Reviewing a Year of Purchases
You're wiping down the shelf under the sink when it lands: three of these haven't moved since February.
A once-a-year audit is the cheapest way to stop buying the same thing twice. This piece walks through a ten-minute cleaning and sorting pass, how to decide what earns its spot back, and the two numbers worth writing down before you buy anything else next year.
The Short Answer
Once a year, empty the drawer, wash everything properly, and sort it into three piles: keep, retire, replace. Give each item a full wash with mild unscented soap for 20 seconds and a 30-minute air dry before it goes back anywhere. Anything tacky, cracked, or unused for twelve months doesn't come back. Then write down two numbers before your next purchase: how many pieces you actually used this year, and which one you reached for most.
The Cleaning Pass, Step by Step
Do this before you sort anything, because condition changes the decision.
- Lay everything out on a clean towel, on a Sunday, before bed, when nobody needs the sink. Ten minutes of counter space is enough.
- Wash each piece: warm water, mild unscented soap, about 20 seconds of contact, base included.
- Rinse 10 to 15 seconds, then set everything on a rack to air dry a full 30 minutes.
- While it dries, check seams, ports, and surfaces. Tacky, cracked, or splitting goes straight to the retire pile.
- Check batteries before you decide anything. Some "unused for a year" items are just uncharged.
That last one saves people money every time. A piece that won't hold a charge is a real problem. A piece you forgot about is not. Ten minutes, once a year. That's the whole cost.
Sort Into Three Piles
Keep it to three. More categories and you'll negotiate with yourself.
- Keep: used in the last three months, still smooth, still holds a charge.
- Retire: unused for twelve months, or damaged, or porous material you've outgrown.
- Replace: you loved it and it's worn out, or it's the one you reach for and the battery has faded.
The replace pile is the useful one. It tells you what to buy next year with actual evidence instead of a mood. If you've ever pushed something back into the drawer just to avoid deciding, that's where it belonged.
What "Used" Actually Means
Be honest and a little strict here, or the whole exercise is decoration.
Count it as used if you reached for it at least three times in the last three months. Once counts as curiosity, not use. Twice counts as maybe.
Picture this: it's late, you're tired, and you grab the same one every single time. That's your real answer, and it probably isn't the newest thing in the drawer.
The Two Numbers Worth Writing Down
Keep it to two, on a note in your phone.
Number one: how many pieces you used more than three times this year. Most people guess high and then find it's two or three, out of a drawer of eight.
Number two: which single piece went along on trips, or came out on weeknights rather than weekends. That's the one worth replacing when it wears out, and worth not replacing with something different.
Why the Best Piece Is Usually the Least Exciting
Here's the trade-off that shows up every year: the most-used item is rarely the most feature-rich one.
Pieces with ten modes tend to get used on two of them. Pieces that charge fast, clean easily, and feel predictable get grabbed on a Tuesday. Excitement buys the thing; convenience keeps it in rotation.
So when you write next year's list, weight cleaning time and charge time heavily. A piece that needs 5 minutes of care afterward is a piece you'll avoid on weeknights.
What to Do With the Retire Pile
Don't just push it back into the drawer. That's how the audit repeats. Next December, same shelf, same result. Decide now instead.
Non-motorized body-safe silicone in good shape can be fully sanitized before it goes anywhere. Porous materials can't be sanitized at home, and that's not a cleaning failure — it's the material.
Motorized items with electronics go to an e-waste drop-off, not the trash. Batteries and small electronics have a proper channel, and it takes one trip a year.
Who Should Skip the Whole Audit
Skip it if your collection is three items or fewer and you use all of them. There's nothing to sort, and the exercise will just make you think about buying more.
Skip the retire pile entirely if you're mid-experiment and still learning what you like. Retiring something because it didn't work in month two is premature; give a new category at least 6 months before you call it.
And skip the replacement step if you're bored rather than unsatisfied. A new piece won't fix boredom with a routine that hasn't changed in a year.
If Only One Piece Makes the Cut
Most year-end audits end with the same conclusion: one reliable piece beats a drawer full of maybes.
- SANDRA — a 2-in-1 dual-stimulation vibrator that covers internal and external stimulation with two motors in one body. One continuous silicone surface means the cleaning pass takes about 2 minutes with no seam to work around, which is usually the difference between a piece that gets used on a weeknight and one that doesn't. Best for anyone whose audit showed they use one thing and ignore the rest.
- Browse the Customer Favorites collection to see what survived other people's year-end sort.
- Related reading: a first year review, and how to choose your first purchase.
- Up next: a gift for a couple with kids.
Sources
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — guidance on disposing of small electronics and batteries
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — battery and charging safety for consumer devices
- Cleveland Clinic — patient guidance on intimate product care and material safety
This article is general education for adults. It is not medical advice, and it doesn't replace a conversation with a qualified clinician about your own health.
