The bathroom can be deceptive. Unless there’s a ton of stuff all over the counters it doesn’t look like a clutter collector. The clutter is generally well hidden in drawers, cabinets and the linen closet. The categories that come along with the bathroom need to be attended to for clutter reasons as well as health reasons.
Categories in the bathroom include:
Towels
Skin care
Cosmetics
Hair care
Medications
Miscellaneous stuff you didn’t know where else to put it so it ended up in the bathroom
TOWELS
How many towels do you have? Beach towels, bath sheets, regular towels, hand towels, and washcloths?
Sometimes we simply over buy towels because we miscalculate how many we need. Sometimes when we get new towels, we don’t always know what to do with the old ones so homes become overrun with random towels. Beach towels are a category that seems to reproduce on their own in my house.
General rule for towels: 2 per person in the house
Keep an extra set if you tend to have house guests a lot. If you’re doing laundry every week you’ll never be out of towels.
What to do with all of those extra towels? My two favorite options are to cut them up to use as rags, or donate them to the local animal shelter, they always need towels and blankets.
SKINCARE
Lotions, serums, shaving creams, soaps, scrubs, toothpaste and everything else you use on your skin: These things all expire. They do not live forever.
The ingredients in them break down over time and are no longer effective. The more natural the ingredients of the product the faster they will break down because they do not have the synthetic stabilizing agents of other products.
Once a product has been opened air is introduced to it, providing a breeding ground for bacteria to grow.
These products are often expensive causing us to be tempted when they go on sale to buy more than we need, which becomes a waste of money if they expire before you can use them.
Go through your skin care with this guide to expiration dates and toss anything that might be out of date. If they’re expired the money is already gone so let them go.
Bar soap: 18 months to three years
Bath oil: one year
Body bleaches and depilatories: six months
Body lotion: two years
Body wash: three years
Deodorant: one to two years
Eye cream: one year
Face cream: two year
Mouthwash: three years from the manufacture date
Shaving cream: two years
Sunscreen: three years
Toothpaste: two years
Now, when you go shopping keep this in mind and be honest with yourself as to how much you and your family will use before the product goes out of date.
COSMETICS
I love me some cosmetics. Pretty colors to create a work of art. When I was a kid, I did a whole blue face with eyeshadow long before Blue Man Group was a thing.
Similar to skin care cosmetics have expiration dates. Yes, those 10 different shades of nude lipstick that you only use now and then are probably all expired.
Liquid cosmetics like foundations and concealers break down in the same manner as skin care, however any cosmetics that come into contact with your skin need to be replaced regardless of how “new” they still look. Every time you touch a cosmetic to your face it is picking up oils from skin.
For instance, when a makeup brush touches your face and then touches a powder cosmetic like eyeshadow, you’re introducing bacteria from your face to the powder. Over time that bacteria will grow and can be transferred back to your face in its new form.
Mascara has the shortest life because every time you insert the wand into the tube, you’re pushing air, which dries it out, and bacteria into the mascara.
Here’s a guide to go through your cosmetics:
Concealer: one year
Cream blush: one year
Eyeliner: three months
Eyeliner pencil: two years
Eyeshadow: one year
Foundation: one year
Lip balm: one to five years
Lip gloss: one year
Lipstick: two years
Liquid eyeliner: three months
Mascara: three months
Nail polish: one year
Powder blush: two years
The next time you’re tempted by Ulta try to keep these numbers in mind.
HAIR CARE
The same thing applies to your hair products as the skin care and cosmetics.
Hair gel: two to three years
Hair spray: two to three years
Shampoo and conditioner: two to three years
Most households have multiple of all of these products due to the unending search for the perfect products. Take some time to identify what you really use and toss the rest.
Other hair care issues are the tools, curling irons, blow dryers, hair ties, etc.
It’s the “what ifs”. What if I have a hair drying emergency? What if one curling iron stops working when I decide I need it, at least I have the old crappy one as a back-up.
Same goes for hair ties, headbands, barrettes, etc. How many of these things do you actually use? Be honest. How many are broken or stretched out? When was the last time you used those sparkly barrettes you bought for New Years 5 years ago? (The answer is never. I didn’t even wear them that New Years).
MEDICATIONS
Over the counter (OTC) and prescription medications all expire. You might be surprised at how many cough syrups, throat lozenges, pain medications and old prescriptions you have lying around.
Check with your local pharmacy for disposal programs.
It is best not to throw these things out in the trash as there’s the concern that children or animals will get their hands on them. You definitely do not want to flush them as they will dissolve into the water table and become an additional poison in the water we, and the animals we share this planet with, drink.
MISCELLANEOUS STUFF YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH SO IT ENDED UP IN THE BATHROOM
If you don’t know where something goes you might not actually need it so consider decluttering some of this stuff. If it’s truly something you use, find a home for it. An intentional home. If the bathroom turns out to be the best place for it, great, let’s keep it intentional, though.
THE PROCESS
With all of this in mind, tidy up your bathroom(s) with these basic steps:
Choose a specific area to focus on, like a shelf, drawer, cabinet or an entire closet depending on how much time and energy you have.
Take everything out of that space, remove all of the toss, donate and sell items.
Clean the area.
Return the remainder of your stuff to their homes with intention and mindfulness.
Find new homes for anything that didn’t belong in the bathroom.
Get all of the toss and donate items out of the house ASAP so they don’t turn into a new kind of clutter.
Decluttering and tidying your home is a highly emotional experience. You may be surprised at what needs to go, yet you can’t seem to let it go.
This is where coaching with me comes in. I’ll help you create a plan that makes sense for your personality, address any barriers that come up, and provide accountability for you to achieve your goals.
We can do this together!