggest how I can get the remaining wax out so I can recycling the containers appropriately.

I've not tried the freezer technique as I didn't learn about it until a week or so ago on MSE, but what I do is dig the wax out of the jars with a veggie knife. It mostly pings out in curved sections, there's very little scraping, then a wipe out with a bit of paper and a wash in piping hot soapy water and bob's yer uncle.