Clean Out- Linen Closet

Calling what we have a 'linen closet' is laughable. I would love to meet the idiot man (surely he's a man) who in the 1990's decided to save space in homes by removing hall closets and kitchen pantries. Talk about the stupidest design ever. He needs to have his license revoked. But I digress.... it is what it is. 

Our hallway has a small half closet. I'm sure it's meant for linen's. We use it for toiletries. 

I didn't take a before photo- but picture everything crammed in there and you've got the gist. I took everything out, went through every item, tossed empty boxes, expired items and ones that we just never use. The result: not too shabby. 

 

My goal when I clean something out is to get rid of half. I think I succeeded by how full this garbage bag is. 

Some things I am curious about:

I made a tallied list of every item and how many we have. It was nice to see the actual numbers of things.

Toothbrushes? We have too many to count. We have all gone to electric, so this stash will last the rest of our lives. (I like having these for travel and also for guests. We are always the people that forget to bring out toothbrushes, so if anyone visits, and is like us- I have one for them.) 

 

I also found some holes- we have no more regular contact lens solution- and with 3 contact wearers- it's time to get some more. We are also out of conditioner. I didn't know that. 

 

I am really curious about how long it takes us to use some items. 

Liquid Handsoap- I feel like all I do is refill handsoaps. Buy maybe they are lasting longer than I thought? Hmmm.... 

Toothpaste- We have 6 tubes of regular sized and 4 travel. Those are good for- well, travel. I'm not sure how long the 6 regular tubes will last. How many tubes of toothpaste do we use in a year?

Girl razors? 20. We have 2 girls in the house- how long will those 20 last? (My husband buys his own and keeps track of his own stuff) 

 

 Bars of soap- 21. How long does a bar of soap last? One girl in our family uses a bar, one uses liquid gel.

How often do we go through shampoo and conditioner? A box of Q-tips? Flossers? Face wash? 

All of our stuff is about to be dated and recorded. I've never thought of myself as a data-nerd- but here I am. I'm all in. I may even make a spreadsheet! 

 

'linen' closet- clean out. check.