Now that more donation centers are opening up after being closed during the pandemic, it’s a good time to open up those closets, attics, and basements to clean out and donate what you no longer use.

For those at the upper end of middle age and older, you may want to go a step further and undertake what is called Swedish Death Cleaning. Not the morbid process it seems to be, the big difference between Swedish Death Cleaning and regular cleaning is that you are not just organizing things for yourself, you are cleaning your home out for the people who will need to handle your estate when you’re gone.

By going through this kind of cleaning process, you not only make the decisions of what is important, but you also take notes of how you would like your belongings disposed of. With these instructions and guidance in hand, the process will be much simpler for the person cleaning out your home. Whether it’s a spouse, children, grandchildren, other family or friends, Swedish Death Cleaning is one of the last gifts we’re able to give those we love.

What are the benefits of Swedish Death Cleaning?

Cleaning up your home to make it easier for someone later has far more benefits than just after your death. Going this deep in a clean out also makes space for who you are now and can help you resolve lingering emotional connections that no longer serve you. By paring things down and releasing past experiences, you make more room in your home for your life now instead of just how it used to be.

You may also face the need to downsize down the road after an accident or illness when you won’t be as physically able to clean things out the way you would want. By undertaking the project when you are capable, you will put yourself in a far better position to make that move when the time comes.

What kinds of cleaning do I need to do?

When we are alive, it is easy to simply store things in a closet and forget about them or to know the history of an important object without anyone else knowing why it is important. By undertaking Swedish Death Cleaning, you’re making it easier for others to sort through your belongings and pass on family heirlooms when you’re gone.

If you are like most people, there are many items around your house you don’t use and likely don’t even remember you have. To make things easier for those coming after you, remove these things from your home now. This can include:

• Recycle old electronics you no longer use
• Gift items to those who would enjoy having them
• Donate old clothing
• Donate items you no longer use
• Trash items you can’t donate or recycle
• Any items you have been holding for your kids but they don’t want

After you have sorted through all your belongings and decided what to keep, make sure you take the final step of keeping all important documents in one easy to find location. Whether these are kept together in files or in a binder, the information ought to include:

• The stories of any family heirlooms, their location, and who they should go to
• Bank names, accounts, and passwords. If you’re the one in charge of paying bills, make sure you include all that information as well.
• A copy of your will
• Life insurance, auto insurance, and home insurance policy information
• Any other important information you think someone will need to have to complete your affairs such as burial information or funeral preferences.

These papers should be reviewed annually to make sure they are current and easily accessible to anyone who will need the documents in the case of your death or incapacitation.

Where do I start?

Like many large projects, Swedish Death Cleaning can feel overwhelming when looked at all together. Instead, break it down into specific areas, step by step. Among your list may be to clean out the basement, sort through the attic, or donate old clothes.

When picking which item on your list to begin with, choose the one with the least emotional impact. This may be cleaning out your closet, sorting through leftover containers in the kitchen, or recycling a pile of outdated electronics. By discarding items to which you don’t have a deep emotional connection, you experience early successes and can see the difference it can make. This will then inspire you to work on other areas that may not be as easy.

No matter what order you decide on, leave photographs, journals, and letters until last. By the time you are ready to work on sorting these, you will have lots of decision-making practice and will know better what you want to keep or pass on.

How much time will I need to do this?

Swedish Death Cleaning does not need to be done all at once. You can take your time over months or years– doing it bit by bit until the job is complete. Instead of looking at a whole room, you could instead tackle a corner or even a drawer. The next week, you can clean out the next corner or drawer.

When you have completed a goal – perhaps sorting through your kitchen or cleaning out a crowded closet – remember to reward yourself. Try not to make the reward a new belonging after already cleaning so many objects out of your home. Instead, try an activity or a special treat with those you love. Going to see a movie, eating ice cream, or taking a picnic to a local park can all be cherished experiences.

Need help with the cleanup?

Bio SoCal is always here to help whether you’ve come across biohazards or need a hoarded or cluttered home cleaned out. Simply give us a call and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free quote and consultation.

We all know people whose homes are filled to the rafters with things. Difficult to navigate, people are unable to discard their belongings and are ashamed to let us see inside their house. They may be a family friend, relative, neighbor, or even yourself, and you are wondering how to help them or change the way you yourself live. Are they hoarders? Are you?

What is hoarding?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “People with hoarding disorder excessively save items that others may view as worthless. They have persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to use their living or work spaces.”
There are several different types of items people hoard. Commonly hoarded items include:

• Paper (magazines, books, newspapers, cardboard, mail)
• Trash (empty cartons, scraps of food, broken items)
• Food (often expired and rotting)
• Animals (more animals than the person can truly care for, often resulting in urine and feces throughout the home)
• Bought items (items bought at stores but not used)
• Clothing (excess clothing beyond what a person can actually wear)

For all these types of items hoarded, or a combination thereof, the amount of material infringes on the daily life of the people who live in the home. Often cut off from their surrounding community due to shame, anger, or mental illness, many hoarders don’t get the help they need until legal action is taken.

What are the symptoms of hoarding?

Someone who hoards can be an issue by itself or be associated with another disorder such as obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, unresolved trauma, and/or depression. Hoarding may also run in the family and those raised in a hoarded home are at greater risk of hoarding themselves. Other symptoms include:

• Inability to throw things away
• Unorganized clutter in the home
• Not knowing what to keep and where things belong
• Ashamed of the home’s condition
• Aversion to anyone else touching their belongings
• Irrational fears of needing an item or accidentally throwing something away
• Loss of living space in the home
• The smell or urine and feces in the home (due to pests, animals, or lack of plumbing)
• Financial difficulties
• Mental illness
• Social isolation

In addition to the collection of items, hoarding usually involves a deteriorating structure as well due to poor upkeep and the shame associated with letting anyone in the home to fix a problem.

Why does a hoarder need help?

In a hoarded home, there is a lack functional living space along with unhealthy and unsafe conditions. A person who hoards would rather find workarounds to issues such as broken plumbing and electricity than hire a professional to enter their home and fix the problem. Hoarding is also often the bone of contention between the hoarder and their family, friends, and neighboring community. Ashamed of the condition of their home, they rarely let people to see inside of it so the condition can be far worse than generally believed. For people who live with the hoarder, it can cause depression, anxiety, and anger towards the hoarder. In the case of children, living in a hoarder’s home can also cause developmental issues.

Due to the sheer amount of belongs, a hoarded home is a dangerous place to live for anyone – human and animal alike. Between the teetering piles of belongings ready to fall, the inability of first responders to get in and maneuver around the home, poor air quality, rotten food, present fire hazards, and urine and feces, a person or animal living in a hoarded home is in great danger of falling ill or dying due to the hoard.

Am I a hoarder or collector?

Hoarding and collecting are two very different things and can sometimes be confused. Collectors are selective about what they add along with how much money they spend and they regularly cull their collection. They are also proud of each item and enjoy showing their collection to others.

Hoarders are ashamed of the items they’ve collected and don’t like other people to see them. They neither cull their collection nor keep track of how much money has been spent on it. All the items collected are unorganized and get in the way of their living space. Even a group of items that start as a collection can devolve into later acquired items no longer resembling the original purpose.
For example, a person who hoards books bring into their home whatever books come their way and never culls their collection. Over time, the books start overflowing from the shelves and onto the steps of the stairs, on top of surfaces, filling rooms, and get in the way of normal functioning in the home. The person hoarding them may also start gathering magazines, catalogues, and newsletters. For a collector, though, a person will carefully select which books to add to their library, regularly pull out books they no longer want, and proudly display their collection to others.

If your collection is infringing on your daily life and your ability to live in your home, then you may need help for hoarding. Even people who don’t fall into the category of hoarders but whose homes are cluttered can still benefit greatly from hiring help to clean the items out and start life anew in a clean space.

Are you ready to change your life?

If you’re ready to clean out your home and change your life or help someone you know through this process, we at Bio SoCal are here to help you and tailor a solution to your needs. We handle both clutter cleanup and hoarding cleanup. Call us 24/7 and we’ll answer any questions you have along with providing a free estimate.

Hoarding continues to grow at staggering rates, particularly as our US population ages. In fact, according to this article on hoarding facts, hoarding begins as early as 12 or 13 years old and worsens if not treated. Other studies suggest that if you grow up in a hoarded home you have a 50% a chance of becoming a hoarder as an adult.

For many years psychologists connected Hoarding to OCD, but, in the past few years , Hoarding was recognized and is now classified as its own condition, often times with OCD as an accompanying condition. Approximately 92% of people who hoard have co-occurring mental disorders.

This article from the National Geographic suggests that studies prove that the primary reasons for Hoarding are biologically based rather than psychologically based. I don’t have an opinion because I am not a doctor, but I can tell you from experience that hoarding, whether it is biological or psychological, or a combination of the two,  is very difficult for family and friends to help a hoarder that is convinced that they need all of the disposable debris (trash) or whatever it is they hoard.

Four keywords that are found when talking about Hoarding are: Indecisiveness, Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Avoidance. Yes, perfectionism believe it or not. As the article explains, it seems counterintuitive, but the theory is that they are failed perfectionists and have given up striving for perfection because nothing short of perfection is acceptable.

If you have a loved one or a friend that is a hoarder, there is help, but they have to want to be helped.  Otherwise a family member must take control of the situation before it’s too late and they are forced by authorities to either cleanup the cluttered home, or forced to leave.

Call Bio SoCal for a free estimate and let’s discuss how we can help recover the home and return it to a safe and healthy environment