Bathrooms can get cluttered very quickly. I experienced this first hand working with my own family’s and clients’ bathrooms. Piles and piles of self-care products stacked in baskets, shoved in drawers and layered in cabinets. There were so many self-care items in these bathrooms that ranged from unopened bottles to partially used opened ones. It’s no wonder the space got cluttered quickly. While I too love self-care items, I do find that some products are used for a month than discarded for another product. With all this clutter, it is no wonder we turned our relaxing “take care of yourself” room into a stressful place. This week we will talk about 15 items that you can get rid of right now to get back your stress-free bathroom.
Did you know you can return unused items?
Wherever you purchase your products, ask them about their return policy on self-care products. Some locations will allow you to return items you don’t like. Others will require you to return it within 30 days with the receipt. Some may not want the used products back. Remember if you don’t return it by the appropriate time, you will then have to find another home for these items which if you are like me, my family, and clients, you forget, and then these items get left precisely where they were – never to be used again.
To inspire you to take action now and remove unwanted items from your bathroom, I created this list of 15 specific things you can get rid of and instantly create a relaxing bathroom. With some of these items below, I added additional links on where to recycle them.
15 Unique Things to Toss Right Now for a Stress-Free Bathroom
- Old makeup – Make up has an expiration date. You can visit our post to help you determine if your make up is old and needs to be replaced.
- Torn or stained towels, hand towels, and washcloths – We all have a linen closet that may be stuffed with stuff like old towels that we may someday use again. Get rid of them and make room. You will appreciate it when you are looking for things in there. Visit our What to keep in your linen closet post for details on what to have in this closet. Some locations like the SPCA will accept towels for use at their site.
- Cleansers you don’t use – before you found the right product to clean your skin, did you try several other ones? Well, it’s time to let them go.
- Facial products that didn’t work – We all have some form of a facial cleaning regimen. Some products may be drying out if you haven’t used them in a while. Going through and opening up these bottles and containers will give you an idea on if you need to get rid of them.
- Old and unused nail polish – If you paint your nails, you probably have a lot of nail polish. If you don’t have a bin for them, they may be in drawers or throughout your bathroom. The proper way to get rid of nail polish is by taking them to a hazardous waste event in your area. Visit this post for details. If you are in Pennsylvania, visit our post “Recycling Locations and Shredder Events” page for the hazardous waste events.
- Old toothbrushes – You can recycle these items. We would repurpose them to clean small areas. The small brushes help to clean areas that you can’t reach with a sponge. Visit this post that talks about how to recycle a toothbrush.
- Fragrances that have dried up – These are the fragrances like potpourri and the plugin kinds that may not have been replenished in a while.
- Never used fancy soaps – Some people use fancy soap in their bathroom as decoration. But, over time, this soap gets dusty. Start using them. What’s better than a pretty item? An item that is pretty and useful.
- Sample makeup perfumes – You may have a lot of small samples that need recycling. Visit this post that talks about a few methods on how to recycle perfumes.
- Expired medicine – Some people leave medication in the bathroom, especially the ones they take before going to bed. This is a great area to revisit often. Visit this post from the FDA about how to dispose of unused and unwanted medicine.
- Unused or disliked hair products – Hair products have chemicals as well. So proper disposing of these items are essential as well. Allure magazine shared an excellent post with lots of tips on where to donate unused or gently used hair products.
- Disliked cleaning products – We all have some form of cleaning supplies in our bathroom. If you go through them, you may find that there are some bottles half used that you can consolidate into one. Visit this post about tips on how to properly dispose of unwanted cleaning products.
- Hair irons or driers you don’t use – We tend to keep these items for a long time. But, ask yourself, do you need them? There are “Anything With a Plug” events that happen across the country usually in the springtime. So keep an eye out for them in your area.
- First aid wraps you don’t need any longer – your first aid kit can get filled with wrappers and expired items. If you don’t have your first aid stuff in one location, check out how we made ours here.
- Baskets that are collecting clutter which doesn’t have a purpose – Lastly, there are probably baskets in your bathroom. They could be around the tub or under your sink. Wherever they are, this is the time to revisit the items and get rid of the unused products, dried out, or unwanted.
Now that you have removed the items you don’t want. It is time to revisit the things you kept, making sure you have the appropriate storage container for those items. Revisiting these cleared out areas every season will help the room from getting cluttered again.
Well, you have it. I hope this inspires you to clear up your bathroom and make it more peaceful when visiting it during the day. Let’s continue the conversation. What other areas do you clear out in your bathroom? Please leave a comment in the section below.
I love your list. I notice people have a lot of sample size items and they just lay around taking up space. Sometimes I try to put them in my gym bag or my travel cosmetic bag to get them used up.
Always good to revisit these areas in the bathroom and linen closets. It’s amazing how this stuff multiples. When I was working at My Sisters’ Place we gave out toiletries on a regular basis. I was often seeing these in clients homes. They would open them and then not like them and there they would sit. Until it all becomes overwhelming of course. And you cannot donate opened products unfortunately. Thanks for the reminder.
Great list. I like to try new products but I really only use a few things everyday. Lately, I have worked to fit everything I need into the medicine cabinet or in a small bowl on the counter. These are items I use everyday. If I find myself not using them, they have to go.
Your list of bathroom items that can go NOW is so useful. I like to periodically go through the bathroom drawers and cabinets to let go of expired or no longer used items. During my last letting go session, I released several bottles of nail polish, expired medicine and first aid products, and some makeup that I no longer used. While things didn’t feel cluttered before doing this, they felt “airy” after. It was a satisfying thing to do.
I won a couple of gift packs one time, immediately picked out products I knew I’d never use and gave them away, and tried some of the others, but they’ve been sitting on the shelf for a really long time and I’m obviously never going to use them up. I don’t know why it’s so hard to get rid of products we don’t end up using!
I just helped a client clear out a bathroom last week. I find it such a rewarding project, and it often lacks the emotional tug of other residential spaces. She got rid of 2 curling irons, so you are right on! This is one of those spaces where the “yuck factor” can often make the decision for you, especially when you dig back into the cavern under the sink:)