Permission: The 5 Things You Can Let Go Of Series, Laundry Room
Have you ever thought, "I just need someone to give me permission to throw this out"? That's what this Permission series is all about. We'll walk through room by room, list 5 items per room, and why the items can be easy to get out of your house.
As always, it's your house and your stuff. You may actually need and use the things I suggest you toss. But if you don't, give yourself a little more freedom to find a little more peace in your house by tossing things that you don't need.
Today we'll be in the laundry room and in areas to help mainstream your laundry. The writing of this article *may have* come after I totally washed a red sheet with non-red items. Thankfully the problem was easily solved... this time. Here are 5 things you can get rid of to help you with the laundry monster. Let's tame the beast.
1. Red items
Seriously, unless you have a lot of red and are committed to always washing them together and waiting until you have a loads worth to wash it, let them find a new home. It will save you the headache of probably ruining other items that you use more often and would have to buy to replace.
ACTION - look around the house for red things that can be re-homed out of your home; buy color catchers for the rest (not an ad).
2. Hard to match socks
We've talked about socks before but this one is a little different. And this might be a little different than a quick toss. To make sock matching and wearing easier, choose one brand/color for each size/gender sock in the family. For example, if you have two boys that can wear the same size sock, buy 2 packs of the same sock and let them both wear them. Best colors? White for kids, black for dress socks. If you have a member of your family with a good sock game, let them match their own socks.
ACTION - choose a type of sock for each family member, gift your good condition socks to a local charity that will put them to use for someone else.
3. Old stain removers and detergents
If you have a growing mountain of stain removers and detergents, you're doing it wrong. Maybe you've tried different solutions in hopes of whitening your whites or just giving your clothes a good clean. That leaves you with cleaners that you don't like and won't use. Figure out what you like and use it. The rest? Use them up first, ask some friends if they want them, or read the label for how to dispose of these properly.
ACTION - open the laundry cabinet, toss what you don't want or put the cleaners you don't love in the front to use them up first.
4. Hangers
There are all different kinds of hangers. The clear plastic kinds that come from the store, the wire hangers from the dry cleaners, tubular ones, satin covered, velvety... the list goes on. Let's be honest, the wire and plastic "free" hangers are incredibly cumbersome and tangly. Toss those (or donate to a place that can use them). Think about what kind of hanger you like best. Do you like a more sturdy wooden hanger? Do you like the fun of purple hangers for your daughter? While all of one type of hanger is easiest, it might not be what will fly with your spouse. Maybe you have all tubular hangers and he has all wooden hangers. Great!
ACTION - gather all the hangers you don't prefer (remember to check in the coat closet as well as the laundry room and each clothes closet in your home), invest in all the same type of hanger or one for each person in the family.
5. Safety Pins, change, buttons
This is kind of a catch-all. Those little things that are some times found at the bottom of the washer or dryer after the clothes have been removed are likely just trash. Safety pins and buttons can live with the other sewing items if you keep them at all. That spare change can be put to use right away by putting it in your wallet or family/kid piggy bank.
ACTION - put all of the loose items around the laundry room in a place where they live in your home.
*you may feel as if you can't just toss these things, if so, just put them in a give away bag or box and give them away.
I'll put a list of areas posted here with their link when they are live. You can also click on "Permission Series" category to see them as well.