How to rid yourself of old furniture

Whether you’re relocating, refreshing your home with new furnishings or appliances, you are likely going to have to rid yourself of old furniture somehow. Disposing of large, unwanted items is difficult since you can’t simply kick them to the curb. That old ripped up the couch, the refrigerator that doesn’t cool anymore, or the old grandma’s chairs taking up space in the basement. Can you just throw them out next to the container and expect waste management to make it disappear?  Many people have asked this question while renovating their houses, in the midst of replacing the plumbing system. The trash that doesn't fit in the garbage bin was everywhere and the projects were piling up. Hire move in and move out cleaning services that can take care of everything so you don't have to carry a heavy load or worry about it. We will take you through additional tips to help you rid yourself of old furniture. We promise these tips will save you some of the time and hassle of worrying about how to dispose of bulk waste.

1. Find out if your local scrap yard accepts large items

Find out if your garbage company accepts oversized items. Then you can simply place them at the curb on designated trash day. They usually don’t, but in some areas, you might get lucky and they will take bulk scrap to the dump. Try to find that info on their website. But if their website is non-existent or not detailed enough, you can always call. What you don’t want to happen is leave a couch on the curb only to have the collectors simply pass by it. Then you’ll just have to drag the item back to your property. 

Sometimes you can call and schedule a special bulk pickup to rid yourself of old furniture

But the price point for this will be at around $50-$75 which is not something you should pay, especially if you declutter annually. Sometimes they’ll even take bulky items placed on the curb, but never appliances or anything with electrical parts. In some places, you can pay to rid yourself of old furniture by your waste management. They would pick it up on your normal collection day at $10 per item. But, it is only for easily disposed of things like mattresses, tables and so on. You also have private companies that specialize in garbage removal. Again, though, this is a service with that costs probably more than you will be willing to pay.

2. If you’re replacing the old with the new, ask if the old stuff can be hauled away

If a company will be delivering new furniture or appliances to your address, many times those guys are willing to haul away the old stuff at no extra charge. This is usually the practice with large appliances like refrigerators, laundry machines, etc. Be sure to ask them or read the fine print with arrangements of Hawaii moving companies. You can even call the company before delivery to see if they can make any special allowances. This arrangement is less likely when it comes to furniture deliveries, but if you offer cash to delivery guys maybe you can talk them into taking the old stuff.

3. List the item online, no matter what they look like

This is our favorite way to rid yourself of old furniture. No matter how old and icky your old stuff maybe, you wouldn’t believe what kind of things you can sell online. This is a way to save money while moving or renovating. Be warned, ironically, if you list things for free, you’re more likely to get irresponsible people. They could not show up to pick up the item or never return your emails. Anecdotally, it’s probably for the better to put a price on things — even if you are listing an old toilet that only kind of works. Set the price very low though. This has become our first choice for getting rid of bulky items that cannot fit in a trash bin. List the oversized stuff on Craigslist and Facebook, and maybe even make a few extra bucks on it.

4. To rid yourself of old furniture, kick it to the curb - with a “free” sign on 

If you are an urban dweller in a very busy town, the easiest way for you to rid yourself of old furniture is to leave it out on the curb with a “free” sign on. By the time you come back inside to check on it from the window, it will be gone. However, this trick doesn’t always work. It can definitely be useful at times, but only with certain items. You actually only want to do this with reasonably-sized items. Armchairs, cupboards and cabinets, moderately-sized tables, etc. If you put something bigger than that on the curb, people driving by won’t be able to load it in their vehicle. It rarely happens that people walking by can pick up a large item and carry it for blocks and blocks to their home when they were on their way to a date or something like that.

Drivers passing by is what you’re going for. You also want a high-traffic location for the same reason.

When you use this tactic, you can only try to give it a few days, if not less. Anything more and you’ll be tagged for life as the neighborhood outside. If you’ve left something out on the curb and it didn’t help getting rid of old stuff, try another tactic after 1-2 days.

5. In order to rid yourself of old furniture, the most beautiful way is to donate it

In order to rid yourself of old furniture in large cities, try asking at your local thrift shops like Goodwill, Salvation Army, Arc, and others. They pick up donations for free, but only if they’re in good condition. That old toilet that only sort of works is not acceptable. But Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore will even take appliances, toilets, etc. We appeal to your good judgment here. Don’t use Goodwill as a dump site. Only call them if you have something that’s in good shape and could help someone.