Note: This is a rebroadcast.

It’s a tough job to manage a household. Things need to be regularly fixed, maintained, and cleaned. How do you stay on top of these tasks in order to keep your home in tip-top shape?

My guest knows his way all around this issue and has some field-tested, insider advice to offer. Charles MacPherson spent two decades as the major-domo or chief butler of a grand household. He’s also the founder of North America’s only registered school for butlers and household managers and the author of several books drawn from his butlering experience, including The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping.

In the first part of our conversation, Charles charts the history of domestic service and describes why the practice of having servants like a butler and maid ebbed in the mid-20th century but has made a comeback today. We then turn to what average folks who don’t have a household staff can do to better manage their homes. Charles recommends keeping something called a “butler’s book” to stay on top of household schedules and maintenance checklists. We then discuss how to clean your home more logically and efficiently. Charles shares his golden rules of house cleaning, the cleaning task you’ve probably neglected (hint: go take a look at the side of the door on your dishwasher), his surprising choice for the best product to use to clean your shower, how often you should change your bedsheets, and much more.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• AoM Article: How to Establish a Simple Cleaning Routine and Stick to It
• AoM Article: How to Clean Your Entire House in 30 Minutes
• AoM Article: How to Clean Like a Man
• AoM Article: Keep Your House in Tip-Top Shape — An Incredibly Handy Home Maintenance Checklist
• AoM Article The Butler’s Book: How to Create the Instruction Manual For Your Home
• AoM Article: Towards a Philosophy of Household Management
• The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton

Connect With Charles MacPherson

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

When it goes well, cultural evolution works like biological evolution: the strongest things survive, while flaws, weaknesses, and superfluities disappear.

Unfortunately, the progression of culture doesn’t follow such a linear arc. Sometimes the societal pendulum swings simply because of boredom; technological innovations push current practices into obsolescence before we’ve considered what might be lost without them; new traditions seem superior to the old, until they don’t — and by then they’ve faded beyond return.

Inspired by ideas in Let’s Bring Back, Going, Going, Gone, my conversation with Walker Lamond about his book Rules for My Unborn Son, and simply our own observations about what’s lacking in modern life, below we present 57 things that have gone extinct or been waning that would be worth reviving.

These entries haven’t been chosen based on pure nostalgia, nor the viability of their comebacks — many have a poor chance of resurrection indeed. Rather these are simply things that it would genuinely be nice to see revived, and in many cases wouldn’t need to supplant culture’s current offerings, but could co-exist as happy supplements alongside them — additions that would make for richer and more varied lives. Even if they may never make it back into the societal mainstream, they could be worth adopting into your individual life, family’s culture, and local community.

57 Things We Should Bring Back

Soda Fountains

The soda fountain once served as a communal watering hole for teenagers and teetotalers. You could hang out at the bar while a soda jerk made you an egg cream or a “black and white.” Couples could sip a single milkshake through two straws. In an age where fewer people are drinking alcohol, the soda fountain just might be the third space we need again.

Wearing a Watch

Most of us don’t need a watch to tell time anymore — we’ve got phones for that — but it’s still one of the handiest things you can put on in the morning. Checking the time on your wrist is easier to do than fishing a phone out of your pocket, and makes for less of a disruption when you’re interacting with others. A watch is also one of the few accessories at a man’s disposal, and adds a touch of style and interest to your get-up. It’s a wearable bit of personality.

Sending Postcards

As much as we’ve long been advocates for handwritten letters, it seems the ship for mailed correspondence has largely sailed. If you’re close enough to someone to want to share the news of your life, neither of you likely wants to have week-long delays in discussing it. And even those who might appreciate a letter probably won’t write back, defeating the point of true correspondence. But there are a couple forms of snail mail still well-suited to our time. One is the thank you note (see below); the other is the postcard. For the postcard writer, sending one is fun and takes minimal effort. For the postcard receiver, finding one among their usual junk mail is a delight. So is the fact there’s no pressure to reply — it’s meant to be a one-way hello.

Attention Spans

Thanks to short form video and social media dopamine hits, the ability to sit with a book, focus on a task, or listen to another person has steadily atrophied. But real insight, quality work, and deep connection only come when we give something our dialed-in, undivided attention.

Dancing

Dancing is one of those activities humans have been doing for thousands of years, and up until a half century ago, it was one of the most common social pastimes. Today, adults may only dance once in a blue moon at weddings, and young people only get their groove on at homecoming and prom. The decline of dancing is particularly impoverishing for youth, as it teaches important interpersonal skills: how to weather rejection, read cues, move with another person without stepping on them, make small talk, be physically close to someone without being or feeling awkward about it — how to be more human, really.

Progressive/Walking Dinners

Progressive dinners — where each course is served at a different house — used to be a staple of neighborhood life. You’d get an appetizer at one person’s place, the main entree at another, and dessert somewhere down the street. By the end of the night, you were full, but more importantly, you knew your neighbors a little better and your street felt a little more like home.

Acquaintances

Words should mean something. Some, like “friend,” should practically be sacred. Unfortunately, friend has been bastardized by influencers who use it to describe their followers, by companies that cheerily apply it to anonymous customers, and by people who use the label for someone they say hello to in passing at church, a neighbor they borrowed a ladder from once, or the parent of their kid’s classmate they’ve only chatted with at school pickup. In regards to those latter situations, we do actually have a word for people you know, but not very well: it’s not friend, it’s acquaintance.

Real, Kitschy Christmas Trees

A lot of Christmas trees these days look like they were assembled for an Instagram post instead of a living room: artificial tree, matching lights, uniform ornaments. Christmas trees used to be a lot more wonderfully chaotic. You’d have handmade ornaments your children crafted in grade school and bubbler lights mixed with popcorn garland. Nothing was coordinated, nothing was curated, and somehow that made the whole thing feel more like Christmas. Bring back real trees with a hodgepodge of ornaments and plenty of tinsel. Bring back the kitsch!

Eating Sardines

Sardines used to be a grandpa staple. He’d pop open a tin, splash on a little hot sauce, and lunch was served. Well, grandpa was on to something. Sardines are convenient, full of protein, and packed with omega-3s (without the heavy metals you find in tuna and other big fish). Plus, they’re inexpensive and last a very long time. Puts hair on your chest, too!

Writing Things By Hand

In a time when most communication is typed and tapped, there aren’t many occasions that necessitate writing things out by hand. But it’s worth intentionally doing so sometimes — whether in the form of journal entries or notes — as putting pen to paper improves memory, boosts focus, enhances creativity, and strengthens learning and comprehension. It feels like a different cognitive experience and can lend a different angle to the expression of your thoughts. Plus, handwriting injects more idiosyncratic, connection-fostering personality into your missives.

Carrying Cash

Most people now walk around with nothing but a debit or credit card and the hope that every situation in life comes with a chip reader. But there are times and places where cash still comes in handy: a high school basketball game, the bait shop in the middle of nowhere, the after-hours campground fee box, the valet who deserves more than a muttered thank you. A few bills folded in your wallet is one of those small, old-school habits that still comes in clutch.

Hobbies

Hobbies used to be thought of as an essential component of a balanced and fulfilling life; they represented a commitment to lifelong learning and an outlet for the intellectual, creative, and self-reliant energies that didn’t get expressed in your day job. Tinkering with electronics, building model planes, messing around on the guitar — you did such things out of genuine interest and purely for personal enjoyment. Now people can’t allow themselves a pastime when they feel they should be doing something more productive, default to lower-effort entertainments, or turn what could have been a hobby into a side hustle or a performative stunt for short-form video. But a hobby done for its own sake — not for income or influence — is one of the rare ways you can lose yourself in something and come out feeling more like yourself. Click here to check out 75+ hobby ideas for men.

Farmers’ Almanac

After a 207-year run, the annual Farmers’ Almanac will cease production in 2026. But here’s hoping for a comeback. It’s been a perennial, charming source of wisdom on everything from the odds of a white Christmas to the best time to plant your turnips. Even if it doesn’t return, you can still get your almanac fix with The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which, for now, continues on.

Reading Poetry

The rates of reading have fallen in general, and surely some genres of literature have been hit harder than others. That definitely includes poetry. Poems certainly don’t lend themselves to our short-attention-span, easy-to-scan culture; they don’t follow a familiar format and aren’t always understandable on first blush. But that’s exactly what makes them worthwhile. They stretch our brains to think in different ways and help us reconnect with emotional and existential nuances with which we’d otherwise lose touch. Here are 20 classic poems every man should read.

Cracking Whole Nuts

From the Victorian era through the mid-20th century, it was common for hosts to offer guests a big, aesthetically pleasing bowl of whole nuts, along with nutcrackers and picks to extract their goodies. Cracking nuts around the fire or at holiday gatherings was part of the slow, social rhythm of the winter season. With the rise of pre-shelled nuts, this tradition has fallen out of favor. But nut-cracking is fun, and the fact that it takes a little effort probably makes it the most appropriate way to eat these calorie bombs — not by the pre-shelled handful, but by the well-earned niblet.

Boutonnieres

There are only a few ways to accessorize a suit. A lapel pin. A pocket square. And a once-popular but now forgotten (and worth reviving) option: a boutonniere. Most men only wear a flower in their button-hole at prom or their wedding. But you can wear a boutonniere on any occasion where you’re wearing a suit — and are feeling confident enough to make a unique style statement.

Bookplates

Bookplates — small, personalized labels pasted inside the cover of a book — were once a mark of ownership and pride. They signified that a book belonged to you and reminded borrowers who to return it to. Their bespoke designs and mottoes added individual character and expression to a personal library, giving a sense of recognizable identity to one’s collection.

Sleeping Porches

Sleeping porches were once a common feature of American homes in the early 20th century. These screened-in or open-air porches — usually on the second floor of a home — were used for sleeping during warmer months before air conditioning was common. They provided a cool, breezy place to rest on hot nights and were popular for both comfort and health reasons, as fresh air was believed to improve well-being. Jack London used his constantly. They’d still be a welcome place for a summertime slumber.

Barbershop Shaves

The barbershop razor shave is the facial for manly men. Nothing beats a hot towel on your face or the fragrance of shaving cream to sap the stress right out of your body. It’s also a little dangerous: letting another man hold a razor sharp piece of metal to your neck reminds you that you’re alive.

Eccentricity

There’s lots of evidence that people, on the whole, are getting less weird. Less deviant, less creative, less inclined to divert from the standard societal lockstep. It seems like we have less eccentrics than we used to — those oddballs who dressed differently, read strange books, and didn’t care if anyone understood them. Algorithms have flattened the culture, nudging us toward the same tastes and the same safe personalities. A little harmless oddity reminds us there are other ways to be human.

Dressing Up for Special Occasions

In a world that’s become blandly casual, dressing up for special occasions like weddings, parties, and nice restaurants gives life a little more texture. It makes an event not only feel more special for you, but, by contributing to the overall atmosphere, more special for others as well. Dressing up is an act of service.

Paper Maps

GPS may be efficient and convenient, but paper maps force you to really understand where you are and where you’re going. You spread one out on the hood of the car, trace a route with your finger, and suddenly the whole landscape makes sense. They don’t buffer, they don’t die at 3%, and they don’t reroute you into a lake. A good map turns getting somewhere into a small adventure instead of another task handed over to an order-barking algorithm.

Door-to-Door Knife Sharpeners

You’ve heard of door-to-door salesmen, but did you know there used to be door-to-door knife sharpeners? While the former were annoying, I feel like I would have welcomed the latter. A guy with a whetstone would knock on your door, take your dull blades, hone them on the spot, and hand them back to you all sharpened up. It’s a perfect service, because who can remember to sharpen their knives? And if you do, who wants to schlep them over to a shop? While house-call-making knife sharpeners have mostly disappeared, they might be making a comeback; I’ve employed a young man here in Tulsa who runs a mobile sharpening service, and it’s awesome!

Secrets

In an age of constant sharing and digital transparency, the idea of keeping something to yourself can feel almost subversive. But complete transparency is not an unalloyed positive, and secrets aren’t necessarily sinister — they’re essential for cultivating intimacy, mystery, and personal depth. Having a secret handshake, a private tradition, or something only you and one other person knows creates a special kind of bond. Secrets give weight to trust and texture to relationships. Not everything needs to be broadcast; sometimes the most meaningful things are the ones held closest to the chest.

Penmanship

If we’re going to bring back writing things by hand, it’s worth writing them nicely. Because we’re out of practice these days, our handwriting tends to be sloppy. But good penmanship has value: it makes your writing legible and aesthetically pleasing, and it’s simply satisfying to produce. It’s particularly rewarding to master cursive — a skill that’s especially endangered, not only in regards to writing it but even reading it.

Real Dates

Much of coed socializing these days takes the form of hanging out in groups, and even when people start going out more exclusively, their encounters may not rise above Netflix and chill. Real dates — those that follow the three P’s: planned, paired off, and paid for — would restore more intentionality to relationships. They signal commitment, effort, and respect, and they raise the stakes just enough to make the interaction meaningful. Real dates, centered on actual activities, teach you how to think ahead and make a little magic happen — skills that are foundational not just to romance, but to maturity.

Typewriters

Unlike the silent typing you do on a laptop, typewriters give your thoughts and writing a tactile, mechanical heft. You can hear and feel your sentences as you hammer them out on the keys. There’s no backspace and no instant revisions, so you’ve really got to think through what you want to write before you dive into the clickety-clack.

Bridge Nights

At the peak of their popularity in the mid-20th century, bridge nights were sometimes held multiple evenings a week. They were a staple of adult life, a communal pastime where friends and couples gathered around a card table to play, snack, laugh, and talk. The game gave people a reason to get together on the regular. In a world that’s feeling more fragmented and lonely, we could use more evenings like that — low-key, face-to-face, and anchored by something as simple as a shared deck of cards. We could also simply use more adults prioritizing having their own social life, rather than completely surrendering to their kids’ extracurriculars.

Landlines

While landlines used to be ubiquitous, now only a quarter of households still have one. Cellular phones have routed them from the field. But landlines still offer some benefits: they’re easy for kids to use in an emergency, the connection is consistently clear, and sharing a single phone requires the household to function as a unit — taking messages, relaying information, and so on.

Record Players + Vinyl Records

In a world of endless, algorithmically curated streaming playlists, listening to music on a record player makes music listening feel like an event, not just background hum. The friction of having to pick out a record and delicately putting the needle on the vinyl slows things down and makes you appreciate what you’re listening to.

Valet Chairs

The valet chair (also called a butler’s chair) used to be a staple in a man’s bedroom. A chair that often included a hanger-style backrest, trouser bar, small tray for cufflinks or a watch, and even a hidden compartment or drawer, it gave your jacket, trousers, and pocket contents a proper landing zone so they didn’t end up scattered around your room or in a sad heap on the floor. It’s the perfect place to drape clothes that you’ve already worn but can wear again before washing, and it lends greater order to your daily routine.

Singing Around the Piano

If you watch old movies, you’ll often encounter a recurring scene: people gathered around a piano, belting out some tunes. That actually happened in real life. When you didn’t have Spotify, you had to make your own music. Even in an age where we can stream any song on demand, there’s something incomparably fun, joyful, and connective about singing with other people. Of course, if we’re going to bring back singing around the piano, we’re going to need more skilled pianists among us, which means we’ll also need to revive the tradition of kids taking (and sticking with) piano lessons.

Colorful Insults

Modern insults are pretty boring — mostly the same set of expletive-laden put-downs. The 19th century did it better. Their insults had personality. They were clever. An unmannered youth might be called an “unlicked cub,” a lazy person a “slug-a-bed,” and a habitual complainer a “grumbletonian.” Here are 50 more colorful old-fashioned insults worth bringing back.

Drive-In Movies

At the peak of their popularity, 4,000 drive-in theaters operated across the country; today, only 300-400 remain. But they perhaps have more to recommend them these days than ever before; in a time where it’s hard to justify the cost of going to a standard movie theater, given how cheap and comparably immersive home viewing can be, the drive-in offers a truly different, and affordable, experience. You get to pack the whole family, along with as many snacks as you’d like, into the car for a distinctive indoor/outdoor night out.

Knowing Latin

Knowing a little Latin used to be a basic part of being educated — not because anyone expected you to converse in it, but because it opened you up to the ideas that built the Western world. Even building a small Latin vocabulary — mottos, legal phrases, liturgical language — gives you a sense of where our words came from and why they mean what they mean. It also makes reading old books more enjoyable, since authors often liked to casually drop Latin into their prose.

Safety Razor Shaving

Shaving with a safety razor turns a routine grooming task into a ritual. You have to make deliberate strokes instead of mindlessly scraping your skin with a plastic contraption; it’s rather meditative. And there are practical benefits: the resulting shave is closer and cleaner, and you save money and waste by not having to constantly buy and toss disposable razors.

Hosting and Entertaining in Your Home

In the 1970s, most households had friends over at least once a month. Since then, that kind of at-home socializing — dinners, game nights, parties — has fallen by more than half. Somewhere along the way, we got out of practice with hospitality, decided it required an unattainable standard of perfect lighting and gourmet food, got less comfortable with the intimacy of having people over, and succumbed to the inertia that eschews any fun that requires effort. But hosting something like a dinner party is a skill you can get good at with practice, brings people closer than any kind of outsourced entertainment can, and adds real zing and satisfaction to life.

Kids Playing Outside

Listen as you drive through most neighborhoods in America these days, and you might notice something missing: the shrieks and laughter of kids playing outside. It used to be you couldn’t walk down the block without dodging a game of kickball, stepping over a jumprope, or seeing a pack of bikes dumped in someone’s yard (plus a DIY bike ramp in the driveway). Now most of the action happens indoors and behind a screen. There are few things that would be better for today’s children than turning this dynamic around; outdoor play encourages kids to be independent, engage in health-promoting physical movement, and take competence and confidence-building risks.  

Roasting Chestnuts on an Open Fire

Roasting chestnuts enjoyed robust popularity until a blight in the early 20th century wiped out billions of American chestnut trees, making the nuts far less available. While the trees have only made a partial return, because imported chestnuts are readily available, the practice of eating them — particularly when roasted over an open fire — is primed for a comeback. Finally bring that line in “The Christmas Song” to life. The crackle, the smell, the slow business of peeling them while they’re still steaming — it all makes for a ritual that adds some memorable texture to the holiday.

Getting Married at Home

Up through the mid-1800s, the majority of weddings took place at the bride’s home rather than a church or another location. There were no sophisticated venues, no event coordinators, no anxiety about whether the flowers were Instagram-worthy. The practice was still fairly common up through the early 20th century — until weddings became increasingly elaborate and grandiose. An at-home wedding could re-root the institution, provide an appropriately homey and intimate setting for a ritual that joins lives — and families — together, and, of course, be a whole lot cheaper.

Physical Photo Albums

Most of us take photos on our phone. And that’s where those pictures usually stay — in an overwhelming, unwieldy archive perhaps thousands of photos deep. The lack of easy browsability makes it rare for us to go back and look at them. A physical photo album fixes that. Filled only with the best, intentionally curated shots, it invites you to pick it up, flip through its pages, and travel back in time.

Neckties

Neckties aren’t expected in many situations anymore — but that’s exactly what makes them meaningful. Wearing one signals intention, care, and the willingness to rise above the bare minimum. A tie is a chance to add some flair to a standard suit. It shows that you acknowledge that an occasion calls for formality. It’s a small gesture that says: this matters.

Reading Aloud to Kids

The number of parents who read aloud to their children has been dropping for decades. That’s a loss for everyone. Reading books aloud is one of the best ways to connect with your kid and increase their affinity for literature. It becomes a comforting family ritual that they’ll look back on fondly for the rest of their lives.

Sleeping With the Windows Open

Even if you don’t have a sleeping porch, you can get the benefits of a fresh-air sleep by slumbering with the windows open. In a time without A/C, when people thought well-circulated air warded off disease, doing so was the default. There are still reasons to crack open a window when you go to bed today. It does reduce the risk of respiratory illnesses, and when the air is cool, it drops your core temperature, helping you fall asleep faster. Fresh air also, in an unquantifiable way, simply makes your sleep feel more refreshing.

Love Letters

As handwritten correspondence has declined, it seems that penning any kind of note — even the kind you leave on a nightstand instead of mailing — has too. That includes love letters. We’ve traded the convenience of communicative immediacy for occasionally writing out something more meaningful and heartfelt. But none of those “Love you!” texts will end up in a shoebox or get reread when you’re old. A proper love letter gives you the chance to express your feelings more ardently than you do on a day-to-day basis and is a surefire way to rekindle the sparks of romance.

Tailoring

Having your clothes tailored used to be standard practice. Nobody expected a jacket or pair of trousers to fit straight off the rack. You’d take them in, get measured, and end up with a set of superior duds. The difference tailoring makes is surprisingly striking; garments look significantly sharper when they’ve been altered to fit your unique body. Sure, in an era of athleisure there are far fewer clothes that even can be tailored, but those that remain could benefit from a little snipping and stitching.

Ghost-Hunting

Kids seem a lot more literal-minded and less imaginative today. Perhaps it’s the way the internet presents the idea that every question has been solved and every rock looked under, but they don’t seem to consider the possibility of the unknown and the invisible — that there might be mythic creatures or supernatural beings — as much. Certainly when I was growing up, Scholastic’s book catalogs were filled with scary stories and how-to manuals for hunting ghosts. And dares like “Bloody Mary” were more of a thing. Wondering if there might be ghosts around makes life feel more mysterious and compelling for kids. And for adults too, really.

Stretch Limos

There was a time when riding in a stretch limo — not those gaudy Humvee limos with disco lights you see these days — made you feel like an absolute baller. ’80s limos had a vibe straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, even if your destination was the high school prom or the reception after the wedding. You could call up the driver from the phone in the back and ask him to whisk you away to wherever you pleased, make drinks in the bar, and enjoy the ride in style. We could use more things that make ordinary people and ordinary nights feel unforgettable.

Film Cameras

Digital cameras may win on convenience, but film cameras have benefits of their own. Since every click costs you, you’re more discerning about when to break your immersion in a moment to put a lens to your eye. You get the craftsman-like satisfaction of fiddling with the camera’s settings and knowing that the final result depends on your skill. And you enjoy the anticipation of not knowing how a photo turned out until the roll gets developed — and the surprise of opening the envelope of prints, seeing the ones that really hit, and chuckling at the mess-ups.

Handwritten Thank You Notes

A handwritten thank you note is one of the easiest ways to stand out in a world where most expressions of gratitude get reduced to a quick email or text. They only take a few minutes to write, but can make someone’s day. And because hardly anyone sends them anymore, the person on the receiving end will be disproportionately touched.  

Audio-Only Phone Calls

Everyone wants to talk over video these days, but there’s something undeniably awkward about those interactions: you’re often distracted by looking at yourself, and the feeling that you are — but aren’t — making real eye contact registers as off deep in the brain. Audio-only calls elevate the intimacy of a conversation above texting, without the weirdness of video. There’s something comforting and connective about just listening to someone’s voice.

Mumbley Peg

Mumbley peg was once a staple of boyhood. It’s a game that just required a pocketknife, a patch of dirt, and the ability to make said pocketknife stick in the ground with a bit of flair. Cowboys played it around campfires, soldiers played it between marches, and schoolboys played it at recess until risk-averse adults started shutting it down in the 1970s. It remains the perfect mildly dangerous game to while away the time.

Doctors in Doctor’s Coats

Doctors used to wear crisp white coats (and nurses had distinct get-ups as well). These days, most make the rounds in scrubs and Skechers. A tailored, distinguished uniform lent the medical profession a sense of dignity and gravitas — an authority that comforted patients, especially when discussing the weighty matters of health, or even life and death.

Giving Flowers With Meaning

Before the era of picking up a grocery-store bouquet and calling it good, men used to pick out arrangements for their lady loves very deliberately; each chosen flower had a special meaning and carried a message. A rose for love, a lily for devotion, a sprig of rosemary for remembrance, etc. The giver enjoyed creating the floral cipher and the recipient enjoyed (and probably sometimes felt a little anxious!) decoding it. If you’re going to say it with flowers, you ought to be really saying something.

Wood-Burning Fireplaces

Most fireplaces now run on gas. Flip a switch and you get some instant heat and ambiance. It’s convenient, for sure, but it’s not the same. Building a wood fire takes time and a little know-how, and there’s real satisfaction in getting the logs stacked just right and coaxing the first spark into a steady blaze. The smell of smoke, the crackle of the wood, the pleasure of giving the embers a poke — you can’t get any of that from a gas line.

Trunks in Attics

Every attic used to have at least one old, dusty trunk. Cracking one open was like stepping into someone else’s story. You could smell the memories. And you never knew what you might find: an old uniform, a box of medals, yellowed letters — and definitely, definitely a map to buried treasure.

The Civilian Conservation Corps

In our time of extreme partisan divide, could there possibly be two things all Americans might agree on? 1) The National Park system is awesome, and 2) The Civilian Conservation Corps ought to be brought back. During the 1930s, when jobs were scarce and the country needed a lift, the CCC put young men to work — not only in national parks, but in state parks and farmlands as well. The corps planted billions of trees, built trails and lodges, and fought soil erosion, all while learning the satisfaction of hard outdoor work, building friendships, and gaining a sense of purpose. Widespread national service, focused on improving not just our wild spaces but our crumbling urban infrastructure, might be just the thing our country needs again.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Updates: One of our commenters, Brandon Beeson, was kind enough to put this into a Google Doc as a checklist. Click here to access that document and feel free to print and use as needed. 

And Brett created a Todoist template that you can load into that app. 

When buying a home, most people probably first think of the financial responsibility. Don’t let yourself forget, however, about the time and labor that home ownership also requires. Just like regular oil changes for your car keep your engine happy and healthy, keeping up with regular home maintenance tasks will keep you from future headaches and wasted money.

It can be intimidating to think about these various tasks, especially if you’re a new homeowner. It’s a long list — there’s no denying that. The good news is that you can do the majority of it on your own without much experience. Google is your best friend, and if you really get stuck, call up your local handyman to help you out.

In order to maximize your efficiency and actually get all of these tasks done, you might want to create a home maintenance calendar for yourself. Whether online or on paper, you can jot down small, regular tasks for each weekend and not be too overwhelmed. We’ve listed tasks that need to be done monthly, quarterly, and biannually. We’ve also given you a list of tasks to be completed seasonally. Not every expert agrees as to which task needs to be done in which season, so this isn’t a black and white list, necessarily. Do what works for you and your schedule, and as long as all these things get accomplished, your home will be happy for years and years to come.

Monthly

• Inspect, and possibly change out HVAC filters. Many experts will say to change the filters monthly, but that’s not always necessary. For smaller families without pets or allergies, you’ll likely be okay changing the filters every 2-3 months. If the filter is dirty, change it out, otherwise inspect it again next month. I’ve also been told by handymen to go with cheaper filters and replace them more often versus going with the expensive filters. (You can also get it out of your mind by using a delivery service like Cleaner Filters.)
• Clean kitchen sink disposal. There are a bunch of ways to do this, but the handiest and best all-around solution seems to be vinegar ice cubes. Put some vinegar in an ice tray and let it freeze, then run the ice cubes through the disposal. It freshens it, but as a bonus, ice sharpens the blades. You’re welcome.
• Clean range hood filters. If you’ve never thought of doing this, you’re in for a real “treat” when you get that filter off the hood to clean it for the first time. The Family Handyman suggests simply using a degreaser from an auto parts store mixed with hot water. Let the filter sit for a few minutes, rinse it off, and you’re good to go.
• Inspect your fire extinguisher(s). We’ll assume you have and know how to use an extinguisher. This inspection doesn’t require much: ensure it has easy access (not being blocked by a garbage can or anything else), that the gauge shows adequate pressure, and that it has no visible signs of wear and tear.

Quarterly

• Test smoke/carbon dioxide detectors. Another simple task; your detectors should have a “test” button. If the alarm sounds, you’re good to go. If not, replace batteries immediately and test again. If it still doesn’t sound, it’s possible there’s simply corrosion on the battery terminal, and it won’t detect new batteries. Clean it and try again. If it still doesn’t work, you’ll likely need a new detector.
• Test garage door auto-reverse feature. In 1993, federal law required all garage doors to have this feature after multiple child deaths. Test every month by placing a 2×4 on the ground where the door would close. It should reverse after a second or so when the door hits the wood. Also test the photo-electric sensors if you have them by placing something in front of them (not your body). If the door doesn’t immediately go back up, you have a problem.
• Run water and flush toilets in unused spaces. This mostly applies to guest bathrooms, or any other sinks/water sources you don’t use on a regular basis. The idea is to prevent grime or any other kind of build up. Regularly running a little bit of water through will prevent this.
• Check water softener, add salt if needed. You shouldn’t need to add salt every month, but better to check anyway, as it only takes about 5 seconds.

Biannually

• Test your water heater’s pressure relief valve. This will prevent mineral and corrosion buildup, which safeguards against leaks. It will also help your heater run more efficiently.
• Give your house a deep clean. Take one Saturday every six months with your whole family, and give the whole house a proper deep clean. Appliances, windows, dusting every nook and cranny (including the basement), etc. Keeping things clean and not letting dirt/grime/dust build up over years and years will help keep your home in tip-top shape.
• Replace batteries in smoke/carbon dioxide detectors. I’d never heard this before, actually. I just assumed you changed it out when it started giving you the low battery beeping noise. This tip was in everything we researched, however. With something as important as this, you can’t be too careful, and batteries won’t break your bank. Change ‘em out every six months.
• Vacuum your refrigerator coils. I actually learned this tip from a refrigerator repairman, and our research confirmed it. The fridge can use up to 15 percent of your home’s total power, so you want it running as efficiently as possible. Over time, the coils get dirty and your fridge requires more juice. You can save up to $100 a year by doing this, and it’s not at all a difficult task.

Annually (Organized by Season)

Spring

Spring is a big month for home maintenance. They don’t call it “Spring Cleaning” for nothing. Especially focus on the exterior of your home as it’s just gone through winter and is preparing for summer heat, and in some parts of the country, brutal humidity.

• Check the exterior drainage. Will rain water flow away from the house? Puddles should not stand around your home for more than 24 hours. If water stays, or moves toward your foundation, you have a few options. First, check your gutters. It could be a bad spout or a loose connection there; they may also just need cleaning. Second, you can grade the area around your home yourself with some dirt; this has worked just fine for me in the past. Third, for pavement, you can have professionals come out and raise it so it drains away from your home.
• Clean out gutters. They’ve likely accumulated leaves from the fall and grime/sediment from the winter snows and/or rains.
• Inspect the exterior of your home. Is any paint chipping? Is any siding damaged from winter? Are there any holes in your brick? Take a close look all around your house, and make any repairs as needed. Also be sure to check the foundation for any cracks. A good silicone/caulk can fix a lot of your problems.
• Get your air conditioning system ready for summer; consider having it serviced. This one really depends on your individual home, and even which part of the country you live in. Some places mostly just use window air units, while other places use a big swamp cooler up on the roof — these are fairly basic machines where a quick internet search can help you fix any issues that come up. Also refer to the user guides for specific regular maintenance. Central air is obviously a more complex system. Getting it serviced by a professional should be around $100 or less, and it will save money and headaches down the road.
• Repair/replace damaged window screens. You don’t want bugs making their way in because you missed a hole in a window screen. And no, duct tape doesn’t count. It can be a quick fix, but don’t leave it for long. It just looks bad.
• Clear dead plants/shrubs from the house. This could double as a gardening tip, but if you didn’t trim trees or shrubs in the fall, do so now. Plants can weasel their way into cracks and holes on the exterior of your home, causing damage and shortened longevity. Nip that in the bud before it’s an issue. If you have decorative vines on the exterior, pay close attention.
• Check trees for interference with electric lines. Have professionally trimmed if necessary.
• Inspect roofing for damage, leaks, etc. Repair as needed; you may need a professional.

Summer

Summer is a great time to focus on the exterior of your home, as well as your lawn and garden. It’s also perfect for having that garage door open and utilizing the prolonged daylight to work on any manly projects you’ve had on the backburner.

• Check grout in bathrooms, kitchen, etc.; repair as needed. This will prolong the life of your tiled surfaces and just looks better.
• Inspect plumbing for leaks, clean aerators on faucets. Go around to all your faucets and toilets and check for any small leaks. If you have poor water pressure out of a faucet, the aerator is the likely culprit and it’s an extremely easy fix.
• Take care of any insect problems you may have. Summer is their playground. You probably won’t have to look too hard to notice any insect problems. Ants, spiders, moths, etc. are all common, and fairly easy to take care of. Keep cobwebs clear, have ant poison handy, make sure all doors are tightly closed, etc.
• Clean and repair deck/patio as needed. It generally just needs a good washing. A deck may also need re-staining. Also check for any loose boards or posts and repair as needed.
• Clean out window wells of debris. If you have a basement, you also have window wells. All kinds of things can get down in there from leaves, to trash, to animals.
• Check and clean dryer vent, other exhaust vents to exterior of home. While the dryer is running, check that the exhaust is coming out. It should smell nicely of fresh laundry. If there isn’t much exhaust, check for blockages as well as you can. You may need a professional. Also vacuum the lint from the hose at the dryer.
• Clean and organize garage. Cleaning and organizing the garage should be a summer ritual for every man. Keeping it tidy will extend its life (and the life of its contents) and make it easier for you to find the tools/gear/supplies you’re looking for. With all the extra dust it gets from the manly projects you’re working on, you should actually clean it even more. Once a year, however, give a thorough going-through, vacuuming up and blowing/sweeping out leaves/dirt/cobwebs and wiping down grimy surfaces. Here’s an essential key to keeping your garage organized and here are all the items you should finally throw away the next time you do a decluttering. 

Fall

Fall is an in-between season where you’re finishing up your summer home maintenance tasks as well as getting your home ready for winter. Cold, snow, and rain can do a number to a home, so you don’t want to ignore winter preparation.

• Flush hot water heater and remove sediment. This prolongs the life of the heater and helps with efficiency as well.
• Winterize air conditioning systems. Remove and store window units. If you have central air, cover the outside unit with a tarp or plastic sheeting and secure with bungee cords.
• Get heating system ready for winter. Check for any leaks in windows or doors; these can cost an arm and a leg. Make sure heating vents are open and not blocked by furniture. Get furnace serviced/inspected at least every other year, preferably annually. As with the AC, this shouldn’t be a huge expense. Don’t forget about fireplaces if you have them.
• Turn off and flush outdoor water faucets. Also flush hoses and store them. Winterize sprinkler systems as well, if you have one.
• Get chimney cleaned, if you have one. Some folks say to do this in the spring, some say fall. Either way, just make sure it’s done once per year.
• Test sump pump. You don’t want to wait until you need your sump pump to find out it’s not working.
• Check driveway/pavement for cracks. Make sure to have re-sealed before winter; water can freeze and expand in the cracks, causing more damage.
• Buy winter gear. Have sidewalk salt, good shovels, etc. ready for winter. You never know when that first snow will come!

Winter

Winter is the time to go around the interior of your home and check for any little things you may have overlooked, or perhaps noticed and said, “I’ll get to that later.” Winter is your later. If you have any interior honey-do projects, whether it be painting, building shelves, etc., now is a great time to tackle those as well.

• Regularly check for ice dams and icicles. De-icing cables that sit at the front of the roof work well. Don’t let icicles grow, as much as the kids may want you to. They’re not only a danger to people standing beneath them, but they’re incredibly heavy and can cause damage to your home. They also can cause water damage to your foundation when they  melt.
• Test your electricity to the extent that you can. Always, always be extra careful when working with electricity. You can do a couple things on your own, though. Check that all outlets work; if they don’t, you can re-wire them on your own. Also, test your GFCI outlets. There are wildly varying opinions on how often to test this. Some say monthly, others say annually.
• Tighten any handles, knobs, racks, etc. Go through the house and inspect anything that could have a loose screw.
• Check all locks and deadbolts on your doors and windows. If anything doesn’t work right, replace.
• Check caulking around showers and bathtubs; repair as needed.
• Remove showerheads and clean sediment. This prolongs its life and helps with water pressure as well.
• Deep clean and inspect the basement. Basements are notoriously overlooked, especially if they’re primarily just storage areas. Dust ‘em up, clean any windows, make sure there isn’t mold anywhere, etc. Give your basement a good inspection at least once a year.

With our archives 4,000 articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in October 2013.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

A garage is supposed to be for cars. A workbench. A bike or two. Maybe a garage gym. But most of us end up using it like the junk drawer for the entire house. Big stuff you don’t know what to do with, or you think you might use “someday,” slowly ends up there: unused materials for DIY projects, that cheap futon you used in college (maybe your five-year-old can use it when he’s in college!), toys your now teenage daughter played with when she was four.

I think we hold on to stuff in our garage because we like to think of ourselves as frugal and resourceful and have that fantasy of being the dad who finally finds a use for the weird scrap of wood he’s been holding onto for twenty years. Unfortunately, the fantasy rarely becomes reality. That weird scrap of wood is never going to be used and just takes up space.

Eventually, the stuff in your garage accumulates to the point where you have to do archeological digs just to find the items you actually need. I’ve had that happen to me a few times in the 14 years I’ve lived in my home. The most recent experience of garage clutter realization happened this past spring. I was trying to get ready for a backpacking trip, but had to move around Gus’s little league bats from when he was seven (he’s a high school freshman now who hasn’t played baseball in almost a decade) and a box of short-circuited Christmas lights.

If your garage junk has gotten overwhelming, it’s useful to know the stuff you can and should get rid of — guilt-free. Below we highlight items to discard to free up space and remove potential safety hazards.

As you go about your garage decluttering, keep this overarching guideline in mind: you may have heard the rule that if you haven’t worn an item of clothing in your closet for over a year, you should get rid of it. A similar principle applies here, except since garage items tend towards more occasional use, make this the rule instead: if you haven’t used something in five years, get rid of it. Some exceptions — things you should discard sooner or keep longer — apply, which I’ll mention for certain items.

1. Old Paint

Every garage has a stack of old paint cans. You hold on to them thinking, “Well, I might need to do a touch-up or maybe when I go to repaint, I’ll need to be able to color match.” Those are legitimate uses — as long as your paint isn’t “expired.”

Unopened latex paint can last up to about 10 years if stored properly, though oil-based paints usually don’t hold up quite as long. Once a can’s been opened, you’ve got about two good years, maybe longer if it’s been sealed well. If you haven’t used those paint cans during those timeframes, get rid of them. They’re useless and a fire hazard. If you want to know the paint color you used in your home for future paint jobs, write it down in your butler’s book.

2. Old Fertilizer and Pesticides

Old Miracle-Gro, weed killer, bug bombs. They get unstable with time and temperature swings. If the bag is sun-faded and crunchy, its contents won’t benefit your lawn anymore. Chuck it.

3. Expired Chemicals and Fluids

Motor oil, antifreeze, and half-empty bottles of pool chemicals often sit for years on garage shelves, taking up space and creating fire or poisoning hazards. If you haven’t touched them in years, you’re not going to. Check your city’s hazardous waste disposal program for a safe way to dispose of them.

4. Oily Rags

Rags soaked in drying oils (like linseed oil) can heat up and spontaneously combust if they’re piled together and exposed to airflow. And while rags soaked in motor oil are less combustible, they’re still a safety hazard. And they’re taking up space. Toss them.

5. Broken and Duplicate Tools

If you were going to fix that drill, you would’ve done it by now. The broken leaf blower? Same story. They’re taking up space needlessly. You can get rid of them. Same goes for the duplicate tools you’ve acquired over the years. Do you really need four hammers and three tape measures? Or two socket sets missing the same three sockets? The answer is no.

6. Leftover Building Materials

Unused 2×4s, unused tile, bags of grout. Unless you’re actively repairing the exact project they came from, they’re just taking up space.

7. Random Hardware

Coffee cans of screws and nails, cables to devices you no longer own, random brackets you can’t identify. If you don’t know what it goes to, you won’t miss it. And if you need it again, you can just make a trip to Home Depot. Screws and other thingamabobbers are cheap.

8. Outgrown Sports Gear

The bike your kid hasn’t ridden since Obama’s second term. The youth baseball bats that have stood untouched, leaning in the corner for a decade. It’s time to pass them along to a family with younger kids.

9. Old Gym Equipment

As a garage gym owner, I’ve accumulated several pieces of equipment that served me at one time, but I haven’t used in years. And all that stuff is just taking up precious real estate in your garage. If you haven’t used that specialty bar or squat rack attachment in the last five years, you’re probably not going to use them in the next five years. Sell them. And good news! You now have more space to put new gym equipment.

10. Old Camping Gear

Our family has accumulated plenty of camping gear over the years. Some of it proved to be useful and necessary and some of it not. Do an audit of your gear and keep the stuff you still use on the regular. Chuck the broken tents and the busted lanterns and find a happy home for that sleeping bag you ended up hating.

11. Old Holiday Decor

The inflatable Santa with a hole. The string of broken lights that you told yourself you’d fix back in 2020, but are still in a knot sitting in a box. If you haven’t put it out in years, you won’t. Get rid of it.

12. Old Furniture

Furniture is practically and psychologically hard to discard — it’s big, it’s expensive, and it’s often attached to old memories. So the garage is where furniture goes when you know you should get rid of it, but can’t quite bring yourself to do it. You tell yourself maybe the kids could use it when they’re older. They likely won’t; it will be out of style, or just not their style. And in the meantime, the temperature swings warp the wood, the cushions soak up smells, and all that furniture is just taking up a ton of space. Unless it’s a true heirloom piece (and if it is, keep it inside), furniture in the garage is just bulky clutter. Sell or donate it if it’s decent; have it hauled away if it’s not.

13. Spare Appliances and Electronics

Think about how many “just in case” machines end up in the garage. The beer fridge that barely chills, the microwave from 1995, or the tube TV from your Halo LAN party days in college. Are you really going to bring that 30-year-old microwave back into the kitchen? Of course not. Sell, recycle, or junk that stuff.

14. Tires and Car Parts

Garages were built for cars, so it’s only natural that car parts accumulate there. If you’ve got a stack of bald, cracked, or more than six-years-old tires sitting in your garage, get rid of them. They’re not safe to use, and they take up space. Same goes for car parts left over from vehicles you don’t even own anymore. Tire shops will recycle the rubber; scrap yards will take the old parts. Free up the space.

15. Paper and Pantry Goods

Stacks of old newspapers, bins of files you don’t actually need, bags of dog food. Paper mildews; food attracts critters. The garage isn’t an archive or a pantry.

What to Do With All the Junk

We’ve already noted what to do with many specific items above, but here’s a general guide to help you clear things out efficiently:

For unused stuff that’s in decent shape, sell it. Facebook Marketplace is your friend here. I’ve sold lots of garage clutter there over the years, from old desks to gym equipment.

If you can’t sell your in-good-condition stuff, give it away or donate it.

For everything that doesn’t sell or donate easily — like broken tools and unusable furniture — calling a junk removal service can save you from making a dozen trips to the dump (if you even have a vehicle capable of getting stuff there). For about $150–$200, they’ll haul away as much junk as you can assemble. You can also check your city’s bulk-pickup schedule.

For hazardous materials like paint, fertilizers, oil and gas products, and old electronics, look up your local hazardous waste disposal facility. Many communities host drop-off events for these materials, ensuring they’re handled safely and responsibly.

The Payoff

When you finally clear out your garage of all the unnecessary crap, you’ll feel like you’ve got a new lease on life. Nothing is more satisfying than reclaiming usable space. And it also makes finding the stuff you actually use easier.

And once the junk’s gone, you can start thinking about how to use the space well. We’ve got guides on how to organize your garage and the biggest key to keeping it that way (hint: get your crap off the floor!). Put “Garage Declutter” on your home maintenance checklist every spring, and it’ll never again get to the point where you’ll need to do an archaeological dig to find your workbench.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

A man’s home is his castle and natural disasters are the closest thing to an attacking army. When mother nature chooses to exercise her power on your home, there’s little you can do to stop it, especially during storms that include high wind, like hurricanes. Flying debris and sudden powerful gusts can blow out windows, skylights, and sliding glass doors that spread broken glass throughout your home and let in rain, which can cause serious water damage. If you have time before the next big one hits, boarding up your windows properly can help alleviate some of the damage and halt the invasion.

Illustration by Ted Slampyak

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Several months ago, friends of ours hired movers for their family’s cross-country relocation.

They got bids from three companies and chose the cheapest — International Van Lines — both because of the price and because the delivery date best matched their schedule. The company had negative reviews online, but ChatGPT and Forbes recommended it, and the bargain seemed like a risk worth taking.

When the movers arrived, my friend was concerned to see that the name on the truck and boxes was not International Van Lines but that of a different company. And the crew seemed to be packing things up haphazardly — throwing onions from the kitchen counter into boxes along with toothbrushes from the bathroom.

The movers said they’d drive directly from Oklahoma to the family’s new home in Idaho and get there in a couple of days.

The family headed out to ID themselves and took up residence in their empty house, awaiting the arrival of their possessions. When a few days went by without hearing from the movers, my friend reached out to ask when they might be expected. She couldn’t reach the person she’d booked with and was passed to a succession of new contacts, who said they’d keep her posted as to an updated delivery date.  

A week went by. Then another. The family was sleeping on air mattresses and living with the few possessions they’d brought with them; they had no beds, no furniture, no cookware. When my increasingly frustrated friend would text and call asking for updates, the company wouldn’t respond for long stretches. When they did, they only offered vague assurances that delivery was coming as soon as possible.

Finally, a month after the movers had driven away with their belongings, my friend got word that the shipment was on its way. However, when the truck — much larger than the one loaded in Tulsa — got close, the driver found it couldn’t fit down the street to our friends’ new house. He decided to park the truck in another location, stay the night, and then rent a U-Haul (which the family had to pay for) to ferry the boxes to their house the next day.

The original crew, unwilling to stick around, disappeared, and the driver hastily assembled an impromptu team of sketchy, surly local laborers to unload the truck and finish the job.

After a month of limbo and living out of suitcases, the family finally had their belongings back — although even then, not all of them were intact.

Unfortunately, our friends’ experience isn’t unique. Cross-country moves are fertile ground for scams, stress, and screw-ups.

To understand how to avoid a moving nightmare, I talked with Finn Murphy, a former professional trucker and the author of The Long Haul. Finn’s seen it all, from well-run moves to catastrophic ones. Here are seven mistakes he recommends avoiding to make sure your stuff gets where it’s supposed to, safely and on time.

Mistake #1: Hiring Movers Off the Internet

One of Finn’s fundamental rules is to get off the internet when hiring a mover.

When most people need to move, the first thing they do is Google “Oklahoma City to San Francisco movers.”

Problem is the top result isn’t necessarily a moving company at all. It’s probably a broker: a middleman with no trucks and no crews.

Brokers take your booking, then farm it out to different moving companies. The broker pockets a commission, and you end up with a moving company you’ve never spoken to or vetted. When your stuff is missing, you call the broker, who shrugs: “Talk to the movers.” When you call the movers, they shrug: “Talk to the broker.”

When people’s stuff gets lost or held up for weeks, it’s usually because they hired through a broker. That’s what happened to our friends.

Finn explained what goes on:

Let’s say your shipment is picked up in Oklahoma for delivery to San Francisco. To be efficient and cost effective, the moving company doesn’t want to take just your stuff West; it wants to pick up another load of someone else’s stuff along the way. If that additional load hasn’t materialized yet, your goods get unloaded into a warehouse to wait for one, potentially leaving your stuff sitting there for weeks.

Our friends’ stuff was originally taken not to Idaho, but to a warehouse in Houston, awaiting another westbound delivery to piggyback on. At one point, the company told the family they could expedite a more direct delivery if they paid more money — essentially a shakedown.

A brokered move doesn’t just risk delays. If your things are damaged or lost, liability is murky: the broker claims no responsibility, and the carrier may not even have valid cargo insurance.

The hard part about all this is that it’s difficult to identify when the “moving company” you’ve reached out to is actually a broker. When my friend talked to the agent at International Van Lines initially, she asked him directly if the company acted as a broker, and he said that they did not, that “It’s just us.” He was warm, responsive, and said all the right things, even insisting, “We’re the good guys in the industry.” Lots of other people have had experiences where companies straight-up lied about whether or not they farm the job out.

So what should you do?

Before you sign a contract, consider these things:

• DOT number. Look this up on the FMCSA’s website. It will tell you if they’re a carrier (good) or just a broker (red flag).
• Deposits. Brokers usually ask for a large upfront deposit (sometimes 20–40% of the estimate). Legit carriers generally don’t. They might require a small reservation fee, but most payment happens on delivery.
• Company name. United Van Lines, Allied, Atlas, Mayflower, etc. are legitimate national carriers with fleets. Scammers use sound-alike names (“International Van Lines” vs. “United Van Lines”) or keep changing names to bury bad reviews and dodge accountability. Make sure you’re hiring who you think you’re hiring.
• Reviews and recommendations. Fake positive ratings abound, and sites like Forbes make a commission by using affiliate links, which, despite claims to the contrary, may influence recommendations. ChatGPT, which bases its advice on a trawl of the internet, will just echo those inflated reviews.

Even legit carriers like Mayflower may transfer your load mid-route, leaving it in a warehouse until another truck headed in your direction is available. The difference is that it stays in the same system; you’re dealing with one accountable company, not a disappearing broker-carrier shuffle.

The best tack to take is to deal with a real, reputable company that has trucks. A company with an actual office, a local presence, and staff that picks up the phone. Someone you’ve gotten bona fide word-of-mouth recommendations for. Someone you could hypothetically bump into at church or your kid’s Little League game. If they’re rooted in your community, they’ve got a reputation to protect.

Mistake #2: Choosing Movers Based on the Cheapest Price

A locally-based, reputable mover can cost more than twice as much as the bargain movers. That can be a tough pill to swallow, but it’s one worth getting down the hatch.

Finn pointed out one of the strangest ironies of moving: people will entrust all the things they value most — their furniture, heirlooms, photos, books, tools, clothes — to the cheapest bidder they can find.

“Think about that for a second,” he told me. “It makes absolutely no sense.”

Yes, moving is expensive. But the surest way to turn your move into a financial and emotional disaster is to hire the rock-bottom outfit. Those bargain companies often turn out to be brokers who cut corners, delay delivery, or outright disappear with your goods.

Get multiple quotes, and if one comes in dramatically lower than the others, that’s not a bargain — it’s a red flag.

A higher upfront cost will often save you far more in stress, damage, and potential loss down the line.

Mistake #3: Skipping the In-Home Estimate

There are several ways a moving company will estimate the cost of your move and give you a bid:

• Cubic-foot: If a mover quotes you by cubic footage, walk away. Cubic feet are easy to fudge. If the crew loads sloppily, or simply claims your shipment “took up more space than expected,” your price can double once your stuff is already on the truck.
• Virtual: Some reputable movers now offer estimates via video call. This can work for simple moves, but it’s not foolproof. It’s easy for items to get overlooked, and what gets overlooked gets tacked on as an extra charge later.
• In-home, by weight: This is the way you want to go. The estimator walks through your house, notes every item, and produces a binding estimate based on the shipment’s weight. Weight is objective and regulated; cubic footage is not. If you disclose everything honestly, the driver can’t later claim “surprise” items and reprice the job.

Finn emphasized this point: when customers skip the in-home estimate, they usually end up under-reporting their stuff — whether by accident or wishful thinking. “If you don’t tell the estimator about the 7,000 pounds of weights in your basement, it won’t show up on the estimate,” he said. “When the driver finds them on moving day, the estimate is no longer binding.”

That omission not only costs you more, it also antagonizes the very guy who’s handling your possessions. An honest, in-person walkthrough keeps the pricing fair and the relationship copacetic.

Mistake #4: Not Thoroughly Checking the Contract

The contract you sign with the movers — the “bill of lading” — is what protects you, or leaves you exposed. A lot of people glance at it and sign, and that’s where the trouble starts.

Here’s what to look for:

• Name of company that will be picking up your stuff. If this isn’t listed, you may be dealing with a broker, and your stuff could end up with a company you’ve never heard of.
• DOT number. The DOT number lets you verify the carrier’s licensing and safety record.
• Type of estimate. Make sure it’s binding or binding-not-to-exceed. A non-binding estimate leaves the door open for the price to balloon once your goods are loaded.
• Line-item fees. Fuel surcharges, packing materials, storage, “long carry” upcharges — every potential fee should be spelled out. Vague language like “as applicable” is a red flag.
• Delivery window. The contract should spell out specific pickup and drop-off ranges, not “TBD.” Some contracts give the mover up to 21 business days — which doesn’t include weekends — so in practice they may have closer to 30 days to deliver.
• Liability coverage. The contract should specify what happens if your items are damaged or lost, and whether insurance is included or optional.

If the contract is fuzzy, or you don’t understand it, don’t sign it. Clarity upfront is what prevents nasty surprises down the line.

Mistake #5: Forgetting About Insurance

By law, interstate movers automatically provide coverage of 60 cents per pound, per item. That sounds fine until you realize it means that your $2,000 MacBook Pro, which weighs three pounds, would only net you $1.80 in compensation.

Reputable companies will offer additional insurance. Sometimes it’s worth it. But before buying theirs, check your homeowner’s or renter’s policy; you may already have coverage that applies to a move.

The key takeaway: know what your stuff is worth, know what’s covered, and don’t skimp where it counts.

Mistake #6: Packing Everything Yourself

Yes, you can save money by boxing up your entire house. But packing is where most damage occurs. Movers will treat professionally packed boxes differently than a stack of random Amazon boxes sealed with scotch tape.

If you can afford it, Finn recommends letting the movers pack. It costs more, but it drastically reduces stress and finger-pointing.

“Throw money at moving,” he said. “Have the moving company do everything. You go out to dinner.”

Mistake #7: Treating the Crew Like Robots

A small but important piece of advice: treat the movers like humans.

When the crew arrives, offer them bottles of water. Show them the bathroom. Learn their names. Maybe buy lunch.

“These guys are handling all the stuff you value in the world,” Finn told me. “Give it to somebody that you value, too.”

A little goodwill goes a long way. The people carrying your piano down the stairs will notice whether you treat them like donkeys or human beings.

Avoid these mistakes, and your move is far less likely to leave you sleeping on an air mattress for a month. Moving cross-country will never be stress-free — it’s too big and too costly to not include some friction. But with things like a reputable carrier and a clear contract in place, it can be hard without being hellish.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

A trusty pocket knife isn’t just a blade, it’s a versatile tool ready to help you navigate life’s little challenges and unexpected adventures. Here are ten (mostly) practical (and sometimes lifesaving) ways to make the most of your everyday carry companion.

Illustrated by Ted Slampyak

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Weighted blankets hit the mainstream nearly a decade ago when the Gravity Blanket launched its Kickstarter campaign. Usually weighing from 10-25 pounds, the pressure from these blankets is supposed to reduce anxiety and help you sleep better. It’s like being in the womb! Like getting a hug! While I was admittedly curious about weighted blankets at the time, I wondered if it was just another gimmick and didn’t follow through on trying one out.

Flash forward to the present day, and as a middle-aged man who struggles to get good sleep, I’m open to experimenting with all kinds of sleep “tech” — gimmicks or not. And I recently pulled the trigger on buying myself a weighted blanket.

Well, as it turns out, I actually don’t like sleeping with it at night. It was just too hot, heavy, and constricting to be comfortable using all night long. But that doesn’t mean I’ve written the weighted blanket off entirely. I have found it quite useful for two things:

Falling back to sleep in the morning when I wake up too early. Sometimes I wake up a couple hours before I intend to, and I can’t fall back asleep. I’ve found that when I wake up early, if I put the weighted blanket over me, it helps me return to sleep a lot more readily.

Taking a nap. I’ve really wanted to embrace the nap more to compensate for getting less robust sleep at night. But despite the fact that I get tired during the day, sometimes when I lie down, I can’t fall asleep (that I drink caffeine during the day doesn’t help; though note that I cut off the caffeine early, so, no, that’s not the cause of my nighttime sleep struggles; rest assured, dear reader, that I have very good sleep hygiene — I do all the recommended things!). However, using the weighted blanket during naps helps me fall asleep faster and more reliably. It’s really improved my naps.

While I’m not a nighttime user of the weighted blanket, these two uses have turned me into a big appreciator of them.

If you want to try out a weighted blanket for yourself, here are a few tips for getting one:

Match blanket weight to body weight. It’s typically recommended that you aim for a blanket that’s about 10% of your body weight. I’m about 200 pounds, so I got a 20-lb blanket. Too heavy can be uncomfortable, too light won’t offer the calming pressure you’re after. You’ll also hear anecdotally from users, though, that you should get a blanket that’s as heavy as you can comfortably bear, so if you’re between weights (they typically come in 10, 15, and 20 lb. increments) go higher instead of lower — especially if you’re just going to be using it for naps rather than all night. 

Choose a breathable fabric. Weighted blankets are heavy by design and can trap heat. To avoid feeling overheated, pick one with an exterior fabric made with natural, breathable materials like cotton or bamboo. You’ll sleep cooler and more comfortably.

Look for even weight distribution. The filler beads on cheaper blankets are sometimes unevenly spaced, which ruins the effect. Choose a blanket with small, evenly stitched pockets — around 4 to 6 inches each — for consistent pressure across your body.

Think about washability. Some weighted blankets, like the Gravity, have removable covers for washing — but getting them on and off looks like kind of a pain. Other blankets can be entirely washed in your washing machine. I got the latter; though I’m a little worried that a 20-lb blanket might wreck my washing machine, which is a top loader with an agitator pole. I haven’t tried it yet. If you’re concerned about that, get a blanket that comes with a cover, or buy a separate cover that will fit it.

Consider blanket size. Weighted blankets aren’t meant to drape over the edges of your bed. They should fit your body, not your mattress. (This means you can use one just on yourself, without dragging your partner into it.) A blanket that’s too big can hang off your mattress, disrupting the distribution of weight and decreasing the proper pressure on your body. So when your blanket arrives and it doesn’t cover your mattress, don’t think there’s been a mistake; that’s how it’s supposed to be.

I spent time looking at a bunch of different models of weighted blankets, which ranged in price from $30 to $250, and honestly, they didn’t seem to be all that different from each other. I settled on this mid-priced one and have been happy with it.

Even if sleeping under a weighted blanket all night isn’t your thing, consider keeping one around for other uses; deploying it for strategic snoozes might make it worth its weight.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

In the midst of the summer heat, I’ve always got a floor fan (or two) going in my garage gym. Lately, as I’ve gone to switch it on, I’ve thought, “Dang, that’s really dirty . . . how the heck do you clean this thing?”

I decided to find out and get this job done. Below I’ll share the process, should you need to tackle this chore yourself. It’s an easy one to put off, but dust buildup doesn’t just look bad — it hampers performance, spreads allergens, and can shorten the life of the fan. 

Here’s how to restore a box or floor fan to prime condition (the process is the same for both types).

Tools & Supplies

• Phillips-head screwdriver
• Vacuum with brush attachment or handheld vac
• Mild dish soap
• Bucket or large basin
• Microfiber cloths or old towels
• Optional: Compressed air or a can of air duster

Step 1: Unplug It

This should go without saying, but don’t be the guy who gets zapped trying to clean an electric fan while it’s still plugged in. Unplug the fan and move it to a well-lit area — preferably outside or onto an old towel indoors.

Step 2: Remove the Front Grill

Most floor or box fans are held together with a few screws and/or tabs on the back or sides. Use your screwdriver to unscrew the screws, placing them in a small cup so you don’t lose them. If there are also tabs that latch the front grill on, gently pry them apart. Don’t brute-force it — broken tabs mean a loose grill that rattles forever.

Step 3: Hose Down the Front Grill

Look at that gunk.

Hose it on down.

Step 4: Vacuum the Back Grill

With the back grill and blades exposed, start with a dry clean, using a vacuum with a brush attachment to suck up the loose dust and cobwebs from the front and back of the back grill.

You can also hit it with a can of compressed air if you’re feeling fancy.

This dry stage helps avoid making a muddy mess once water gets involved.

Step 5: Wipe the Back Grill and Base

Vacuuming won’t get all the grime off the back grill; now it’s time to wipe it down.

Wipe the front and back of the back grill with a rag dipped in soapy water. It’s easy to clean the surface of the grill — the slots in it, not so much. How much time you want to spend on wiping out those tedious gaps is up to you. I just hit the vents that were most grimy.

Wipe all around the fan’s base as well.

Step 6: Clean the Blades

If your fan blades are detachable, unscrew or unclip them from the motor shaft, let them soak in a bucket of soapy water for a few minutes, and then use a cloth to wipe off any leftover grime. Rinse with clean water and dry thoroughly with a towel or let air dry.

If your blades are non-detachable like mine, you can still wipe them down in place — just be careful with water near the motor housing.

Do not submerge the motor housing. If needed, vacuum around it and wipe it down with a barely damp cloth.

Much better.

Step 7: Reassemble 

Once everything is dry, reassemble the fan. Make sure the blades are secured and spin freely. Reattach the grill and tighten all screws.

Plug it in, fire it up, and admire your handiwork (seeing the before and after is surprisingly satisfying). You may hear a noticeable difference in performance with a quieter, smoother airflow (I did). And you just might breathe easier during your next workout, too.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

You don’t have to buy Dad more stuff this Father’s Day. Chances are, he doesn’t need another tie, mug, or multitool. Instead of giving him something that’ll end up in a drawer, give him an experience or service that’ll make his life a little sharper, smoother, or more enjoyable.

Here are six non-material gifts your old man might actually appreciate — and as a bonus, they’re all things you can grab at the last minute.

1. Professional Car Detailing

When you’re a dad with kids, your car’s interior takes a beating. Everything gets all scuffed up from kids putting their feet everywhere, and the backseat turns into a graveyard of crumbs and half-eaten snacks. One of life’s underrated pleasures is climbing into a freshly detailed car. I treat myself to a professional detail a couple times a year and am an evangelist for its ROI. I use a mobile service, and would recommend you do likewise when gifting the service to Dad; they’ll show up and restore his vehicle to like-new condition right in the driveway.

2. A Professional Massage

Whether your dad works a physically demanding job or spends his days hunched over a desk, he could use a massage to work out his body’s kinks. While a basic Swedish massage can be relaxing, consider getting Dad a gift certificate for a masseuse who specializes in sports massages. A sports massage feels less foo-fooey, and more importantly, it targets real physical issues — loosening tight muscles, increasing mobility, and leaving Dad feeling noticeably better.

3. Knife Sharpening Service

Knife sharpening is one of those to-dos dads tend to perpetually put off, even though getting it done perceptibly enhances your life. So gift Dad a professional knife sharpening service. There are even mobile ones that will come right to your house and sharpen everything from kitchen knives to pocket knives to axes to mower blades right in your driveway. Once the job is done, Dad will find everything from chopping onions to chopping wood more enjoyable.

4. A One-on-One Skill Lesson

Has your dad ever said, “I’ve always wanted to learn ____” but never gotten around to it? Help him finally make it happen with a one-on-one lesson from a pro. Whether it’s a BBQ class with a local pitmaster, a private fly-fishing session, a blacksmithing workshop, a tactical pistol course, or a basic woodworking class, there’s a hands-on experience out there to match just about any interest.

5. A Barbershop Shave

An old-school straight razor shave with all the trimmings is the male grooming equivalent of the pedicure. The hot towel on your face, the warm lather . . . take it from me, the experience is so dang relaxing. And just a unique, memorable experience all around. Buy Dad a gift card for a straight razor shave at a local barbershop, and he’ll leave the chair feeling like a million bucks.

6. Tickets to an Event

Is your dad a baseball fan? A diehard Springsteen guy? Get him tickets to an event that he’ll really enjoy. And then go with him to it. The thing fathers want most is to spend time with their children — even when they’re grown.

Personally, my dream is for my kids to score me backstage passes to a Killers’ concert. A dad can dream . . .

Bonus: Books are material objects, but they’re more experiences than “stuff.” If you’re looking for a great book to gift Dad — especially one who’s into history — check out these nine suggestions.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.