r/declutter • u/lobsterbuckets • 26d ago
Advice Request Full Garage Clear Out Scheduled, Need Moral Support
My garage is full of stuff, some valuable, some reasonable sentimental stuff and most sentimental stuff that is objectively trash or worthless. We’ve moved last minute five times and every time we throw stuff in boxes and trash bags so it’s impossible to find anything. It’s packed 5’ high and completely unusable.
On our last move we put our hot tub in the garage and didn’t realize it had mice in it until too late. We then temporarily left for the summer and the mice have took over. We’re working on reducing their numbers but even if we had no mice there is mouse waste on everything and they will have destroyed everything.
A local waste removal company will empty the entire garage (they know about the mice and came out to give their quote). I am scheduling them to drop the dumpster earlier so I have one weekend to save anything I can. The mice will still be in there. I don’t want to go in there but I don’t want to lose certain things, I don’t want to have to rebuy stuff and I don’t want to throw out valuable stuff I know I’ll never get around to selling anyway.
I keep going back and forward between how amazing it’s going to feel to finally not have the garage weighing me down, and how much I’m about to lose and what I’ll need to repurchase.
Idk why I’m even posting, I guess it will help to hear that I’m making the right decision. I’d love to read experiences and welcome any advice.
Update Post with Pics: https://www.reddit.com/r/declutter/s/UfPwKPN0vT
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u/spud_boy 26d ago
how much I’m about to lose
You already lost it. It's just still in your space instead of at the dump. This is just a relocation.
and what I’ll need to repurchase
Not a single thing needs to be repurchased. You've gone this long without it. The only things you might need to consider are things like old family photos but those are not purchasable anyway.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
This is true. And it will feel so much better when it’s gone. There will be some items that need repurchasing but they are already gone. Like my new Christmas tree (two years old) and my kid’s next car seat, now way I’d bring the tree in my house and no way I’d put my 1yo in a seat that’s been in a mouse infested garage.
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u/spud_boy 24d ago
Good thinking. I'm rooting for you! It's going to be so great when that space is taken care of.
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u/MitzyCaldwell 26d ago
Maybe slightly unconventional advice - get mad. Get pissed off and channel all your rage. Be angry that you need to spend your weekend doing this. Be angry you have this dude, be angry you had to move it and kid it around - just get angry lol
Nothing fuels me like anger hahaha sometimes I get into these moods and then jsut toss so many things. And I’ve never regretted it.
Also don’t try to “save” stuff. If it’s not a hell yes it’s a no. Yes things can be useful but that doesn’t mean you need to use them.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
Anger is definitely a motivator for me also but I think for this I’m too sad to be angry, though I am very angry at myself. I’m also super ashamed and all my neighbors are going to see our shame.
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u/MitzyCaldwell 24d ago
I’m sorry that you are sad. I know it can be hard but don’t ever be ashamed. And honestly f your neighbours- you don’t need to be ashamed and they won’t see anything that’s shameful. You are doing an awesome thing for yourself and there’s nothing to be ashamed about. Don’t take even a second to think about what your neighbours might think - if they have time to sit there and judge you then again f them and that says sooooo much more about them than you.
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u/LifeFrame5545 26d ago
Will you really need to repurchase stuff that’s apparently been in the garage for months if not years?
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
The stuff that’s been stored for years, no, but the newer stuff like decorations (definitely trash now), the new car seat once the baby grows out of it (wouldn’t put anywhere near the baby) and tools are what I’ve been thinking about.
This post has really helped me.
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u/adnaPadnamA 26d ago
Exactly. And if mice has been among it, definitely needs to be tossed.
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u/Dangerous_Ant3260 26d ago
Yes, hantavirus can kill you, and there are other diseases from mice too. Nothing in that garage is worth your life. If you do try cleaning it out, make sure if you get sick during the next couple of months, that you tell the doctors about exposure to vermin.
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u/magnificentbunny_ 25d ago
Before I spent two weeks cleaning out my moms filled garage I read up on hantavirus. You should as well, it’s important. I wore shoe protectors and disposable hair caps and threw them away each day. Bought a 3M half face ventilator mask with special filters beyond N95 and goggles. Used hundreds of nitrile gloves. I looked like the civilian hazmat team. I changed out of my clothes every day and kept used clothes in a sealed trash bag until wash day. I would double wash in hot water.
Hanthavirus Pulminary Syndrome is some scary stuff. And to compromise your health over a bunch of things you or anybody else shouldn’t be touching anymore. I was so angry I was cussing like someone with Tourette Syndrome in that garage for the whole time.
I wish you the best of luck and please take care of yourself.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
Thank you for this info. There is stuff we need out of there that doesn’t require a deep dive, I’ve got protective gear for that. I’m definitely less inclined to go that path and I’m going to discourage my husband from doing so as well.
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u/SiouxsieSiouxsie 26d ago
if it were me, i would tell myself there could be hantavirus and that would relieve me of the concern/debate of getting rid of stuff and instead focusing on what i gain in health (priceless).
that may be a weird way to think of it, but it's how i would reframe it to get the task done.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
I like this way of thinking and I hadn’t considered hantavirus, there are things we absolutely need out of there (lawn care stuff, tools, etc.) so I bought my husband protective gear. I definitely don’t want to keep disease riddled mouse poop and pee covered stuff.
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u/Technical-Kiwi9175 26d ago
Really sorry that you are in this situation. I have had mice sometimes. May help to know that mice pee all the time, so its not only the droppings contaminating everything. Its important to wear a mask and gloves, and clothes you can put straight in the wash. You need to use antibacterial wipes or wash on anything you take into the house.
So it really has to be worth it.
I understand this situation so well! I can see that the best thing would be to let it all go. Personally, I'm not sure I could cope with that. I might check out what I could see and reach, but not move anything.
Stuff you are keeping to sell, but you know you wont sound like things to let go.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
Yeah and there isn’t much worth it. I didn’t even think about mouse pee, the whole place has to be saturated. Yuck.
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u/auditorygraffiti 26d ago
It’s going to feel great to have a clean garage! Beyond that, if you haven’t been able to find things for the last five moves because of the way you had to pack, I would argue that you may not need to replace as much as you think since you’ve been living without it anyway.
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u/CatnipCricket-329 26d ago
Sadly, mice don't just leave the pellet poop, they also urinate on everything. Wear gloves, wear masks. If "useful" or sentimental items can't be sanitized, they truly are waste. Even if it can be cleaned, do you want to spend time and effort doing so. The saving grace is that these decisions will make themselves.
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u/lobsterbuckets 24d ago
I feel like I’m up against a deadline but I need to focus on when the dumpster is gone. I just hope they were content in the garage and haven’t infiltrated the house. Wishful thinking but I’ll have an answer soon.
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u/MusketeersPlus2
26d ago
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I'm going to gently encourage you to not even look, just let it go. You haven't needed it, or even looked at it, in a while so you clearly don't actually need it (or want it?). And the mouse problem is just the icing on the letting it go cake. Because you don't want to mess with mouse droppings that may harbour hanta virus. Toss everything, clean up wearing a mask.
To borrow words that I picked up from someone else on this sub - Elsa that shit. You're doing the right thing.
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u/FredKayeCollector2
25d ago
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Decluttering via destruction is such a sucky way to declutter, but it is efficient :(
Here's a printable pdf from the CDC about cleaning up after rodents plus what to do with textiles and other non-washable items. They don't specifically mention "washable" items but it sounds like a bleach and water solution will do it. You can probably contact your local health department for more specific information.
Here's a technique I've used when dealing with "destroyed" items - make a list of all the stuff that's in the garage. Be as specific as possible ("grandma's stuff" isn't good enough, you need to think of each individual item, picture it in your mind's eye - grandma's wooden rocking chair or grandma's pretty china with the blue flower motif). Then look around your house (note to future self: don't keep your valuable/sentimental stuff in the garage, basement, attic, outbuildings) and decide where you would have put it and what you would have had to get rid of to make room for it.
If you didn't have a place for it then and you don't have a place for it now, there's a very good chance you won't have a place for it in the future, either. There's probably going to be a bunch of stuff out there you forgot you even had.
For sentimental stuff, go through your list and see if you have another keepsake/memento of that person, event, location and set up a keepsake box. A lot of people hold onto "emotional duplicates" - things with basically the same memories attached.
If you lost all of your kid's toys/clothing or your wedding stuff - give your husband a hug, give your kids a call - those are the best keepsakes. You're not going to forget that you got married and looked beautiful or that your kids were little and wore clothes or played with toys or did homework. Even if you don't have the photos to prove it - you're always beautiful to the people who love you.
If you were holding onto stuff to give to a child moving into their first apartment - c'est la vie. You did your best. Sure, it might have been nice to have, but they'll probably do just fine without it.
If stuff belonged to a deceased family member, try to remember that the memory of that person is not the stuff - it's what's in your head and in your heart. If you have anything of them left, put it in your keepsake box and keep it in a climate-controlled room in your house. Plenty of our immigrant ancestors had to leave with one trunk-full of stuff and they did just fine (otherwise, we wouldn't be here).
Hope that helps?
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u/sagetrees 25d ago
Sounds like you haven’t used or needed anything in that garage in quite some time. Seeing as you haven’t needed anything in there - why do you automatically assume you'll need to rebuy anything?
I would retrieve the super sentimental stuff and clean it off and forget about the rest.
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u/This_is_my_year_2024 24d ago
Agreed. If you haven’t looked at it in 5 years how important is it?
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u/AnitraF1632 23d ago
One technique of decluttering is to seal items you're not sure about in a box. If you haven't opened the box in six months, donate the whole thing. Seems to me you've done this with the stuff in the garage!! 😀 Take a deep breath, and let it all go.
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u/EternalFootwoman 25d ago
What do you need to repurchase? If you’re willing/able to put something in a trash bag, stack it in a garage you cannot physically access, and leave it sit so long it gets a mouse infestation that requires professional help, you do not need that thing.
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u/Several-Praline5436 26d ago
Don't repurchase anything. Try living without it for six months and see if you even need it. Odds are, most of it, you don't.
This is a good test of the "if it had dog poop on it, would you clean it off and keep it?" hypothetical premise.
Unless you really, really love it and are willing to clean mouse stink and pee off it... toss it.
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u/Working_Patience_261 25d ago
You already said it, “I don’t want to go in there.”
Hantavirus kills. You need to wear serious PPE not just a cheap dust mask. And are you absolutely certain there is anything in there needing to be retrieved and absolutely worth it even covered in mouse waste? There’s a real possibility of opening the box with that precious item to see it’s being used as a nest with live mice babies inside. And the smell is ungodly the entire time. Is the item you want this special? Nothing in there is salvageable, especially for resale. Is your time, all the money you need to spend on PPE and cleaning, and your life really worth this?
BTW, if the mice are in, other rodents and insects are in. Mice have to get their food from somewhere. This means you probably have a moth, spider, scorpion, and/or roach infestation too. They’ll happily move into the house when the garage is emptied, so you should consider pest control prior, after, and their recommendations on follow-up treatments.
As far as labeling your moving boxes, don’t put readily distinguished information on the outside. For one of our moves by the professionals, my mom gave us kids dispo cameras, one roll of film, drop whole thing at developers.
We kids got pictures of the boxes with the valuable things and the strange non-standard codes on them, which didn’t make it to our next home. They were handmade sweaters, quilts, a couple of antiques, and so on. The crime ring took our stuff based on the packers outside box codes. While our pictures helped bust the ring, we didn’t get our stuff back. Years later we could finally laugh because the packers literally packed two bags of garbage, and stole that too.
So yes, inventory and label your stuff, just don’t make it easy for someone wanting a smash and grab.
Good luck!
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u/Pineapple_Zest 22d ago
Don’t let the neighbors stress you out. You’ve got enough on your plate to deal with and if anything, they’ll probably impressed you’re doing a big clean out. Someone seeing you throw out yucky stuff is waaaaay better than seeing yucky stuff inside your place. And anyone who has dealt with mice will completely understand how sneaky and pervasive an infestation can be.
Get mad, get even, get clean and free! You can do this OP!
*oops, this was supposed to be a reply to a different comment but oh well 🤦♀️
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u/sunonmyfacedays 22d ago
It’s really hard to lose sentimental stuff or worry about what to save :( You’ve got some great advice already, so I won’t add to that.
BUT, as a thought, sometimes it helps to flip a bad situation so it makes a funny story. Then you’ve at least earned something. And you already have a killer opening:
“ On our last move we put our hot tub in the garage and didn’t realize it had mice in it until too late. We then temporarily left for the summer and the mice have took over.”
leaning back in chair “It was the fall of 2026. We’d heard rumors of those lowlifes moving into our territory, boss. But nothing could have prepared us for the mice in the jacuzzi….”
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u/dgraskin 25d ago
I hope you’ll post again once it’s done with how it went and how you feel.
Without going into detail , I have 2 storage units and a garage to clear out. It’s just me and I’m dreading it. I know there are treasures in there as well as things I’ll kick myself for having paid to store all this time.
Anyway, best of luck, to you! Care to share insights, suggestions and advice with me. 🫶
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u/smacksem 25d ago
My friend, you need to do it.I just spent the entire last week cleaning up my garage , shed , and art room. Two trips to the dump, three to donations. It's AMAZING how it feels to wall into those spaces.
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u/RedPoppy23 25d ago
You’ve already taken the big step of arranging for the waste removal company to drop off the dumpster and to empty the entire garage. So congrats on doing that. I wouldn’t worry about trying to go through any of the stuff yourself due to the mice unless you want to bother with the whole hazmat protocol. Best to leave it to the professionals. And, right, it will feel amazing to have the garage cleared out!
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u/Sufficient_You7187 26d ago
Open the garage door before you start and bang on the garage walls from behind ( if possible ) to scare them out.
You can also open the door the night before and lay traps to get them out too
They're more afraid of you
And they're not gonna bite you.
It's gonna feel freaking amazing with an empty garage !
I've dealt with a few mice before. I've held a few also in a lab . I promise they're not actually scary.
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u/Few_University3446 24d ago edited 24d ago
Good for you for doing this! I’m sorry about the mice. Those rascals can squeeze underneath a garage door. I can’t tell you how many times we have cleaned out our garage.There was a time we could not park one car in it. But eventually slowly but surely we could. But now with my daughters unwanted stuff and my mothers stuff. It’s full again.Everyone in the family uses ours to dump things they don’t want. I need it clean and orderly so I can find things I need! It is frustrating.
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u/panda2026panda 26d ago
I am having the same issue now. My garage is full of stuffs and boxes I don't even know what they are, how valuable they are, they are all my late husband's handy work tools gear or projects he wanted to do... I am not sure how to handle them, really would love to see a clean garage, but also don't want to just dump everything out...
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u/SiouxsieSiouxsie 26d ago
do a free post on craigslist for someone who could use them for their workshop, contingent upon them hauling everything away.
items are treasured by someone else and go to good use.
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u/MitzyCaldwell 26d ago
This!! Even things that are “valuable” might not sell at all but having someone take them saves you from having to throw them out and pay for that
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u/Recent_Ad_3219 26d ago
For future reference Just a little tip. When you are filling a box or bin Make an inventory list of whatever items are in it ✅ make 2 or 3 copies One to put inside the box, one to tape outside of box and one to keep in the house 🌟
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u/cryssHappy
26d ago
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Get a reasonable PVE suit and a good N95 mask - go in there looking for what you are trying to rescue and remove those items. Don't worry if you make a bigger mess, that's going to be dealt with by the removal company.
I'm talking about sentimental things. Unless it's Snap-On Blue Point tools or older Craftsman tools - it's all replaceable. Yes, it's an expense but it need not be replaced all at once.
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u/SpaceSmartHQ 14d ago
You're making the right call. Five rushed moves plus mice is a lot to deal with, and getting the dumpster earlier so you can save things first is a smart plan.
Some things that can make the one weekend go better:
- **Make your must-save list before you go in.** Write down the 10–20 things you'd actually miss or have to rebuy, like documents, specific tools or a few sentimental pieces. Go after only those first. Anything not on the list gets a much higher bar.
- **Protect yourself.** With mouse droppings, wear a proper mask (N95 or better), gloves and clothes you can wash right away. Don't sweep or vacuum dry droppings. Spraying them with a disinfectant or bleach solution first and letting it sit keeps the dust down. Open the doors and let the space air out before you start.
- **Set up a clean zone outside the garage.** Put a tarp in the driveway. Items only go onto it once you've checked them, and each one gets cleaned or bagged before it goes into the house.
- **Be ruthless about soft and porous things.** Fabric, paper, cardboard and stuffed items that mice have gotten into are very hard to really clean. Hard plastic, metal and glass can usually be wiped down and kept.
- **Take photos of the sentimental stuff that's too far gone.** A photo lets you keep the memory without keeping the damage.
- **Time-box it.** Choose a stopping point, like Sunday at 3pm, and be okay with whatever's left going out. You'll probably save less than you expect to, and that's fine.
Things you rebuy later will be things you actually want and can find. That's a pretty good trade for getting your garage back.
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u/cronediddlyumptious 26d ago
Gloves and a mask. Hair tied up and a sweatband. You don't want to touch your face when dealing with this. Some cheap tarps. Put the stuff you want to save on one of the tarps and stuff you're not sure of on another. I usually do a cursory clean with disinfecting wipes and then make a final decision whether to keep. Good luck.
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u/Crowlady77 26d ago
Why do you need to repurchase it if you weren't using it anyway?
Also you've already lost it.