dwysky's Profile

Rfleischer, what about getting those vacuum storage bags? They are supposed to smoosh down and flatten everything. I do know that they can leak or get a tiny hole, which then causes the seal to break. I've seen two kinds - one you use with the vacuum and one you actually roll the bag to compress the air out. Try looking them up on Amazon and reading the different reviews. I have a few that have maintained their seal and it's kind of nice having several sweaters in a flat little bag. And I can see through the bag so I know what's in there. I've always wondered - if you manage to flatten the stuff in bags and then store those bags in a plastic bin that locks, then even if the bags "give up," the stuff can only expand as far as the bin allows. Anyway, may be wroth a try because when they *do* work, they really do allow more stuff to be stored in a small amount of space.
Hopefully the bed risers will help you. And my folks put bed risers under their couch legs, too. (Made the couch a better height for them to get up with their bad knees.) Wouldn't work with all couch styles but worth a try and then you can slide under-bed boxes there, too.
Good luck!

I clean our toaster with the vacuum cleaner! I put the narrow attachment on the end of the hose and unplug the toaster. I shake out the crumbs as described above, then immediately suck them up from the counter. I gently run the nozzle along the top edge and the bottom. I find that it works well because if the crumbs are loose, it doesn't take much for them to be lifted away. I definitely don't put the vacuum *in* the toaster or allow it to touch the coils (I don't think it would fit). It's very satisfying to watch all that debris zip away. Since the vacuum parts cover a lot of ground, I finish up by wiping everything down with a cleaning cloth. (Using sanitizing cleaner on the vacuum before starting would work too.)