Comments on: Organizing Those Manuals – Find it Friday

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:50:39 +0000

@Peter – this post might help you out: http://www.declutterit.com/2008/05/23/file-drawer-storage-for-warranty-information/

By: Peter Smith

Peter Smith — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:06:28 +0000

My question is this… how to sort these? We have a stack of manuals that’s close to three feet thick (we run a resort and farm). What do people use for different categories?

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:13:32 +0000

I meant to say the “oven” was so fancy, lol!

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:12:52 +0000

Great ideas everyone! I also have referenced my manuals on a number of occasions. yes, even for the microwave.

When we moved into our house, the previous owner saved all the manuals and receipts for the appliances that were left behind. Those have been a life saver. The over was so fancy I had no idea how to use it. But thanks to the manual, I’ve been able to figure it out!

By: ~Amy

~Amy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:30:35 +0000

I file my in a filing cabinet.
~Amy

By: Leslie

Leslie — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:14:25 +0000

I keep all of my manuals in an accordion file stashed in the cabinet of our entertainment center. Always very accessible.

By: Scrapangel

Scrapangel — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:42:47 +0000

Instead of punch holes in thick manuals you can store manuals in expanding sheet protectors available for 8-1/2 x 11 documents. I got some from Keepfiling . com They worked fine for me.

By: The Chatty Housewife

The Chatty Housewife — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:02:57 +0000

I have them organized in ziplock bags in an extra kitchen drawer (I know! No one ever has those, but we don’t have kids yet…) One for large appliances, one for smaller appliances and other household items. Works for us! I like the binder idea, but how do you three hole punch something so thick?

By: tink

tink — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:01:52 +0000

Heh, I did keep my microwave manual and dug it out to learn how to set it to do two different power settings for two different times without having reset in between cycles.. (yes, I’m weird)

I keep my appliance manuals, power tool manuals and machinery manuals in a binder, but I keep them in page protectors – it never even crossed my mind just to hole punch them. DUH Tink!

Thanks for the idea!

I also photo copy the original receipt (some store receipts fade to nothing in about 6 months) and staple both copies to the manual just in case I need them for warranty purposes. Came in really handy when our LCD big screen tv started showing shadows on the screen 4 DAYS before the warranty expired..whew

By: gecko

gecko — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:34:10 +0000

A couple of thoughts:

Do you really need the manual? Plenty of things come with manuals, but not everythign needs one. For example, your microwave. Will you dig out the manual to learn how to use the meat defroster button?

Consider finding an electronic version of the manual right away. You can often find a downloadable version on the manufacturer’s website or at least a link to bookmark.