How to Clean Out Junk Before You Move

Moving might be necessitated for several reasons. Relocation might be due to work, searching for a better house, starting a family, or shifting to a small house to save for a car and other purchases. Regardless of the reasons, decluttering your home is the best way to achieve a stress-free relocation. Moving with your overstuffed closets and drawers doesn’t make sense. Besides, if you hire moving experts, you will have to pay more to move clutter to your new place.

Clean out junk and clutter before moving with the following tips;

1. Clean Your Closet

Letting go of your old clothes and accessories is probably the most difficult part of purging. While it is tempting to keep your tight-fitting jeans and tops even if you don’t wear them occasionally, these items will weigh down your moving boxes and increase the moving bill. Therefore, sort through your closet using this guide;

• Have you worn the piece within the last year? If you haven’t worn the item in the last year, you probably shouldn’t keep it.
• Is the item on-trend, or will the trend make a comeback? Holding into a piece hoping that the trend will come back isn’t prudent. According to fashion experts, it takes at least 20 years from the first appearance for an item to make a comeback. If the cloth is out of style, it is time to discard it.
• Does the cloth fit properly? Your body fluctuates in size, weight, and other dimensions. Don’t hold on to clothes that don’t fit.
• Is the clothing in good condition? Even if you love a certain piece, don’t hesitate to discard it if it is stained or irreparably torn.

2. Sell or Donate Unwanted Clothes, Furniture, and Kitchen Items

Before moving, you should evaluate if your new house’s floor design and plan fit your current items. If you intend to downsize, you should dispose of clunky furniture that won’t be needed in the new home. If you might need some items in the future, consider renting a storage facility. These units are safe and can keep your items in good condition for a long time.

Unfortunately, you can resell all used items. Therefore, you should select items that can be sold and those to be donated to charitable organizations. Even then, note that most organizations won’t accept the following donations;

• Hazardous chemicals and materials
• Upholstered furniture with tears, stains, rips, and pet odor
• Unframed glass or mirrors
• Metal blinds
• Broken flooring materials
• Single pane windows
• Corner tubs

If you want to sell furniture, especially vintage or unique furniture, you should consign them for better resale. You can also host a yard sale or post them on online marketplaces, such as eBay or Craigslist.

3. Dispose of Non-essentials and Hazardous Materials

After decluttering your house and selling or donating unnecessary items, the remaining items are probably non-essential or hazardous. Depending on the quantity of the non-essentials, you should hire junk removal experts to help you dispose of these items. Recyclable non-essentials can be taken into recycling centers and others to designated landfills.

However, note that junk removal and moving companies won’t help you move hazardous materials, such as aerosols, propane tanks, kerosene, paint, poisons, gasoline, pool chemicals, and fire extinguishers. Donation sites won’t accept these materials either.

Therefore, the best way of getting rid of these items is to talk to your local hazardous waste center. Most states have designated facilities that receive and dispose of these items appropriately.

The Bottom Line

Relocating from your house is an exciting yet overwhelming experience. Besides having to find professional movers, shuffling through your items and separating important items from clutter is probably the most difficult part. The tips mentioned above can ease decluttering and downsizing before moving.

Author Bio
Mark Anderson is a content creator for SIRVA from Bellevue, WA. Mark works with the SIRVA content team to create curated pieces on stress-free moving. Check out Allied Van Lines (SIRVA) to learn more about how you can make your move easier.