Decluttering Hair Accessories I Don’t Actually Use

January 13, 2026

This week’s episode is a short, real-life declutter focused on hair accessories — clips, headbands, bobby pins, bandanas, and a few “why do I even have this?” items. Jeni starts with a small carryover bin from a recent office declutter and decides to keep going with a second small container from the bathroom. You’ll hear her talk through quick decisions, honest hesitation, and why it’s okay to keep something “for now” and revisit it later. By the end, one bin is completely empty, several items are donated or tossed, and everything that’s staying has a clear home. A perfect example of how small, manageable tasks add up — without pressure or perfection.

Episode Transcript

LMIM Podcast Intro
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Less Messin Minutes. I'm Jenny, your gentle guide to Tiny Doable Decluttering. Each episode we tackle one small thing together, a drawer, a shelf, a bag, and I walk you through what I'm doing in real time. No pressure, no perfection. Just a few minutes that help your home feel lighter. So grab something to tidy or just listen along and let's make a little progress together.

Okay?

Today I am going to declutter hair accessories. This is a bit of a carryover from a couple weeks ago when I tidied up the office and I had a, um, a little container in the office that had some hair accessories in it, and I've just been staring at it. I put it in the bathroom. Um, but it just, I don't even need this stuff.

I know I don't. So I grabbed that container. And I'm gonna go through it. [00:01:00] And then I also had another small container in the bathroom that had just a few other hair clips and things in it. So I thought I'd just tackled both of those today. So the first thing I'm gonna do is empty out each container, and I'm going to group the items by type.

Okay, I've got the larger container emptied and things in categories, and now I'm gonna go ahead and tackle the smaller container.

both containers are now empty. So what I have, I [00:02:00] have two bandanas that have the tags on them. Still, they've, they've never been worn or anything. Um, I have a shower cap, two headbands, three hair clips. a bunch of bobby pens, a comb, um, some clips that I don't, they're like more for putting, pulling your hair back while you're like flat ironing things like that.

a hair tie, two attachments that go to a hairdryer. And one super snazzy hot pink, sweat band straight out of like the eighties. as I'm looking at this stuff, I haven't used anything here in forever, with the exception of the little clips that sometimes I'll pull my hair back when I'm flat ironing.

So I've got four of those. I think I'm gonna keep those. So I'm gonna go ahead and put them back [00:03:00] in the smaller bin so they're out of the way.

Then I have three other like decorative hair clips and I just never like the way my hair looks in them. So I don't think that I'm gonna keep any of those.

So I'm gonna put all those off to the side. Actually, I'm gonna pull one back. This, there's one that I may end up keeping, but the two smaller ones, my hair's just way too long and thick for that to even work. So I'm gonna put those to the side. the headbands I have, I got these more for when my hair was in the growing out stage because a lot of times I wear my hair super short, I'm not really a headband person.

So I think I'm gonna put those to the side as well. The hair tie I'll absolutely use and I'll just keep it. Um, I have like a little hook in the bathroom cabinet where I will put that. So it's with the others, the sweat band. I'm not sure where we got this. [00:04:00] And I don't think we need it. So that's gonna leave.

We have enough combs. I don't need an extra comb.

Every couple years I buy Bobby pins and I have no idea why. I'm terrible with Bobby pins. They just, they don't work well in my hair and it looks pretty ridiculous. But should I keep these, why did I buy them? I don't know. I mean, if I needed new ones, I could go get them for, you know, three or four books.

Maybe I'll just, mm,

I don't know. All right. I'm gonna put that to the side and think about it. Okay. And then I've got the two pieces that go to a hairdryer. I gotta be honest, I've never known what these things do, these attachments, I've never used them, and I don't know that I'm gonna start I'm not going to keep [00:05:00] them, but now I'm wondering do I like donate them or do I just toss them?

This one of these pieces is really big. I don't know if it came with the blow dryer or if I bought it separately. Okay. Well, I know I'm not gonna keep 'em, so I'm gonna put 'em to the side.

And then the shower cap, this is a really nice shower cap. I'm sure it didn't cost a lot of money. and it's not very often that I need a shower cap. Okay. Kind of like ever that I need a shower cap, but it seems like something that wouldn't be terrible to keep. hmm.

Well, so I know I'm already getting rid of the bandanas, the headbands, the super snazzy, um, sweat band, the comb and two of the hair clips. I think I'm gonna go ahead and keep [00:06:00] the shower cap for now. Is it the right decision? I don't know, but it doesn't take up that much space and I'm hesitating and I just don't wanna get rid of it quite yet, so I'm gonna keep it.

And then as far as these Bobby pins go, I just never reach for them. It just seems so silly to keep them. I think what I'll do, I've got maybe. Eight or 10, uh, maybe closer to a dozen that are just loose. And then I've got some that are still on, like the plastic card. So I think I'm gonna go ahead and keep, I'll keep the loose ones for now as just kind of a, just in case thing.

and I'll put them with the other hair clips that I'm keeping. And then the next time I go through this, if I haven't used them, then I'll go ahead and get rid of the rest. I think I'll do the same thing with the shower cap. So I'm going to, like I said, I'm gonna keep it for now and then [00:07:00] this won't be the last time that I go through bathroom stuff.

So I'll just kind of make a mental note. Okay, you kept it last time, did you actually use it? And if I didn't, then I'll part with it.

So what I'm gonna do now is just go ahead and put the things that I'm keeping back. So I've got this really small container that lives in the bathroom cabinet above the toilet, and so I'm gonna put the bobby pins in there. I already put the clips that I use when I'm flat ironing my hair in there, The only other thing I'm gonna add is the, would you call it a, it's not a banana clip. I don't know what kind of clip it is, but the more decorative clip that I'm keeping, I'm gonna put that in the small container. Also, the shower cap is gonna have to live someplace else because it's too big [00:08:00] for the little container that I have.

So I'll find a home for that elsewhere, but still in the bathroom. So now what I need to do is figure out what I'm gonna do with these other items. So the bandanas that haven't been used and that still have the tags, I'm gonna donate. That's an easy one. I think I'm going to, I mean, these headbands really haven't been worn or have rarely been worn, so I think I'm gonna put those in my donate pile as well.

Okay, so there were two other clips that I'm not keeping. One I'm gonna throw away because it's kind of junky. Like it just, it looks like it's not even quite right. So I'm gonna get rid of it, but I'm gonna donate the other one. I am gonna go ahead and donate the bobby pins as well because they're still on the plastic card.

I am going to throw away the comb.

[00:09:00] I am gonna go ahead and throw away the sweatman too.

It doesn't look like it's been used, but I don't know where it came from and it just doesn't seem like a, a thing that I'd wanna donate. And then the accessories to the hairdryer, man, I'm inclined to donate them, but are they just gonna throw it away? Do they take accessories? I don't know.

I think what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna Google that, see if that's something that I should put in my donate, and if it is, then I'll donate it. But otherwise I'm just gonna pitch it. Like I said, this one is, this one accessory piece is really big, and might be worth donating, but I'm not sure about this smaller piece, so I will do a quick Google search on that.

See what it tells me. And then I'll decide from there. Okay.

Okay. I did some Googling on the hairdryer [00:10:00] accessories and I decided not to donate them. They might take them, but it sounds like it's better if it's part of a full set with the hairdryer and the hairdryer I'm keeping. So, am gonna go ahead and pitch those accessories.

The other thing I forgot to mention that, um, I had in the container was some manuals for, both the hair dryer and, my flat iron I've never looked at them and I don't need them. So I'm gonna go ahead and put those in my recycle bin. This was a really small but very satisfying task because I was able to empty the larger bin completely and get several things out of the smaller bin.

I'm gonna feel good about donating a few of these things. I've got things to recycle. A few things to toss, which I'm, you know, on the fence about 'cause I do. Prefer to donate when I can, and [00:11:00] then the shower cap is gonna be one of those items that I'm gonna see if I use it. And if I don't, then the next time I go through this process in the bathroom, I will absolutely get rid of it.

Okay, just remember, you can always do things in stages. You don't have to do the entire bathroom or the entire kitchen at once, or your entire closet can always break things down into small tasks to keep it manageable to, to keep you moving forward.

Thanks for joining me for today's small declutter. If you enjoyed our time together, I would love for you to follow the podcast so you never miss a little momentum boost. And if you'd like to learn more about me, you can check out my website, savvy spaces organizing.com. Until next time, my friend, take a breath, take a small step, and take good care of yourself.