Under the Sink

The worst experience I've had with that cupboard was when we moved into our house in Singapore.
I opened the cupboard door and out flowed a stream of cockroaches which mobbed around my feet!
In another house we had a small leak there so put in a bowl to catch the drips and often found drowned mice in there.
Our current one has mainly cleaning products, nothing interesting.

Mine needs doing as we had a mouse and OH cleaned out 2 cupboards. Trouble is he's mixed everything up so Dish washer tablets in one Rinse aid in the other and Persil in one but comfort at back of the other cupboard etc etc. At least they are clean

Regarding stopcock, mine was at the back of the hot water tank where I could barely reach it. I had to lie on the floor and use just my finger tips to blindly turn it - having screamed as I touched spiders webs on the way in! I got paranoid about what I would do if there was a major leak so I spoke to a plumber who was fixing something and he told me that he could fit a switch at waist height that would turn off the water.

I was totally amazed and although it was not cheap, the peace of mind of just going into the bathroom cupboard and turning of the mains water with a simple switch is priceless. Don’t ask me how it works, it’s like a magic trick!

Mattsmum2

Callistemon

A hot water bottle right at the back!
Well, I'd forgotten about that.

I keep my hot water bottle there too!

So do I but I can’t remember the last time I used it. It’s probably rotted by now - I’d better check.

Find it quite hard to get down low enough to turn out under the sink cupboards anyway.

Oh I can get down there NotTooOld. Getting back up is the problem!

I tidy my under sink cupboard often as a) the sink leaks, b) mouse traps need emptying (they ate a Vanish bar last night) so I think I’m qualified to offer a tip …… if you are sick of cans leaving marks on the shelves, turn them upside down - the plastic lids don’t leave rusty rings!

Everything including the kitchen sink, bags, as stack of cloths soft, dusters, dish clothes. Dived in there the other week and also found a leek that had dropped into the 'brillo pads' yes just a mound of rust - luckily they were in a plastic tray.

To access my stopcock I have to remove the shelf and back from a small kitchen cupboard, so I only keep my dustpan and brush in there. I don't want a flood while I'm emptying masses of stuff.
I had a 'light bulb moment' recently, and decided to have a grand clear-out, so that the family will have an easy time when I pop my clogs. There are just two baskets under my sink. One contains everyday cleaning stuff and the other has the things which are only used occasionally. Instead of having to crouch I can just lift out the basket I need.
I also decided to get rid of a lot of books, but can't resist picking up more in charity shops, so not much progress there.

Its weird about Marigolds. I throw one away when it has a tear in it, saving the other one to match up later. Trouble is I always end up with more left hands than right.

My stopcock isn't under the sink, it's in the downstairs loo. The cupboard under my sink is quite full as the plumbing encroaches on the space. Everything is stored in plastic storage boxes, making the cupboard easy to empty, my son is a plumber but I've always done this. That way nothing gets lost at the back of the cupboard I can easily pull the boxes out to find what I need. I always buy in bulk so storage is important to me. My son the plumber always tells customers on the phone to make sure the cupboard is empty and fully accessible he doesn't empty cupboards for them unless they are clearly incapable.

Just had to look today and was pleasantly surprised! Only had to throw out some left hand marigolds. No stockpiles of cleaning products. The stopcock is fully accessible. Do I get a gold star ?

Callistemon

A hot water bottle right at the back!
Well, I'd forgotten about that.

I keep my hot water bottle there too!

It's that time of year when mice start to come into house during crappy weather. I had a mouse problem a couple of years ago. I read somewhere that they don't like certain strong aromas like peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, etc. so I sometimes put a couple of drops on a tissue in the area where I think they got in last time. Hope it works.

Did ours recently. Found some SHOUT spray (stain remover). It works brilliantly on DH's coffee-stained T-shirts. I've been rubbing the stains with bio Surf before washing. Wonder if Shout is still available?

Theoddbird

I found a spiralizor...bought many years ago and used twice. Will I ever use it do you think? Do you use yours?

We bought a basic spiralizor a few months ago and have used it regularly for making courgette and carrot "spaghetti". I've been following the 5/2 diet and this is a great way to use vegetables instead of carbs. It'll probably get popped in the back of a cupboard once the diet stops though.

Mine is very tidy ? as we have had our dishwasher repaired so everything had to be moved but I keep all my cleaning stuff in plastic boxes anyway. I found lots of flower food sachets? not sure where they came from presumably flowers.

Everything is pretty tidy as there is not a great deal of space. However I do get surprised sometimes-especially by the number of old toothbrushes I kept ‘for cleaning awkward spaces’ and along with them the power brush with multiple attachments, including a tiny one which makes the toothbrushes unnecessary!

3x bleach and 3x plastic window cleaner (unused) and shoe polish unused too. going to have to use them now

Last week I removed everything from the cupboard underneath the sink as we are having a new boiler fitted, and thought the fitter may need to do some work in there.

I placed everything in old shopping bags; like everyone else there was lots of Fairy liquid, Cif, bleach etc. There was even a Flash Magic eraser, which I had forgotten I had bought.

Later on in the afternoon the company phoned and apologised that they couldn't come the next day as the boiler was damaged and couldn't be fitted. They have made another appointment to call later this week.

We have been trying to find all the items in whichever plastic bag they were placed.

JackyB when my son was a plumber and had to repair leaks under the sink, it used to drive him mad to have to empty all the stuff in there before he could start working. He would say”women know I have to go under the sink so why can’t they empty everything out first”. He had a point.

annodomini

So far, three different floor cleaning products and two leather conditioning kits. For laundry: an Eco Egg and some mysterious 'seeds'? as well as the capsules I've recently been using. Some rationalising is needed. Oh, that's just the first quarter...

Your eco egg plus seeds is for washing your laundry. The seeds last for dozens of washes and you donrpt need to buy additional detergent.

I "preempted" this post and cleared mine out about 2 months ago after DH had been rummaging for something. 4 bottles of disinfectant spray,3 of Cif and dishwasher tablets, rinse aide
endless e clothes and sponge scourers all unused. Kept when I had not found the no substitute button on the supermarket delivery and when there was a shortage.
I bought a set of plastic drawers for the garage we have very little storage, only to find him yesterday with everything out again I had forgotten to tell him about the drawers and where they were tucked away.
Our other cubby hole was the side of the airing cupboard, we had work done in there two weeks ago and I thought I had emptied it only for the plumber to find at the back a huge pair of men's thermal long Johns. he joked as my husband is of slight stature I could sell them on E bay. We are still trying to work out where they came from, obviously, the previous owner but that was 10 years ago they must have been lodged behind the tank as I had cleared the cupboard out quite a few times.

I found a spiralizor...bought many years ago and used twice. Will I ever use it do you think? Do you use yours?

Ours was cleared out last December, along with every other cupboard before the kitchen was gutted and replaced. It took only a few months before ‘stuff’ started accumulating again, now I have to jiggle various bottles around to get them in and shut the door, scandalous!

My cleaner has just done mine and found 6 poddle brushes - all new!