Kids clothes and shoes that don't fit, worn out T-shirts and sandals.

1) Old paperwork/receipts - documents with sensitive information get shredded, of course, 2) cleaning/household products that are past their expiration date, and 3) clothes that no longer fit.

I hit one room at a time taking out what I don't like anymore. Then I scout the consignment shops buy some new and sell the old. I take anything else to goodwill or charity shops. Try to be green reuse and donate give away what you can.

I just went thru old love letters, journals and correspondence of 60 years, kept a few letters that meant something and burned the rest. How light I feel. Now if I could just bring my self to do that with stacks of photo albums.

Romcfi - please don't destroy your photo albums, they are history and there are bound to be family members who would love the memories. Depending on the age of the photos, local historical groups could be interested in them too. It is a pity you didn't keep selective parts of your journals with appropriate photos it would have made a wonderful record of your life and times for future family members. When you consider the changes and huge progress that has been made over the last 60 years I think the present generation need this reminder of how far we have come and how privileged they are.

Not only do I have the spring cleaning bug, but I'm also nesting! But being almost 39 weeks pregnant, I don't have the stamina or flexibility to really deep clean. But I love throwing lots of things away (or donating)! Paper, things in storage that haven't been used in a long time, clothing that I don't wear or doesn't fit, and many other things. @olldroo, great idea! I may just open the windows today and let the stale air out.

Katlin - the nesting really starts right before labour and you can't clean fast enough. Best wishes.

Years ago, housewives did do annual spring cleaning. These days, not so much with the busy lives many women live outside of the home. No reason why they should do it alone if there are others living in the house too! Enlist ALL family members to do their part.

Even though I was busy, I always made time to do a little every weekend--especially the usual forgotten (or much hated) clean-ups: inside range hood, interior/exterior kitchen and bath cupboards, laundry room, etc. It's a great feeling to do it. Psychologically, it's a "cleaning" too.

I agree de-cluttering or "cleaning" as such is therapeutic indeed!
I love giving away kitchen ware that has not been used once in several years: such as escargot plates and its cutlery, onion soup bowls are on the next out list. since I am a textiles addict yearly I give away bed linen & covers, wrap around Turkish towels which I keep buying are all going every other year. (un)fortunately living in Turkey there are many refugee camps around who are in need of such items. the third item is yes, clothing: clothes that have been sitting in my cupboard for more than 10 or 20 even more years, hanging with a great "what if one day..." over them goes twice a year to the camps.
and finally books, books that have been sitting there yet again with a big WHAT IF i would like to read them again, are going to University Libraries, every two years or so.

even writing about it made me feel lighter; thank you for bringing up the subject!

Yes, except that I don't throw away, I give to charity when things are still good for use.

During Spring Break, I talked closets!! Purged a lot of stuff! Next on my list before it gets really hot: the GARAGE!!!!!

I live in a tiny space (36.5 sqm) with my husband and two cats. Such a tiny space meant we had to clean out often, and being married meant we had to find compromises when it came to what to keep and what to get rid of.

Golden rule is that if the item hasn't been in use for more than 4-6 mos, it has to go. We compromise on things like books and games, but stuff like clothes, shoes, magazines, old cosmetics, tend to go to the bin straight away.

Books (I keep ones I know will be re-read), winter shirts/tops that are too out of shape or pilled or stained to be worn again...just two categories, but lots of stuff.

Love this time of year for the "old annual Spring cleaning"! I purge our winter clothing and take to Goodwill. I also starting purging my holiday decorations so they could be updated. When a holiday came along and I didn't use something I took another look at it and decided if it needed another home. Plus, we are renovating our kitchen so you can imagine the "second look" I am taking at lots of things that got pushed to the back of each of my cabinets.

Electronics - taking dead electronics to Best Buy for recycling. Last week I took 3 things. Today I will take 3 more. A dead PC, some piece of "stereo" equipment from who knows when, and an old DVD player we replaced a while back. I think you can take up to 5 pieces a week, and they have some limitations so check the official site first.

Yesterday it was two boxes of books to the Goodwill.

Good to get stuff moving out!

We have a community sites set up on Facebook for sale, free cycle and gardening. It has helped everyone clear out their items and not throw things out. Definitely one persons trash is another's treasure!
happy that these