are you saying that you wish you had that heirloom dishware back and regret using this metric of the metric is not stringent enough and mold should be the standard
I take this as well before buying things. If I still want it after I dump on it then I'll buy it. Annoyingly, I've been banned from 600 shops at the last count.
I have children and I foster animals. There are very few things I own which have not had poop on them at some time. Consequently, I know how to clean things that have.
I’ve dehoarded multiple houses, and I agree that it is not really a useful way to think about it, generally. Specifically, and practically, though? It’s pretty spot on.
Especially at place like failed basement mink farm.
Grew up poor but threw out a drink bottle covered in toddler poop. It was her favourite drink bottle but I already had to deal with all the poop on the bedding, I couldn’t bring myself to preserve the drink bottle. It was just a bit of poo on the bottom and the handle but I’d reached my limit.
I think this comes the closest to how many rich people navigate the world. Yeah you've got nice shit, but who cares if you can just get another one at the airport duty free shop when your flight lands. A flat hierarchy of consumption and disposal.
Most of the de-cluttering stuff I've read really does feel like it's coming from someone with a deep seated, unconscious believe that they'll be able to buy whatever they need at the moment they need it.
I generally have too many sheets, because I've learned over the years that sometimes you can't find sheets you don't think are hideous, and that time will be when your existing sheets rip irreparably.
An Ex-girlfriend’s mom (not a millionaire, just 6 figure wealthy) looked at my knees-just-beginning-to-fray jeans and asked why I didn’t just buy a new pair.
Besides being comfortable, I didn’t often have $30-50 for a new pair of jeans. Certainly not when the material was merely getting thin.
As someone who can afford to buy new jeans, I’d keep the old ones, reinforce the knees, keep them some more, fix any holes with jeans thread when the time comes, and keep on keeping them. Well-fitting jeans are priceless.
i can't help but wonder if she'd have been way more chill about it if she *had* been a millionaire... upper-middle-class terror of all things that potentially signal poverty is hard to overestimate
She came from a lower status, too, but because her first husband had a great job (and excellent insurance when he passed away), she was set for life. Her second husband has an even better job, so they were never going to be in a bad position. Ever.
This is a reframed version of “does it spark joy?” which someone with adhd came up with, because dopamine doesn’t work reliably for us. It’s to determine if you’d put real effort in to keep it (the horror of cleaning off poop) rather than what could be “have you ever felt interested in this?”
Even as an American, the predominant US lifehacker advice / practice of literally putting things in the trash en masse because they are in the way is incomprehensible to me.
this stuff is the opposite of frugal minimalism. it's "throw away, buy another when needed" instead of having a collection of cherished goods that see only occasional use
If someone told me they followed that advice then I would feel obligated to call their bluff and start pooping on things in their home. Fair dinkum, I say.
Yeah, that definitely doesn't work. I'm into yr 2 of decluttering & have thrown out shoes covered in poop (the soles anyway)--then promptly bought another of the exact same pair (complicated tread pattern & the poop was really up in there). So, maybe if you wouldn't buy it again is a better rule?
I do love how the person seems to have misunderstood the concept. Like, thinking “this means enough to me that if it got a tiny bit of shit on it I’d clean it rather than toss it” is NOT the same as imagining something “covered in poop”
Has anyone considered that maybe compulsive throwing-out might be the anomalous behaviour?
Most of human history has been spent in such abject scarcity, holding onto things that might be useful has conferred enough of a definite survival advantage to be selected for.
There’s a real sociological question here. Disposable and pre-fab goods are very much a thing of the past 50-100 years. The “advice” is blithely assuming that everything is disposable. Not the case, and it’s an attitude that endangers society and environment alike.
I went through a move where I really aggressively purged a bunch of “oh I don’t really use this printer/crock pot/camping gear enough to justify moving with it” and 5 years later I’ve bought back worse and more expensive versions of almost everything I donated/sold. I side-eye this stuff so much now
I do take the position that if I haven’t used or thought about something for years, I can probably get rid of it. But there are times when I find something I haven’t used in years and it is exactly what I need for a purpose I never thought about using it for. So… yeah, I too am a bit skeptical.
Resolute, I confront my wife first thing in the morning after finalizing the last outstanding choice about decluttering: “you’re going to hate me, but I’ve made up my mind and we have to throw the house away”
???????
If it was....I have a cat with a broken colon. If I threw out everything that got covered in poop instead of cleaning it, I'd have like. A couch and a bed.
This is the American version of the Kondo method... we can't hold objects that spark joy... instead we need to cover them in shit. It's the American Way.
I had a job that involved cleaning hoarder houses. I can assure you, it can be tattered, torn, illegible, covered in rat feces and urine, or even have a decomposed dead rat sticking to it, all at once, and they want it. Even if it was clearly once just a blank piece of paper.
I think it's probably only helpful for things you are on the fence about keeping. But to look at every item you own through the shit filter, not practical.
I call this the “let’s have BlueSky indulge its bizarre ability to miss the point” type of post.
I mean it has almost become a BlueSky tradition to dogpile an idea that everyone appears to be doing their level best to misunderstand on purpose, indeed inventing new ways to misunderstand.
That is what my husband said. But this is just a stupid idea. My precious and beautiful soft sweater would not be salvageable if covered in poop, but I’m not going to get rid of it, since it is not. Spark joy might be a little silly, but at least it is coherent
I think you are thinking too literally about it. Also I am nobody and what I think is meaningless so please do not worry about what I think.
However. It’s a conceptual trick meant to help people throw things away who have trouble doing that. It’s meant to make you ask how much you’d invest in it.
I think what’s being missed the most here is that the concept is meant to be adaptive to each individual as a heuristic to help decide whether to keep clutter, which if they’re seeking advice on how to not keep clutter is probably a problem for them.
I think it’s actually meant to make people talk about it and sell this person’s books, or whatever. If it were meant to be useful, it would be coherent.
This isn’t the full version of the idea. It’s supposed to be:
When decluttering, ask yourself: if this were covered in poop, would I clean it off and keep it, or throw it away?
It’s to determine how important something is to you.
This version just sounds like we should live with poop-covered stuff
Eh I think it's perfectly decent decluttering advice! there are things I would clean off and there are things i'd throw away and there are some things I'd pop straight into my mouth. Helped me keep my room tidy for a whole month straight!
Would love to know what these people’s sleeping situation is. Just lie on the floor contemplating their choices? Maybe grandpa’s urn makes a decent pillow?
The second part of the rule clarifies that if it is worth the effort to clean it (e.g. fresh veggies from the garden or something you cherish) that's a sign you should keep it. (People with pets or small kids make this calculation often.)
trying to think of what i *would* keep if it had been covered in poop. something impermeable and very valuable, maybe? if i ever come into possession of any gold ingots i reckon that'd be the lower limit
I get the Washington post sucks but this feels like a case of Bluesky taking everything to the most extreme literal case. It’s a perfectly fine mental exercise that they stole from Reddit and published as their own.
No, it's a truly ridiculous mental exercise. If it's not meant to be taken literally why say it at all? Just say what you actually mean instead then everyone will be happier
How many people have things covered in poop? How does this poop situation occur? I would throw out everything in my house covered in poop and start over.
I guess all my knitting yarn, embroidery materials, raw materials for spinning, fabric, books and exotic flours and grains have to go but I can keep the plastic crap and metal tools since those could be washed off.
trying to think of things I keep covered in poop that isn't "my garden when I'm fertilizing it" seems weird to keep things covered in poop. Can't be sanitary
Seems like it would lead you to keep everything made of hard shiny plastic you can easily thoroughly wash, but also to throw away literally all of your clothes
Yeah, there's a big difference between "the cat had some poop stuck to her butt and now I have to clean the coffee table" and "while we were on vacation the cat explosivly diarrhead all over my book club book for six days in a row"
Those toilets are so weird. Had them in a hotel in Amsterdam. I had not yet learned to float a little toilet paper before use so I wasted a lot of water there.
The dog shit on my kid’s legos and while they were highly precious to my kid, not keeping things that are or have been covered in shit is more precious.
Comments
I am possessed of a hose and a shower and soap and all sorts of other tools I can use to get poop off of things.
Is this really how far we've fallen?
I have two kids under 4 everyone and everything is covered in poop now what
this feels like something out of ITYSL
But at least it wasn't poop so I guess I can keep myself!
It still doesn't work unless I also get to keep things that I would throw out and replace.
Especially at place like failed basement mink farm.
"If I'd throw it out if it was covered in poop, I get rid of it! It's been a great way to declutter! It really helped me clear out my closet!"
"So that's why you've been wearing Stormtrooper armor to the office all week?"
although i did move house last year, and there was a certain joy in ditching half my shit
Besides being comfortable, I didn’t often have $30-50 for a new pair of jeans. Certainly not when the material was merely getting thin.
She kinda forgot where she came from.
Perhaps it’s time we all stopped looking for the one weird trick. There is no life hack to hack all life hacks.
Most of human history has been spent in such abject scarcity, holding onto things that might be useful has conferred enough of a definite survival advantage to be selected for.
If it was....I have a cat with a broken colon. If I threw out everything that got covered in poop instead of cleaning it, I'd have like. A couch and a bed.
That's the only reasonable answer; this thing has touched poop. Gotta get rid of it now.
Repost and see you all there! More info at: https://app.antimagaclub.com
@sspelak.bsky.social @amandafgrimm.bsky.social @classicrogue.bsky.social
It is THEIR paper.
I mean it has almost become a BlueSky tradition to dogpile an idea that everyone appears to be doing their level best to misunderstand on purpose, indeed inventing new ways to misunderstand.
However. It’s a conceptual trick meant to help people throw things away who have trouble doing that. It’s meant to make you ask how much you’d invest in it.
Taking it too literally seems like fun police.
When decluttering, ask yourself: if this were covered in poop, would I clean it off and keep it, or throw it away?
It’s to determine how important something is to you.
This version just sounds like we should live with poop-covered stuff
If, god forbid, I ever find myself covered in shit, I’m rushing to the nearest fire hose instead of tidying up my house.
An AI had to have written this "advice".
Hand-written journal carried by my great-great-grandfather in the Civil War? Throw that shit in the trash
Or just straight up “I’m picturing living amongst shit covered belongings”?
They're basically benevolent scammers, and their advice is best for the lowest common denominators out of ridiculously large sample sizes, at best.