A History of Spring Cleaning
Spring evokes a sense of newness and revival and with that has evolved the idea of ‘spring cleaning’. Depending on where and when you grew up there was probably some version of ‘spring cleaning’ that you may remember as a kid.
Historically when we look at spring cleaning, people have been doing it for centuries. If you grew up in the time before vacuum cleaners you would open up the windows in the spring and let the wind blow through and ‘dust’ for you. Before clothes dryers and dry cleaning was invented it was the time of year to hang rugs and draperies outside to let the fresh air blow through them. In Judaism the Passover ritual of cleansing the house of ‘leavened’ bread also happens in the spring.
For me growing up in the northeast meant that the winters were cold and sometimes long, our ritual of ‘spring cleaning’ was something that my mother planned well in advance and looked forward to. My mother is 74 and just last week she said to me(no joke), “I am planning on starting my spring cleaning next week…”
So what is this idea of spring cleaning anyway? What it boils down to is a deep and thorough cleaning of the home and all of it’s contents. It is a time to go through closets and drawers and reorganize, throw out and give away things that are cluttering up your home. It is a time to open up the windows and get the stale air out and get the fresh air in. It is rejuvenating for you as well as your home.
Cleaning and packing away winter clothes is part of this ritual and sometimes you just “need more storage”. Let Red Bin Storage become part of your NEW ‘Spring Cleaning Ritual’! If you have never had a ‘spring cleaning ritual’ there is no time like the present to start.
I personally have my own version of how and when I do my spring cleaning and part of that ritual for me is sharing my ‘start date’ with my Mom.
Our Relationship with “Things”
We have all accumulated a lot of stuff in our lives. Our possessions become extensions of ourselves and help us define who we are or where we want to be.
Early attachment to things starts for most of us around the age of two when we can first have an understanding of possession. Most children will develop an unusually intense relationship to a specific object at this age. Whether it is a toy, stuffed animal or blanket they believe that the object has a uniqueness to it and a magical quality that shows up again in adulthood as related to memorabilia, heirlooms and inherited items.
The progression of attachment to objects in teens becomes a ‘crutch’ for the self and helps adolescents define by material objects “what makes me happy” at a time when their self-esteem is at it’s lowest. Transitioning from adolescence to adulthood is the crown jewel of possession and attachment; the person’s first car.
In adulthood our possessions signal to other people who we see ourselves as. Additionally certain possessions convey a ‘group membership’ and this is most often seen with the collection of items and memorabilia as related to sports teams. There also many people who like to simply “collect” things and have extensive “collections”.
As time goes on these things accumulate and the intensity of how we identify ourselves gets stronger and therefore their value to us increases. For this reason victims of vandalism or robbery often say they “feel violated” because it is more than the financial loss that is upsetting but rather the loss of “their things”.
Many people willingly get rid of possessions in the time of a “life changing” event. Or they hit a crossroads and it is time to “clean house”. In either case this is carefully thought out and executed with some strategy. There are also “keepers” and “hoarders” and both experience guilt when faced with having to get rid of things. Keepers generally have more of an emotional attachment to the object. Hoarders feel that they are preserving an identity by holding onto the object.
Our relationship with our things gets more powerful as we age as they provide us with comfort, fond memories and are highly valued in human society. Even in death our once valued possessions become “family heirlooms” to be passed down for generations to come.
RedBin Storage is providing consumers with a safe, convenient and affordable solution for maintaining our relationship with our things. RedBin’s sophisticated software system allows customers to log in to their account and see their items any time they want so they always feel connected to their “things”.
Want or “need” something back? It can be redelivered it within 24 hours.
Baby it’s cold outside, stay in, clean out a closet.
Baby it’s cold outside, stay in, clean out a closet, RedBins delivered to your door in 24hrs or less!#declutter http://ow.ly/i/gGxaj
What’s cluttering up our closets?
What’s cluttering up our closets? http://ow.ly/i/grkPj
The Four-Bin Method of Decluttering
What is Silica Gel?
We have all seen the small little white packets in boxes of shoes that say “do not eat”. Most of us have never exactly considered what they do for us other than we shouldn’t eat it.
Silica gel packets are use to absorb moisture and odor. Most times these packets are used in shipping containers because containers generally come from overseas and it take about 4 weeks for most ocean containers to travel on the water and get to a port. Manufacturers of many kinds of products use silica gel to absorb any moisture and odor.
Photographers also use silica gel to keep in their camera bags to keep all possible moisture away from their camera equipment most specifically lenses. Silica gel is a must have for anyone storing items from documents to clothing to electronic equipment.
Red Bin has their own silica gel packets to maximize the moisture and odor control of items that you have stored in your bins. Every bin comes with a 3 gram packet to ensure that your belongings stay fresh and dry while they are waiting for you to retrieve them!
Saving your children’s school work and artwork.
My oldest son just graduated from college and I thought it would be fun to look through some boxes that I had of all of the schoolwork that I saved over the years. When I went down to the basement I was shocked to see that I had 6 boxes of saved treasures between my two boys. The good thing for me is that I have a home in the suburbs and a full basement so I have plenty of space to store these things.
I can only imagine the angst a city dwelling mother might feel if she could not find a place to store all of her child’s schoolwork from when they first learned to write their name to their last high school project. With space being such a commodity in a small city apartment the idea of taking up space with these types of items hardly seems appropriate.
RedBin on-demand storage is the solution for all parents that want to keep and preserve their child’s school memories. Now you can safely store those handmade cards and holiday projects in a moisture and temperature controlled environment and you can retrieve them whenever you want.
Need More Storage?
Sure you do.
As it turns out most of us do. Regardless of how organized we try to be our very nature is of keeping, saving and storing.