Most of us keep too many things when we should get rid of them. But there’s a line when holding on to memories turns into hoarding. When that happens, it may be hard to move past this behavior. Friends and family can help, with the support and elbow grease to clean out a house.
However, in some cases, the magnitude of the task may be overwhelming, making it necessary to enlist the help of a professional cleaning company.
Let’s look at what friends and family can do to help a hoarder and why hiring an outside company can be the best move after various cleaning strategies have been attempted.
Hoarding and how family and friends can help
Hoarding goes beyond clutter and maybe a deeper issue. Those who struggle with hoarding find it challenging to part with possessions, even if they are of little or no value, leading to the accumulation of excessive items. The clutter can eventually become unmanageable, posing health and safety risks.
Friends and family are often the first line of support for people with hoarding situations, offering their time, patience, and encouragement. They can help by providing emotional support, assisting with sorting and decluttering, and creating a more organized living environment.
Cleaning strategies to help with hoarding
There are several things you can do to help a hoarder clean up and start anew. For example:
- Work out a plan: Figure out the criteria for deciding what to get rid of, with the person’s help. For example, mail, newspapers, or receipts older than six months can be thrown away.
- Make a schedule: Thinking about cleaning rooms individually is much more manageable, both emotionally and physically, than thinking about the whole house at once. Determine where you’ll start and in what order you’ll proceed. Find out more about how to declutter a home with a room-by-room checklist.
- Set goals: These will keep everyone motivated to keep moving forward. Start in hallways or entryways to improve accessibility, and move on to spaces where guests will visit.
- Clean and organize: Not everything will be thrown away. Buy bins to organize what will be kept, and designate a spot for them. Consider storage spaces if the garage or attic needs to be cleaned out, too.
Make a plan to remove junk
No matter how much you can save, there will be plenty to throw away in a hoarding situation. Having a solution ready will help you continue the process without being interrupted by making decisions on how to dispose of junk.
You might want to rent a dumpster for bigger projects or use your community’s curbside bulk pickup. You can also hire a Junk Removal service, such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, which will haul away everything, recycling what can be recycled and disposing of the rest responsibly.
Why hiring a professional junk service is a great solution
One of the key benefits of professional Junk Removal services is their ability to provide sustainable cleanup solutions. Not only can they clean out the house but also offer guidance on maintaining a clutter-free environment and preventing future hoarding behaviors.
Professional Junk Removal services can help with:
- Expertise: Junk Removal professionals have experience dealing with hoarding cleanup, ensuring efficient and safe removal of clutter and debris.
- Efficiency: They have the necessary equipment and manpower to handle even the most extensive hoarding situations, expediting the cleanup process.
- Safety: Professionals prioritize safety by addressing health hazards, disposing of items correctly, and following sanitation protocols.
- Compassion: Junk Removal professionals approach hoarder cleanup with empathy, minimizing emotional distress for everyone involved.
Sustainable solutions: They can provide guidance on maintaining an organized living space, helping hoarders avoid falling back into cluttered environments.
At 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, our decluttering service can give you a hand with getting things out of a hoarder’s house. We provide full-service Junk Removal, which means that we will perform all of the heavy lifting. Simply show us what you want to get rid of, and we'll pick it up right there. When we're through, we'll even sweep the area.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? can help hoarders get rid of the clutter
If friends and family have tried various cleaning strategies and find the hoarding situation too challenging to handle, your local 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise can help. We take all sorts of junk that you won’t want to bother with anymore, safely and responsibly. We’ll recycle what we can and dispose of the rest.
