Comments on: Five spring organizing activities

By: Kassy

Kassy — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:46:17 +0000

I”m with Asrai, the day after you posted this I received over an inch of snow and I live in Seattle where it is supposed to be Spring. I guess I shall have to save this post for summer.

By: kris

kris — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:33:30 +0000

I believe that the Chinese New Year also encourages spring cleaning, and that it is bad luck to clean before then. Which means, my cleaning is about two months overdue!

By: Michael Moniz

Michael Moniz — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:37:15 +0000

Great tips to get you spring cleaning. I have been working hard on cutting down.

By: asrai

asrai — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:39:48 +0000

I’ll save these tips til about June. It’s snowing here in Alberta, Canada today. And will likely again until mid-May.

By: Dedicated Soak User

Dedicated Soak User — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:22:29 +0000

It’s my undertanding that only Moth Balls and other chemical agents are truly moth proofing. Natural agents may deter moths but they won’t keep them away or get rid of them once they are there. Moth proof storage means washing the oils from your skin and dirt out of your wools (the moths actually like the oils rather than the wool) and storing them in a sealed container or sealed closet. Soak is a great wash for all wools, quilts and delicates- cleaning garments before you store is the secret to spring cleaning.

By: Jean S

Jean S — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:05:59 +0000

try using Eucalan for handwashing wool. No need to rinse, and the combination of eucalyptus and lanolin restores the wool and guards against moths.

Also, another basic anti-moth storage tip: lavender sachets.

By: balconygal

balconygal — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:55:58 +0000

Just reading this made me feel lighter and more organized. Thank you.

By: N. & J.

N. & J. — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:56:55 +0000

I would love to be able to store my winter sweaters and coats away unfortunately it just snowed here again. But going through the wardrobe to do this is a great time to get rid of clothes that you don’t wear anymore. If you didn’t wear something this winter you should probably donate it to someone else.

By: ~ danielle

~ danielle — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:43:40 +0000

wool shouldn’t be dried in the sun… air dry yes… in the sun, no.

By: jon

jon — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:11:15 +0000

I don’t have a problem with mis-matched socks. I now buy bundles of plain white socks from Asda (Wal-mart). Buy a bunch at once, and they’ll stay true enough to each other after washes, and who is going to notice one white sock is unlike another white sock?

And in winter? I wear 4 socks, one over another. Yup, layer your socks and you don’t need ‘winter’ socks again.

By: Tina Mammoser

Tina Mammoser — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:53:08 +0000

You clearly don’t live in England! While summer and spring things do get stored away, it’s rare that all my sweaters and jackets do except my heaviest winter coat. And I’m still wearing scarves. In fact last August I wore my wool hat on a trip to the coast! (granted I had been in shorts and a t-shirt earlier that same day, and raincoat at one point in-between)

But ditto on the moth-proofing. With the changes in weather moths are more abundant now. I had an infestation for the first time ever last winter. Moth balls were really the only way to go – a very good reason (strong smell) to wait and do your cleaning of whatever type *after* the storage season rather than as you pack it away.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:16:58 +0000

Looking forward to the “moth-proof” posting – I was just wondering what qualifies as “moth-proof” myself!

By: Recovering Food Waster

Recovering Food Waster — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:02:53 +0000

I’ve been purging my socks all winter long! We’ve set out heat lower than usual, which means I wore socks in the house and so I wore holes in a lot of them. My sock drawer is pitifully uncluttered right now.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:21:18 +0000

@Louisa — We have a post on deck next week about storage solutions for winter items. It explores what’s available to you and the advantages and disadvantages of different systems. So, stay tuned!!

By: Louisa

Louisa — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:15:58 +0000

You say “moth-proof storage” but can you give some tips on what truly IS moth-proof? Cedar? Moth balls (blech)? Plastic bins? Hmmmm.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:40:34 +0000

@L — What’s cool, too, is that there is a holiday celebrated in parts of India called Diwali that takes place in the fall and usually begins with a giant house cleaning … such great combinations of life and holidays!

By: L

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:34:36 +0000

Passover creates this notion in my head that Spring Cleaning equals cleaning out the kitchen. All the boxed and canned food we’ve had in our pantry for a year, not to mention expired stuff in the back of the refrigerator, that will never, ever get eaten makes a good candidate for disposal or donation. “Turning over” your kitchen is a wonderful Jewish tradition I think everyone would benefit from.

By: LivSimpl

LivSimpl — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:43:33 +0000

Good suggestions (both the article and the comments). I’d also recommend taking your Spring Cleaning a step further and really evaluating the winter stuff you’re about to store. Did you actually use it? Or did you just pull it out because it’s with your winter stuff? If so, could it be put to better use by donating it?

Not only will going through this process help you declutter, but you’ll have less to pull out when Fall rolls around. (I wrote about this idea in more detail here http://tinyurl.com/349zev for anyone who’s interested.)

Happy Spring Cleaning!

By: enviro

enviro — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:24:08 +0000

aaccchkk. You’re recommending more dry-cleaning. Even when not necessary? Geez, lets spend more money damaging our environment. Good for the economy, good for ?? wear and tear on our clothes!

Why not, instead, recommend that people hang their winter stuff outside, air it out good, inspect for holes, stains etc. Spot clean as necessary and if an item is really in bad shape then take it to a green cleaner that uses a less damaging process?

Why exhort the spending of money instead of THINKING and evaluating first?

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:13:23 +0000

A sock purge – what a great idea! Old socks make great rags…