My family has been packing for a trip to Texas. So it has required me to take more notice of things that need to be organized.
We were trying to decide which medications to take, such as something for car sickness, ibuprofen, migraine and allergy medicine. But finding what I needed proved to be a challenge.
That’s because I realized how completely disorganized my medicine cabinet was. And I ended up having to throw out items that were past their expiration date.
So I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to clean it out. That required emptying it first. If it has been a while since you have cleaned your medicine cabinet, these tips will help.
Once you have taken everything out, wipe down all the shelves. If they are removable, take them out and clean them. But don’t forget the outside, the mirror and the sides.
Now before you start putting everything back, sort out your items. Compile all of your medicines, shavers with shaving cream, etc. Put like items into their own pile.
Then take time to look at every single medicine you have, prescription or over-the-counter. If anything has expired, get rid of it.
Some pharmacies have a program where they will take back old prescriptions so they can be disposed of properly. You might want to call and see if yours does.
For the remaining bottles and boxes of medicines, put a label on them, writing in black permanent marker the expiration date. This makes it much easier to see.
Now it’s time to put things back, but don’t be too quick about it. There may be other areas that some of your items could be kept.
I moved a lot of my stuff to our linen closet. In particular, the clear shoe pocket holder I have hanging up on the inside of the door. Smaller items, like nail polishes, can be placed in these pockets.
Or you might stack some of your items in baskets. Take the time to consider other areas that might work better in storing your stuff.
The only things I ended up putting back were the medicines, tweezers, nail clippers, toothpaste and toothbrushes. It really reduced the clutter and makes finding the medicine so much easier.
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Photo by steve isaacsin Flickr