Do you keep all manuals?

[acmom]

I am reorganizing our office and realized a ton of our paperwork and clutter is manuals (for appliances-big and small, tech stuff, outdoor stuff, toys, etc.). I tried the binder and clear sheet protector system but there are still tons. Do you keep all manuals or figure you can download them if needed? Or do you just keep some?

[SnuggleBuggles]

No bc you can get most online. Only $$ stuff or tricky stuff do I keep them for now. I don't know why though bc I never look at them.

[KrisM]

I get rid of a lot. I keep them for bigger toys that we might sell. I keep them in bins by type and need to purge them this fall.

[basil]

I throw them out. Everything is online these days, IME. They're easier to find online than in my mess of a filing cabinet anyway.

[Sweetum]

I keep the ones for appliances that are attached to the house in case we sell. Others I download before throwing out just to be sure. I am a big believer of RTFM :)

[MommyAllison]

I do keep pretty much all of them, and refer back to them regularly enough that I'm glad I kept them. :)

[wendibird22]

We keep most and yes, we use the binder/sheet protector method. One binder has house "system" manuals (furnace, water heater, A/C, thermostat). One has outdoor items (tractor, lawn mower, weed trimmer, tools). One has appliances and electronics. One has kid gear and toys. Totally came in handy during our garage sale last month because we could put the manual for the PNP and swing, etc with the item. No one haggled us on price and when someone had questions about a feature, we had the manual handy. Carseat manuals live in the driver/passenger seat pocket of the car the seat is installed in (handy for reinstalls or adjusting harness height). We definitely don't keep them for small toys or something that is just assembly instructions (like putting together kid's bike).

Honestly I can find a manual quicker than googling it and trying to find the right make/model with pdf of instructions.

[hillview]

no. I did keep the oven, fridge and dishwasher and washer/dryer. That is all.

[mikeys_mom]

After doing a major house purge this summer and ditching tons of manuals we have never used, I have decided to not keep them anymore.
Like PP's I usually find it online before I go searching for the hard copy.
The only ones I would keep and do use are for the major kitchen appliances.

[niccig]

I just went through ours and pitched a tonne. Do I really need the manual for the waffle maker that I've been using for 10 years?? Um, no! I kept the major appliances, TV etc. I have referred to the washer/dryer manual a few times.

I do keep instructions for things like DS's bunk bed as it also has right size allen wrench and extra wood plugs for when we take the bed apart. All those instructions and parts go with the manuals into an expanding file. I tried the binder method and it's too much work for me to open binder to put something away. I have the expanding file in a filing cabinet drawer, and I just open drawer, find slot for the item's category and the manuals/instructions/extra parts are there.

[gummibear]

I am reorganizing our office and realized a ton of our paperwork and clutter is manuals (for appliances-big and small, tech stuff, outdoor stuff, toys, etc.). I tried the binder and clear sheet protector system but there are still tons. Do you keep all manuals or figure you can download them if needed? Or do you just keep some?

We keep all manuals. I have one ikea box (Kassett, the 10x13x7 one I think) that I throw them in. Toy manuals go with the toys (or are stored near the toys), and get tossed more regularly than the household manual box. The binder/clear sheet protector system sounds like a lot of work. If I need something, I look in the box first. DH looks online first. Sometimes things we need aren't online. Usually they are.

If you have more than one box's worth of manuals, you could look for some online and download them locally before dumping the hard copies. Won't help you with a power outage but if its not something you need in a power outage, it'll cut down on clutter.