I just posted on FreeCycle for a vacuum, and also offering several pairs of jeans I have been meaning to get rid of. We’ll see what happens!
I have gotten some really great stuff off FreeCycle, including one of my bookcases. I have also gotten rid of a lot of stuff thru them. It’s a great way to do it!
My father’s a class III hoarder, one of the worst I’ve ever seen. His five-bedroom house is literally filled to the brim with ancient newspapers, coupons, junk mail, everything you can imagine. There’s barely any space in the house to walk except a path leading from the front door to the TV set – most bedroom are inaccessible, since they’re filled and packed with useless junk. It’s so bad, every time I see one of those “compulsive packrat” stories on the news, I laugh my ass off, because those news stories look like neat freaks, by comparison.
At least it’s “clean” clutter – only newspapers and other junk, no rotting garbage or animal feces (but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’ve got dead rodents lying buried in the waste.) He just won’t let go of any kind of junk. And he brags to me every month, about how he’s getting better, he actually filled up one blue recycling bin for the week. And he showed me yesterday a big pile of junk which he was planning to cart off to his office at pierce college. Junk, for a professor’s office. I mean – wtf? Why would you hoard junk?
I don’t even think my extended family knows how extreme the situation is.
PapSett, what is under the carpet? Even a bare, rough floor might be better and you definitely don’t want a wet (if it’s wet), stinky carpet.
You say the books are dirty, not just dusty. Is it accumulated dust and dog fluff and things like that, or is it caked on crud? The former is best dealt with using a vacuum or a very slightly damp microfiber (if you have it) towel or mitt.
As Nava says, there’s no point in keeping useless books, so cull them. We don’t have room in our houses and lives for what is essentially trash, and books can qualify!
I joined Flylady after my husband died in the hopes it would give me a workable schedule. It hasn’t really ended up that way, but Flylady does some things really well and, I think, might be a big help convincing you that YOU CAN DO IT.
I culled a bunch of books today. I ask myself: If I find myself wanting to refer to, or re-read this book, how hard or inconvenient will it be to get it from the library? All of the cookbooks and reference books, many of the out-of-print books, and some books that hold sentimental value pass this test. The rest get jettisoned. I don’t hoard books anymore.
Freecycle might get you free carpet as well. Somebody might want to get rid of carpet (or vinyl, almost as good as tile when you have pets) because it has a few discolored spots or some other insignificant blemish.
My floor under the carpet is bare concrete; the problem with removing the carpet is that it will have to be scraped off, it’s glued down, and my knees are very arthritic, so I can’t easily get down to do the scraping. And, like I said above, I don’t have any friends that would help.
It’s not really DIRT on the books, just a really, really thick layer of dust. I will be culling books when I get to the bookcase, and either FreeCycling them or giving them to Goodwilll.