Lately, almost everything I buy comes with instruction manuals. Do you find the same? Even simple garments come with washing instructions. How do you store all that information? Well, here’s what I ask myself…
- Do I really need to know this stuff?
- Will I still need to know it after the first wash of the garment, the seasoning of the pan, the setting up of the appliance?
- Can I find the information easily elsewhere, either online or in other instructions I’ve kept?
- If I decide to keep these instructions, do I need them in other languages?
- If I decide to keep these instructions, where will I keep them?
The answer to Question 5 is generally, it depends. It depends on why I’m keeping them and how often I need to refer to them. Here are some examples…
- My car manual lives in the glove box of my car. It wouldn’t do much good in a filing cabinet or kitchen drawer.
- My microwave rice cooker manual was several pages long, in several languages and included washing instructions which I don’t need. But I do need and use the quantities guide and cooking instructions every time I use it. So I tore out the one page I need, laminated it and it lives inside the rice cooker, ready for action. Or I could have pasted it into my display folder recipe collection.
- Special garment washing instructions live in a special spot in the laundry until no longer required.
- Other manuals which I keep for now include the oven and dishwasher, the heater and airconditioner. They are rarely required but don’t take much space in my big house, and live in a drawer in my kitchen. (I’ll let you know if that changes when I move to a smaller place.)
What instructions do you keep? And how and where do you keep them?
