Cleaning Caches

[+fishfam]

I have heard from here that if you come across a junky cache, that you should clean it out. Some things I would be comfortable throwing away like the mcdonalds sugar packets and the beer tops, but some things I would feel borderline about cleaning out. Like the tiny plastic basket that valentine candy comes in. Sometimes my kids like that really crappy stuff, so although it is garbage to me, someone else might be tickled with it. I recently emailed a cache owner telling them they might want to clean out their cache because of the junk in it and that I was too new to gc to be comfortable doing so. I never heard back from the. So, my ? is, where do you draw the line? Is it appropriate to email the owners asking them to check their cache?

BTW, I did not post publicly that the cache was full of junk, I just emailed the owners.

[The Magical Misfits]

when we started our first cache, we spent over $50 for the ten items in the cache...when we checked it (before it came up missing) one of the NICE items was...a door-stop....yep, I said a door-stop...and not a nice wedge that goes under a door, i'm talking the little springy kind you screw to a door...and that was one of the NICE items...so we're replacing the cache again soon...and I just might throw in a door-stop.

[+briansnat]

I don't think its really anyone's place to "clean out" other people's caches.

 

What is OK however is trading, so if you trade out some junk and replace it with decent stuff nobody is going to complain

[+badlands]

I don't think its really anyone's place to "clean out" other people's caches.

 

What is OK however is trading, so if you trade out some junk and replace it with decent stuff nobody is going to complain

How about all of the soft goods & paper stuff that is trashed by a soaked cache. Is it ok to clean it out and leave the good stuff. I run across too many of these to "trade" all the junk out. Often the logs show that the cache has been in this condition for some time.....is there a way to enforce cache maintenance?

[Empathic Heart]

Well I'm very new to caching myself, but seeing broken junk in a cache is just a total downer, so we are trading up and leaving more than we're taking. I see no problem removing a plastic car with no wheels, broken pencils or pens and the like. Now maybe someone *wants* a wheel-less plastic car but I shudder to think what they might trade for it.

 

I guess if you're replacing broken items, nobody is going to complain...and it's good geokarma so why not?

[+Team Virginia Browns]

Since we hike with kids all the time, I like to take a lot of swag with us, incase we run into a cache that needs a little beefing up on the traid items.

[+fishfam]

See, here in this thread I get differing opinions. I will not trade anything for a sugar packet or a broken toy. I will trade for a cheesey toy but not a broken one. I do always trade up, in fact I just spent a bunch of money last week to add to our trading bag. I also add back more things than we take (there are 6 of us caching together, usually 2-4 items are taken). I hope that more people catch on to the friendly way of keeping up caches.

[supermanfan]

If I come across a cache that has broken or useless swag in it I leave it. I don't feel it is my place to remove it. If I don't want to trade an Item I always leave something and take nothing. If the cache is filled with water or the contents just wet. I empty the cache out and try to dry the contents and container best I could (I bring a towel with me for this) If there are paper sawg in it, I lay the items in the sun for as long as I can to dry them out. If they are beyond repair I do take them out and let the owner know in my log. I always carry extra baggies with me incase I have to replace one here and there also.

[+tabulator32]

I don't think its really anyone's place to "clean out" other people's caches. 

 

What is OK however is trading, so if you trade out some junk and replace it with decent stuff nobody is going to complain

How about all of the soft goods & paper stuff that is trashed by a soaked cache. Is it ok to clean it out and leave the good stuff. I run across too many of these to "trade" all the junk out. Often the logs show that the cache has been in this condition for some time.....is there a way to enforce cache maintenance?

The way to enforce cache maintainence, in as much as it can be enforced, is for each finder to realistically post (online) the condition of the cache and the log every time the visit a cache and include a polite detail about any problems that need repair.

 

If there is an occasional post of an issue and a follow up by the cache owner saying it has been fixed, it shouldn't keep cachers from searching for it.

 

If there is a string of online logs saying the same problem exists, no one will be interested in looking for it. I always read the last several logs before I go out looking for a cache.

[+Sagefox]

I have heard from here that if you come across a junky cache, that you should clean it out. Some things I would be comfortable throwing away like the mcdonalds sugar packets and the beer tops, but some things I would feel borderline about cleaning out.

I believe as well as practice that it is ALWAYS appropriate to cleanup caches. As you have pointed out though one has to constantly make decisions about what is junk and what might be interesting to someone else.

 

I seldom trade at caches but always remove soggy, broken and mildewed items. If something interesting is inside a mildewed plastic bag I might take it home to wash the bag and put it in another cache later on. If the container is damp or full of water I will wipe it out when I have rags or paper towels in my pack.

 

If I can fix the situation with usually very little effort why should I waste my and others' time by leaving the junk and reporting it as a problem for someone else to deal with?

 

Caches do accumulate junk, they do get wet and moldy. A little community effort help keeps the yuck factor down.

[+EleriandBlade]

Obvious trash (wet tic tacs, beer bottle wrapper, empty sunscreen pacs, foodstuffs) I carry out and toss. Junk (broken looking toys, unidentifyable trinkets) I leave. It's not my job to judge the quality of the items in a cache. I love finding a wide range of things in caches, and that plastic lobster who is now Larry the Caching Crustacian easily could have met someone elses criteria for tossable crud.

[+thumperness]

Since I always cache with my kids I try to think about the next kid who finds the cache. I want them to find something. So even if I take nothing I leave something. If some items are broke I will toss them but I replace them with a better fixed item. I figure its just a trade and I always trade up. Just my 2 cents worth

[+Melrose Plant]

I have so long ago quit trading items that it doesn't bother me in the least if the cache is full of junk, with one exception: If the cache is so crammed full of junky junk that I can't get the lid back on properly, and it's obvious that the previous finders couldn't either. In this case, I have no problem removing the junkiest of the junk so the water-tightness of the cache is not compromised.

[+Ambrosia]

I try to always bring extra trade items with me to caches. I have a bag with lots of stuff.

 

I will usually take out rusty, moldy or innapropriate things like stuff that smells good for the animals.

 

I always replace them with additional trade items, to bring the cache up to a better level.

 

I even put in extra trade items into caches that are just extremely empty. I figure that that is the nice thing to do for the next cachers, and that saves the owner an extra trip out. I always post in the logs that I put in extra trade items, replaced a baggy, put in a pen, etc.

[+Lafrog]

I change out everything in the Spring when I do annual maintenance. Caches WILL always turn into junk. I personally create special containers that cachers love, but their contents still deteriorate in our short caching season. So, for me, I get pleasure from them finding the container, more than the contents.

[+StarBrand]

I clean out my own caches and remove anything that looks like junk to me and leave newer nicer items. Other caches, I do the same, take the junk, leave nice stuff. It is what trading up is all about.