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OK. I am going to get bossy!

You NEED to declutter under your kitchen sink.

“You what?” you wail “that’s so dull!”

And you’re totally right.

It’s NOT the glamorous capsule wardrobe end of decluttering.

BUT it is really important!

Because lurking under our sinks are all sorts of products:

1. We rarely use
2. We do not need
3. AND we keep buying over and over again!

A super speedy declutter under your sink will make you feel instantly better.

It’s a quick win. Even when we’re busy.

And gives us the momentum to declutter more.

BUT more than that it forces us to face up to the crazy clutter cycle we’ve all got ourselves into.

Who knew dish washing liquid could be so exciting?!! Huh??!!

The Crazy Clutter Cycle

Now if we’re honest, most of us are a bit rubbish about cleaning aren’t we?

We put it off. It gets out of hand. And we feel bad about it.

So what do we all do? We BUY stuff!

Stuff that will supposedly solve the problem.

It doesn’t. Obviously.

Because the only solution to not doing the cleaning, is to do the cleaning.

50 different cleaning products under the sink will NOT make a blind bit of difference.

BUT we’ve all grown up bombarded with the message that buying things helps.

And in our weekly shop in bigger and bigger stores selling more and more stuff we got addicted!

SO not only do we buy cleaning stuff we don’t need and will rarely use.

We buy multiples. Or 3 different versions of a kitchen cleaner we barely use once.

It’s crazy. We are

• Wasting our money
• Actually harming our families and the environment with all those chemicals
• AND totally doing our heads in by hoarding stuff we do NOT need!

A quick declutter under our sink is one of the easiest ways to start breaking the crazy clutter cycle.

Chucking out those dodgy products we don’t need – those bizzare security blankets – is a powerful feedback to our secretly scaredy cat sub-conscious that we can stand tall.

WITHOUT a huge hoard of things.

Go us!

AND it starts chipping away at our weekly shopping addiction.

If we only stock a few cleaning products we will only need to buy stuff occasionally.

And curiously, when we STOP buying cleaning stuff every week, it becomes much easier to stop buying and wasting food we don’t need every week.

So WHAT are you waiting for? Go and declutter under your sink!

I’ve got some simple, practical tips below on how to do it quickly.

And for more step-by-step, honest decluttering advice from someone who really knows what it’s like to binge buy and hoard, do sign up for my happier without newsletter …

If you’ve any questions at all just leave me a comment below.

Quickly Decluttering Under Your Sink

As always with my declutter projects, you’ve got two options …

1. Easy does it
2. Power purge

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and need to methodically work through stuff, go for option 1.

Or if you’re feeling mad as hell and need to blast that clutter, pick option 2.

Easy Does It

Set your timer for 30 minutes.

Take each item out one by one and decide if you’re ready to let go.

Use the notes below to help you decide. But if you’re not sure, move on.

It’s fine to hold onto some stuff first time through.

When you’ve been through everything, quickly wipe round and put what’s left back.

As neatly as you can, quickly. You want the satisfaction of finishing, not perfection.

Power Purge

In no more than 15 minutes, grab anything you spot that you’re ready to let go.

You can move stuff around a bit but don’t yank everything out.

You’re just after those instant quick wins, when you’ve got a few minutes to spare.

What To Declutter From Under Your Sink

It is totally up to you what you’re ready to let go.

But having cut down to 10 products including hand soap and laundry here are my suggestions:

1. Anything unused in 12 months – if you haven’t used it you won’t.
2. Single use products – specialist drain cleaners, descalers, stain removers, dryer sheets & rinse aid are all replaceable by vinegar or baking soda. An easy reach duster beats dusting sprays.
3. Anything replaceable by micro-fibre cloths – anti-bacterial sprays, cream cleaners, window cleaners, sink cleaners and oven top cleaners can all be replaced by micro-fibre cloths that last years and don’t take up space. If you’ve not discovered them yet, read how they work here.
4. Disposable cloths and scrubbers – most of these do a very bad job – which is why we end up using so many chemicals – and we churn through them which is bad for our wallets, our shopping addiction AND the planet! A few good reusable cloths can replace all of these as well.
5. Anything you don’t use with kids or pets around – oven cleaners, insect sprays and ant powders all come with massive safety warnings AND with good reason. They’re highly toxic and you don’t need them. Dish liquid & baking soda will cut through oven grime.
6. Specialist laundry products – if you buy a gentler, more planet-friendly laundry liquid, you won’t actually need specialist products for wools and delicates.

So there you go. With these prompts you will able to declutter under your kitchen sink quickly.

With the clutter gone you really will find yourself shopping less.

And with the satisfaction of a quick job done, you’ll be all motivated to declutter more next week.

For more decluttering help next week do sign up for my happier without newsletter.

And again, shout loudly with questions and thoughts.