Hello my friend and welcome back! In today’s post, we are going to look at Spring cleaning for Preppers and just how it’s different for us than it is for others. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat while we visit.
For most people, Spring cleaning means going through all of their closets and garages to get rid of all of the things they no longer consider to be of any use to them. As Preppers, we take a somewhat different approach to this. So how is what we do different from non-Preppers? Well, for most of us, we go through all of our preps and check them for usefulness. The difference is we are looking for expiration dates on food we have stored and checking other items for dry rot and rust.
While other people are busy putting little tags on their items that are no longer of use, we are finding new ways to use what we already have. It is also a great time to inventory what we have and compile a list of things we still need to acquire. What makes things even better is that others are trying to get rid of perfectly good items that we can use and add to our preps. Yes I’m talking about that great American tradition of Garage Sales! With Spring comes the beginning of the garage sale season! Right now is a great time to find amazing deals on things that you may want to add to your preps. The money you can save on camping equipment and sausage making equipment is incredible. Non Preppers are always buying things like Smokers, Sausage making machines and meat grinders in the winter only to decide later that they really don’t like doing that kind of thing. Other things like hand tools and books as well as empty Mason Jars are yours for hardly anything if you only take the time to seek them out. Spring is the best time for these as people usually have more to sell and will part with it for less in the Spring. Don’t let it pass you by!
I am sorry, I sometimes get off subject, but back to the Spring cleaning shall we? So what else is different about Spring cleaning? First off, when most people are looking for things to get rid of, we are looking for ways to store more prepping items in the same amount of space. We sometimes get pretty creative when it comes to generating more storage room for our preps. There are many ways to condense your supplies without getting rid on anything. As I mentioned before however, be sure to check the expiration dates on your all of your preps and not just the food. Many Essential Oils have an expiration date on them and should be used before they expire. If they have expired you need to mark them for non medicinal use. You can use it to scent candles etc. Check the dates on all of your medical supplies to be sure they are still good. I’m talking about things like medication and safety gloves. They won’t do you any good if they fall apart when you try to use them or worse yet cause an infection by contaminating a wound or sore. Many people actually take the time to record the expiration date of each item on their inventory sheet to help them keep an eye on it. It’s a great idea and just takes a little extra effort to accomplish.
Check for vermin and make sure they haven’t chewed their way into any of your food stores or other items. Sadly this is a lesson that most Preppers have to learn the hard way. You would be amazed what they can get through and into when they really want too. Avoid the temptation to store food items in bags of any kind as they purpose no challenge to bugs and vermin at all. In case you are wondering, vacuum sealing food in bags does not keep the animals from smelling it. I made that mistake myself when I first started and it is a lesson I will never forget. All food items should be placed in a sealed metal case, a sealed 5 gallon bucket or a sealed heavy duty hard plastic container. Do not put it in anything in a light weight tote unless it is nonfood items. It just isn’t worth the chance of having it all ruined. Now, just as an interesting side note, back when I first started prepping, I had some mice get into my food storage container. The funny thing is they didn’t touch a single MRE in the supplies. They got into everything else but the MREs. Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Well that is it for today and I hope you enjoyed today’s post. It has been a pleasure visiting with you and I hope you come back soon. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared. God Bless America!
-The Sargent-
