Tips for Life After Hoarding

Tips for Life After Hoarding

Address Our Mess works closely with our clients, ensuring that all cleaning jobs – big and small - remain personalized and respectful. Life after cleaning a large hoarding situation can be almost as stressful as making the first step toward getting help in the first place. Along with some Do’s and Don’ts, Address Our Mess lives by three simple tips during a hoarding clean up. These tips will prove useful and effective long after our technicians leave you to enjoy your squeaky clean home.

Tip 1 – What Looks like Trash and Smells like Trash is probably Trash
Expired canned goods, plastics bags, broken knick knacks and empty paper towel rolls are all easily identifiable as trash once you are certain their use around the house is no longer needed. Many people believe that keeping certain things will prove worthwhile sometime in the future. Think first, “If I have no use for this now, and it is not a family heirloom or keepsake, trashing or recycling this item is the best thing to do.”
Many people keep old cardboard boxes, empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls, newspapers, magazines and even coupons. Unless there is a pressing need for these items around the house, think about recycling. Paper-based products are no good to you or anyone lying in piles around the house. By putting them out with the weekly recycling, they can be used over and over by everyone in your community through the magic of recycling.
Garbage is a different animal. Any item that has the potential of attracting rodents or pests must be disposed of in a timely manner. Expired milk, cheese, yogurts, and other dairy products should never make their permanent home in your kitchen. Empty food cartons and containers contain residual product and should be disposed of before rotting and decomposition occurs. Canned goods are inedible after their expiration dates and should be thrown away immediately.
Tip 2 – Practice Selflessness… Allow Others to Enjoy the Things You’re No Longer Using
Address Our Mess’ technicians promote charity during every deep cleaning. It’s hard figuring out when a little clutter is actually a lot of clutter. Toys and Clothes are the most common items that people have too many of.
Old toys have a bad habit of sticking around long after they’ve last been played with, taking up precious real estate in your home. Tens of thousands of children cannot afford to walk into a typical retail store and buy a brand new toy. These kids would love knowing that there is a proverbial gold mine of toys sitting in boxes in your home! Through the miracle of donating to charities like Goodwill, these toys can be enjoyed by children for generations to come.
Clothes also tend to overstay their welcome. Think about how many articles of clothing you truly need to get through everyday activities. Think about how comfortable you are in your clothing. If clothing is too baggy or too tight, perhaps someone else can enjoy wearing them.
Tip 3 – Keep the Items that Speak to Your Heart
Address Our Mess will never suggest that you to remove all items from your home. Keepsakes and heirlooms are important to everyone. Keeping them safe, secure and organized should be just as important.
Consult with family and friends if you have doubts on what should be near and dear to your heart. Once you’ve decided, a number of different resources are available to help keep your mementos organized.

Remember, cleaning should be easy. Starting over after solving your hoarding situation can be difficult. By keeping these three simple tips in mind, a cleaner, safer home will be a true reflection of the person you are inside.

Thu, 03/14/2013 - 11:22 by Kenneth Donnelly