Purging Before a Move? What You Can and Can't Donate

There are plenty of great Albany homes for sale. If you're looking to move, our real estate agents can help you find the best place for your needs. One thing you'll have to do yourself, though, is sorting through your belongings to decide what to pack up and bring with you and what to get rid of.

Preparing for a move is a great time to purge the items you no longer need, want, or use. But the question is, what do you do with the things you're getting rid of? When possible, you should donate them to avoid waste, rather than simply throwing them out. There are several places that take donations. However, not everything will be accepted by your local donation centers. Here's a basic overview of what you can and can't donate to keep in mind while you do your pre-move purge.

What You Can Donate

Clothes, of course, are almost always welcome donations. Most old clothing items can go to your local secondhand shop. If you have women's professional attire, such as blouses, skirts, and blazers, try giving them to Dress for Success, an organization that provides business clothing to women who are unemployed or low income to wear to job interviews. There's also Career Gear, a New York-based organization that provides a similar service for men.

Furniture is another great thing to donate. If you're redecorating your place with some new furniture items, most secondhand shops will take your old armchairs, dressers, tables, area rugs, etc., provided they're in decent condition. The same goes for most small household items. If you have a set of plates or bowls or an old electric mixer that you don't want to lug from one house to the other, drop it off at Goodwill or a similar store.

If you have food left in your pantry, you can donate that too. Bring any canned, boxed, or otherwise non-perishable food items to your local food bank before you move. This also applies to pet food, both canned and dry. Or if the food bank won't take them, bring them to your local animal shelter.

What You Can't Donate

Even if they're still in good condition, most donation centers won't take your used mattresses. Mattresses can harbor mold and pests, which could then spread through the rest of the center and the next owner.

You should also avoid donating outdated technology: your VCR and VHS tapes, your tube television, your cassette player and tapes, etc. Most people shopping for new appliances will be looking for DVD players, flatscreens, and CD players, and most secondhand shops carry those. There's very little market for the older stuff.

Likewise, you shouldn't donate anything that's broken, in poor condition, or otherwise unusable. How would you feel if you bought something from Goodwill, only to find that it didn't work?

Many of these items can be recycled. Look online to find recycling centers in your area and see if any of them will take the items you can't donate. Some items you may also be able to give away to friends.

However you choose to get rid of your old stuff, purging is an important part of the moving process. It allows you to go to your new home with a fresh start, bringing only the things you really need and care about, without letting old junk weigh you down. Contact us to help you find your new house and turn it into a home!