Love Love the concept of an Avalanche! When I saw you put all your supplies on the counter I thought WOW. Thanks for sharing and great idea to try on this declutter journey.
Clutter Avalanche, you just named the thing that's been paralyzing me for a month and a half now, after having moved from having two rooms, a living room, and a bathroom into a van so now we keep having to move multiple things every time we want to do simple things like brush our teeth, sit down, or get in bed because we have clutter avalanches everywhere, and I keep trying to fix it but most of the time I either end up runing out of steam long before one project is done or getting one of those "it gets worse before it gets better" situations where it doesn't get better until after several projects are done and most of the time when I do manage to get something done it's while watching your videos so thank you so much, you've been an invaluable help
I have my dishwasher tabs in a shelf that’s stuck onto the top inside of my under sink door right next to the dishwasher. It’s so handy. They don’t seem to get wet or stick together. 😊
I would keep all of the "back stock" in the pantry instead of under the sink. Then "shop" there if I'm running low on anything before buying more. Just enough under the sink to get you through a week. Then refill/replenish once a week. Same with the other categories of cleaning products.
I miss the Messy Minimalist so much. I even stopped by her motel in Northern Michigan when I was in the area. Unfortunately only her husband was around so I missed the chance to fangirl.
My first attempt to become minimal was a reaction to the amount of cleaning products I had open. I had dozens. My thrifty self demanded that I not buy one more cleaning product until I had used up what I had. It took months, if not a year to make headway. Finally, I found a concentrate cleaning solution that I use as all purpose. I now have maybe 10 different cleaners. Makes a big different in under sink storage.
Wow, you took the journey I am now on. I have so many different cleaning products, and as much as I want to buy something new, I am also determined to use up what I have. Let's just say it is taking a long time. But I also relish the fact I am saving money as I use up what I have in my house. If a product does not meet my expectations, I sometimes will toss it instead of enduring the process of using it up. I know this exercise will help me hone in on what works and what doesn't, and I really needed that education.
I miss the "Messy Minimalist" She was by far my favorite decluttering guru. Watching her declutter her home, put me on a journey that I will forever be thankful for. Thanks for sharing
Same. I checked her channel just a couple weeks ago to see if I missed her upload but she's been gone for a quite a while. I hope everything is OK with her
@@EveryPeachInReach she mentioned in one of her vids that she was stepping back. Crapvid hit, she was enjoying her family and taking care of her motel business. I am sure she is fine, but also sure she was done with RU-vid
Two Ladies SPOKE to me - Erica and Rachel! She and her husband have a hotel, two sweet babies growing up and going to school have probably made it more difficult to vlog.
I love that you're always willing to reevaluate what's not working, but I still think you have too much inventory. I have just a few products & I am able to clean our entire home--glass cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner, bleach spray & scrubbing powder. That's really all you need. I use dish soap mixed with water on my kitchen floor & for furniture stains. I would like to suggest that you keep an empty caddy, reduce your cleaning supplies & then grab what you need for the caddy. I would also suggest reducing your inventory of microfiber cloths & keep them in one bin. You can always put your excess of supplies in a "time will tell" bin & give it a try.
I’ve watched you from your very first videos… in your old house/basement delivery, etc…. Even now you continue to be such an inspiration for me! Thank you!!! Much love from TN!
Everything looks great Erica! One suggestion - the new box of dishwasher drops should not be stored under the sink. If there should be a leak that whole box, with the contents, would be totally destroyed. 😬💝
Im hearing you sister! That is the story of my life. So many things need to be done so i can do the thing i want to. Dana from a Slob Comes Clean calls a clutter avalanche a "CRAPALANCHE"... hehehe.
I use the eraser sponges every now and then on our old bath tubs. They are textured on the bottom, and sometimes scrub cleaner doesn’t get it completely white. The sponges do.
Great job. I was tired of managing my cleaning products all over the house so I bought a 3 tier cart on wheels and keep everything on it and just wheel it to the room I'm going to clean. I only keep a few under the kitchen sink and wipes in each bathroom. But I have a one story house so it works for me.
I've just paused the video at about 3:22 minutes in. I wanted to say how much I can relate to this. I've been searching for that perfect product to make cleaning the house easier. It does not exist. Period. I've spent so much money looking for that one product. Now I have under the kitchen sink, under bathroom sinks and in my "Harry Potter closet" (closet under our stairs). I vowed to not buy anything else until all these products are gone. I've either used them up or they are expired. My grandmother and mom didn't have all this to choose from and life was much simpler. So I'm simplifying too. I am using up the products I have then I am going to use dish soap, baking soda and vinegar. That's it. I mean most jobs can be done with these items. Vinegar for windows, baking soda to scrub, dish soap to clean and disinfect. I started this process at the beginning of the year and I still have lots to go through. Of course I won't be without dishwashing tabs or laundry stuff, I'm talking just household cleaning products. Thank you for sharing your journey :)
I really like Vicks Vaporub for when my nose is stuffy. I just lavender and/or ceder for protecting my clothes from moths. I like my clothes too much to let them get little holes. And unfortunately I've found some flitting around my apartment recently, and I'm not even sure if they're clothes or from food.
The avalanche concept reminds of the if you mouse a cookie book series. One thing leads to another thing. Great video! I had my own avalanche today and this video helped me work through it.
I called all the cleaning companies about expirations of cleaning products. Most of them expire at 2 years, except bleach, which is 6 months. They do "work" for longer, but they are no longer 99% effective at killing germs or cleaning surfaces. FYI. I have very few cleaners. 1. Bleach (laundry and floors) and 2. a bleach spray (counters and bathroom. X2. Upstairs and downstairs). 3. Hydrogen peroxide is also as effective as bleach, so I use that occasionally too. See "Dr. Annie's Experiments." 4. Toilet bowl cleaner. I use hot water and microfiber on mirrors and windows. 5. Laundry detergent 6. Oxiclean 7. Dish soap 8. Dishwasher detergent 9. Vinegar instead of rinse aid. Then I have mostly old rags, a couple microfibers, and puddlejump dish rags which I haven't had to replace in 5 years!!! No more disposable scrubbys!!! And 2 brooms - upstairs and downstairs. No mop. I've used 4 different kinds of mops and decluttered them all. I stand on a wet rag and mop using my legs. Works great. And that's it.
Good morning! I just organized under my kitchen sink yesterday. I saw you have a lot of baking soda boxes in your organizer. Maybe you could dump all of it into a glass mason jar to free up that bottom shelf.
I occasionally get B&BWorks yummy smelling foaming hand wash soaps for birthdays etc. After I use it all up, I just put maybe 1/4 inch Equate type Dawn dish soap in , fill the rest with water (put in a few drops of essential oil if you wish, mix up gently and VOILA!) So much cheaper homemade! It works!
Erica you are so refreshing! And funny! Tossing Barbie, that's something I would do just like that! I love how you resonate with real people, you're so down to earth. Keep doing what you're doing! You are a great inspiration!!
I keep ALL of my cleaning products in my laundry cupboard under the laundry sink. I don't have one single cleaning product anywhere else in the house. I know most people like to have cleaning products in each room so it's easier and you don't have to walk to get it, but I didn't want to have locks on all my cupboards when the kids were little, so I started keeping it all in one place. I also find I then always know what I need to rebuy because it is always all in one place. Best wishes everyone on your avalanches!! :))
Same here Joanne. I keep all the cleaning supplies plus some little extras under the stairs cupboard. One safe-lock for when my baby will grow. And no clutter in other areas. 👌🏻
Good video! I think the magnetic lock on your cabinet under the sink is great! I saw those on an earlier video that you posted, so told my daughter about them. She got them for her apartment and loves them to keep her little one safe. We have built-in cupboards (from the 1950's maybe), so you could access one of the drawers through a cupboard. I kept my dish towels in the drawer and found that the cat was able to open the cupboard and then climb up into the towel drawer. Ugh! So my daughter brought one of her extra magnetic locks for that cupboard and it works great to keep the cat out of the towel drawer! Thank you SO MUCH for mentioning the magnetic locks!
I just got through my avalanches 😬 Most of it wasn't my stuff, either. Instead of thinking what was easiest: stashing bedding and linens in a very tiny closet, I made room. I did the grunt work of removing crap and leaving it set aside until I was done. That created so much floor space, especially after my hanging organizer broke 😥 I had to move things off of a shelving unit to put my things on here. More grunt work. There were bags and boxes full of things that needed to stay organized. Instead of taking the easy way out with having to organize everything at the end with a huge mess, all I did for my last step was put labels on boxes and bags in one area :) ❤️❤️ I loved watching Messy! I found her when she started.
One thing I have to be careful of is buying a backup product before I use almost all of the current one. Example, my shampoo was half empty when I purchased another one to have on hand when this one was empty. Then I found that by the time it was empty that I didn’t like it. Now I have a new bottle of shampoo that I could return but it’s a hassle and I don’t know if you can return cosmetics and I don’t have the receipt. Happens with cleaning products too. How many cleaning products have we bought and threw away half empty. Donna
I accidentally hit a cleaning supply avalanche the other day and it felt so good afterwards. Ended up decluttering lightbulbs and invertently was able to give some lightbulbs to a friend that I was never going to use it worked out perfect
Under the kitchen sink, always a problem. I watched someone declutter some years ago and applied her ideas...so helpful! But, as always, time to check it out again. Thanks for the suggestions.
I have had tsunami avalanches over time and (no) space. 😲😏 We have totally done the same thing - don't have one thing and too many of another item - we are trying to use everything before buying or when down to a small amount. The past few years had us buying in bulk so now to weed down - everything.
I don't know if this will help any one but I talked to the crafty organizer. She had the idea to map my "clutter avalanche". Where I wanted them to have a home and took pictures of what was there in the places I wanted to put them. I created a list of what was going to end up where and then created a task list. I followed the task list when I had free time and got it done pretty quick and I had a hoarded load of craft supplies. I literally made collecting craft supplies a major hobby.
Loved this one! I feel like in your videos you mean business when you toss your hair up! You go girl 🙌 Also love when you recommend books and other RU-vidrs. I’m often recommending you 😉
Just curious, did you have a child lock on your closet? You mentioned that you wanted the cleaning products secured from your children but I noticed that the back stock items were on a low shelf in the closet.
I think I have a tornado avalanche with the kids toys. There are three area of toys the basement is the main area, then individual toys that are the kids favorites in their rooms. But it tends to be strewn in the kitchen, front porch area, hallways, bathroom and laundry room. No matter how I declutter it is like bunnies multiplying. Like where are these toys coming from.
great job fixing the avalanche! my mom has a mess under her sink and this makes me want to go over and help her organize it better so it looks like this so much easier to grab things and it all has a home!
I just have 2 cloths to clean entire house with one bottle of window cleaner and one bottle of Jif. I keep mop (1 extra mop thingy) and vacuum cleaner together. I keep grout cleaner and mould remover in my bathroom with a scrub brush. I also use under sink for basics, I have a pull out drawer tray we installed which is great. Now I just need a maid...
This!! I had no idea this had a name but I’m completely in the middle of sorting my twins’ room and it’s a perfect description. I’m so glad I saw this today. Thanks so much, it’s made the whole process seem much less overwhelming. Cheers!
Well, maybe this will make you feel better about not buying Dropps. A recent study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health titled: Degradation of Polyvinyl Alcohol in US Wastewater Treatment Plants and Subsequent Nationwide Emission Estimate, shows that while PVA does dissolve, it doesn’t always biodegrade. An excellent analogy, IMHO, is you can see sugar on a spoon but when you dissolve it in water you don't see it, yet it is still there. PVA (polyvinyl alchol) is the plastic wrapper. One website said it is a plastic. Blueland dishwasher tablets work well but have to be shipped so probably aren't cheap.
@@EricaLucasLoves no its a compressed tablet, no covering. I just realized I'm not sure what they use to make the powder stick together but I like it better than the Cascade powder I was using.The rest of their cleaning supplies are average. Their laundry soap is also a tablet. Works ok but I wash very small loads and can't break the tablets in half.
@@EricaLucasLoves , I use the old fashion Cascade powder, no plastic, comes in a cardboard box which will biodegrade at the landfill, usually less expensive than the pods - I've used it for many years, and it works well in my dishwasher. (donna)
If you are looking for less expensive options, you can refill those method bottles (the foamy soap hand washing ones) with any cheap dish soap and water. Just a small squirt of soap and a whole bunch of water. I buy the cheap soap in colors to match my bathroom at aldis. It works everytime.
The culprit of “too much” rears it’s ugly head again. I find that I can manage them fairly well because I’m the only one purchasing them vs gifted or bought by others.
A tip: take out the erasers out of the box and cut in half to last longer also to get into small nook and crannies. I would put all the surplus in another cabinet like your vacuum rack, but not under sink. I use baby oil to clean the stainless steel, it works. Put the baking soda in clean Kraft Parmesan cheese containers to keep it clean and not to pick up odors. Remove label and make your own.
Please don’t think I’m being mean or rude but I guess I’ve just never understood why people would worry about locking up cleaning supplies under the sink if they also have cleaning supplies in a closet and also in the bathroom. If the kiddos don’t mess with them in the unlocked areas, I wouldn’t even worry about it in the kitchen.
Thanks you for the motivation I have now dealt with my my avalanche declutter that was annoying me. It was my medical cabinet which led to the cleaning products and travel size products which led to the under the double sinks in the bathroom - hair and skin care products 🙄🥴 it took the whole weekend to reorganise but it’s worth it. Kitchen sink cupboards next but maybe not for a couple of weeks 😂
I think we need to start a new dictionary! "crapalanche" is a term invented by Dana K White. 😅. The way things physically fall out and down onto you if you packed a closet too full.. versus "Clutter Avalanche" as the surprising growth of the clutter project when you start looking to fix one problem clutter area.
I've streamlined my cleaning products down to mostly one that use for pretty much everything and then I have a toilet cleaner and a bath shower spray that I use all the other things I occasionally use for things are like baking soda which I just use whatever is in my pantry vinegar I will use the same vinegar for my pantry or laundry or if I need it for a household cleaning house hold cleaning task it just kind of goes wherever it needs to. And dawn dish soap which is the dish soap I use at my kitchen sink so that's always in the kitchen anyhow. But even that stuff I don't use on the daily it's usually if there's like a stain I have to get out or soap scum if it is bad. The one All purpose spray that I use is Thieves Cleaner from Young Living. I do not make my own cleaner.... I use this. It comes super concentrated so then you dilute a cap with a squirt bottle full of water You're supposed to use glass ones since it does have essential oils in it. I'm not pushing this for any kind of multi-level marketing thing it's honestly just the best cleaner I've ever found and has really simplified cleaning my home and also before whenever I made my own cleaners out of vinegar..... I ruined a lot of wood finishes and stuff 🙄 and now I feel like I haven't. Oh the other cleaner that I do use is I use a floor cleaner so just whatever floor cleaner is your favorite I would keep around. I think you possibly can use these cleaner on the floor I have not though cuz I feel like I read that it could make my floor slippery so I just use normal floor cleaner. Anyhow if you happen to know anybody that sells Young Living essential oils they could probably get you a sample of it try I think I got like three different samples from my friend that I had purchased for like a couple bucks before I decided to get my own bottle and now I usually probably go through maybe two bottles a year but it actually probably lasts me like 8 months maybe and I use it a lot. It's also good for wiping off kitchen counters and high chairs cuz you do not have to rinse it afterwards like other household cleaners. I use it to kill germs on children's toys and stuff before I've actually had a kids for themselves directly in the face before and been completely fine too so from a toxicity standpoint it's something that is safe when diluted from my own personal experience. Definitely look into it I think you would really like the minimizing of it I think it smells kind of like fall it kind of has a spices scent with cloves in it. I use it on glass and wood and counters stoves and like I said anything. Great stuff. Honestly the most favorite cleaner I've ever used in my whole entire life. Any other products that are hanging out under my sink they're probably been there way too long and I will use on occasion I think for my feel like some wood polish barkeepers friend maybe some Murphy's oil soap that honestly I've had down there for like 5 years with maybe use once or twice a year if I happen to think of it. 😂 I don't want to necessarily part with that so But if I used it up I definitely wouldn't repurchase it either.
This is so timely for me! My sister is bringing me my mother's Singer sewing machine and wooden cabinet. I have to get rid of a storage cube to make room for it. The stuff in the storage cube needs to go in jam-packed cupboards above the washer and dryer.....classic clutter avalanche! Your video snapped me out of my paralysis!!
Wow. I deal with clutter avalanche all.the.time! A small task usually takes much longer because of all the other contingencies surrounding it. This job can loom monumental, but I also have learned that it can be broken down into smaller tasks to be ticked off as I have time and energy, so I need not be afraid of starting out to achieve my goals, even if I can't necessarily see the end goal until I am done. After taking step one (beginning the task), step two becomes easier. As an afterthought, I think the reason for my avalanches could be because I don't make enough passes back again to those areas as my life and needs change. And, yes, I also have too many cleaning products, and am using them up as I can. I must say, though, you were courageous to get rid of all those reusable mopheads. That is something I would have trouble with. Yours, Sincerely, 4 mophead owner.
Perfect day to see this I have the same problem. No room for office supplies, but in order to put them in closet I need to make room . And more stuff out, relocate and I'm stuck.
Your logic is clear about what you do and how! You notice that l pay close attention to you , Erica! I even got a bag of clothes out of my closet following you, but I need to do more!
I love Simply Earth. I really enjoy the projects. I only use homemade lip balm now. So affordable plus I now can make so many things for around the house.
Great job, Erica!♥Being organized surely makes life simpler. 😁 I kinda think you might regret getting rid of those extra mop head cloths, though. If yours were white, like mine is, you would see that they need to be changed often for a large area of floor. I only have one, but I would love more. Just can't find any to fit my mop! I do have to say, though, that I have never understood why people need so many different cleaning products. I pretty much use vinegar and baking soda for most of my cleaning jobs. Of course, I live alone, so no husband and kids to get things really dirty, but still...... 😉♥
Those were the spot mop heads. I only use that mop around the dog's bowl (he drips all over when he drinks) or for spills between deep clean mopping. I have four mop heads for the deep clean mopping (different mop). Does that help explain?
I've been overthinking that. I need to just start. But I don't know how to start that project. Every time I try, I end up in tears looking at photos of my brother in the mix. I think I'm not ready for that project, maybe.
Rotate the bin with sponges and cloths. Cause you can’t see the sponges since the cloths are taller. Just so you don’t have it out of sight and mind and buy more blue sponges.
With having decluttered sections of your entire house now, do you feel each space needs a reset at all? I decluttered everywhere in sections but am now feeling I need another round of my entire home done. Like round 2 of decluttering everywhere.
I have three bathrooms. I'd need three bins. Plus I like them stored up high from the kids. Another reason I wanted to do this project - I had cleaning products too low in that other closet.
@@EricaLucasLoves I forgot your kids are still young that you need to protect them from accessing chemicals. And three bathrooms to safeguard is just asking for trouble. I like how you talk aloud your thought process and internal debates on keeping something versus tossing it.
