I've got a bunch of screws loose. How should i sort this out?

July 20, 2023 9:21 PM

I have a collection of mixed up screws, nails, bolts, and such: maybe one to two full shoeboxes' worth. How much sorting does this mess need to be useful? The goal: to be able to find what I need. The problem: I don't know what I'll need. People who actually use their accumulated fasteners, how do you have them organized?

I'll be doing home maintenance/repair projects as well as various hobbies. Not sure about specifics, it's just inevitable.

So far I've mostly just used the fasteners that come with items (or resort to tape). When i branch out into less prepackaged projects, what kind of categories will likely matter? When you're going to do typical family handyperson work and gather the necessary hardware from your collection, what degree of organization works well for you?

The mess needs enough organization that it'll usually be quick & easy to find things, but I don't want to be measuring every single screw--unless I'll appreciate it later! Sorting it out over time, as I need things, is just not happening so the bulk of the sorting must happen in one go. I have little drawers and containers ready and waiting!

(I'm not at all interested in getting rid of the mess and starting over btw, even if it is quite a lot of loose screws to be dealing with.)

posted by Baethan to Home & Garden (21 answers total)

A very simplistic organization system could be:

Group by material first (wood screw, metal, concrete, etc.)
Then by size (diameter).
Then by length.

The diameter could just be just small/med/large to start, and length could also just be long/short.

You could do the actual measuring when you have a specific project in mind? But at least you'd be in the ballpark, hopefully. Some projects don't need a very specific diameter / length, so long as it's not too big a hole and not too long that it will punch through to the other side. So I think precise pre-measuring would be a waste of time.
posted by tinydancer at 9:40 PM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

Something like this will hel; you can still use the basic sorts mentioned by tinydancer with this
posted by TimHare at 9:56 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

For me, I took that kind of tidying all the way.

Wood screws with mashed up heads, would be discarded (into a container one day I'm
hoping to melt down the contents). And anything with rust would be kept separate and hopefully cleaned up if worthwhile.

But I've spent quite a few hours with all the good screws laid out, a big bit of floor space, and some digital callipers, and then group like with like to ever decreasing matching of sizes and forms.

Machine threaded screws/bolts from years past continue to he hugely useful when I'm looking for a particular metric or imperial thread size & length.

And then all those wood screws of varying sizes were great for small fixes.

Even though I now buy hardware like this in bulk, there's still so many times I just need something a little different to my bulk supplies.
Plus I do a lot of restoration and repair projects that ideally need something matching. And when I am
dismantling something that's beyond useful repair, I set aside the hardware and fixings I take out, before recycling any solid wood I can retrieve too, etc.

I buy a lot of tiny but quality zip-lock style bags in bulk. Then label with a sharpie the head type, length, and gauge / diameter, on each bag.
And then group those in my slightly larger mini-boxes (particularly when there were just 5 or 6 of each screw size, in each bag), until that container is nearly full. Those smaller boxes are grouped into larger collections.

Then when I need something unusual, I just reach for the case with that 'series' (typical use and material) find the box with a range of items within the aimed size grouping, and then find the smaller bag within that.

I still have and utilise some screws and washers from when I used to sweep the floor of workshops a couple of decades ago (and was allowed to keep the screws and bolts I found). And then I've gained a bunch of stainless, brass, anodised, etc. through various projects, and I'll always over-order when I need quite specialist fixings for specific projects, so I'll have spare later.

There are a few YouTube makers who also geek out about organising fixings like this (ie Laura Kampf, Adam Savage). So yeah, if you want to organise, don't hold back :)

Easy retrieval and like-with-like are my key goals.
posted by many-things at 10:22 PM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

I grouped mine this way: Look at everything and try to create categories that have about 30 items each in them.

The overriding principle: What will be my search algorithm in the future, and will I know where to look -- one or at most two places -- to find a match for a particular need; and will looking thoroughly take a reasonable amount of time. given that I'm impatient when in the middle of a project, and that sometimes multiple possibilities will work so I'll want to see all similar sizes to pick the best looking one.

This dictates: groupings with a reasonable number of members; a reasonable number of groupings; and clear rules for what goes in which group. Also: it should be easy to scan all groups to find relevant groups for a project. Finally: teeny tiny screws are extremely useful and must not be lost in the shuffle.



1) Anything that I have > 5ish of gets its own container

2) Any completely matching group that will fit in one of these tiny containers goes in those tiny containers. If there are tiny singletons that "go together" in some way, I figure I can put them together since I can see all of them inside the clear container.

Lag bolts

Regular bolts and nuts

(both of the above groups, for me, are close to the same size since I've only had a couple of projects that use them)


Computer screws - this is a special class of metal screws, and maybe variations that all go with some computer component or other

Metal screws -- I don't have many of these so they're all together



I have a lot of random wood screws. For now, I have a box with 3/4" or less; a box with over 3/4" up to 1.25"; then a couple more groups. I have a lot of small quantities in the clear tiny boxes above.
posted by amtho at 10:27 PM on July 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Harbor freight has cases that subdivide for reasonable money. The dollar store has tiny (2x1.5in) Tupperware like containers, ten for $1.25. These are both options if you aren't the sort of person that keeps every yoghurt and margarine tub you ever come into possession of. (If you're buying, get square ones not round ones, they're more space efficient, and check for cheap but suitable kitchen containers because they're fine and often better value than DIY stores.)

Personally, if I buy screws, I keep them in a box to themselves, labelled up (eg 1.5in #6 wood screws). If I have random leftover screws, I don't overthink it - just separate into really broad categories (bolts, self tapping screws, whatever) and, beyond that, try and keep the quantities down to something I won't worry too much about sifting through.

I have less patience for sorting than for hunting through what I have; ymmv. If I were to sort my leftover jars I would probably have no more than three of each sort and I'd need twenty containers to deal with them.

You are probably not in the UK. For those that are, Wilkos will sell you useful fasteners by 'whatever you can fit in a bag' for £5, and you get to choose the assortment from some useful basics. This is great for making sure you have cup hooks, eyes and some standard screw sizes handy when you need them.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 10:53 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I keep mine organized in a plastic embroidery floss organizer (I think?) picked up in my Buy Nothing group. I have less of this stuff than you do, but I sort by nails, different sizes of screws, bolts, nuts, hooks, etc. I can always find what I need when I need something.
posted by centrifugal at 11:13 PM on July 20, 2023

I sort mine into plastic cases with compartments. The best ones come from Flambeau or Plano. You can get offshored ones, but the catches come off and the hinges break, and it's not worth it. I'm a huge fan of Flambeau's adjustable dividers, but I have Plano cases I like a lot, too.
This isn't the only way to go. I have a sheet-metal case with little metal dividers which is older than me and very nice, and I get friends to save their pill bottles for me. It really depends on what you like. I keep wood screws in the original boxes in a milk crate, and some unsorted stuff is in glass jars.
I'd recommend reasonably rigid containers. I have some screws in plastic bags, and they're always coming out through the sides and getting lost.
Everyone had a neighbor who kept screws in baby food jars with the lids screwed to boards, but I've never liked this system. (Jars are nice if you have a lot of something. I use them, too.)
A decent plastic box has a lifespan measured in decades - I have several that are at least fifty years old, and some I'm not the first owner of. Some came full of hardware, and I felt as though I was inheriting someone else's history.
Don't be cheap. It's beneath you and you'll regret it. A plastic box is a tool just like a wrench, and a good one is more than worth it.
As for organization, separate wood screws, machine screws, nails, bolts and washers. Miscellaneous things - wire nuts, fuses, miniature switches, razor blades - can be sorted if you have lots, otherwise they seem to get mixed together.
I have three milk crates full of small boxes and jars ... maybe that's closer to five ... maybe two dozen compartmented boxes, and a dozen big jars. My friends make fun of me, because it's like something from an earlier time. They also know where they can get an odd fastener on a Sunday night. If I find an unsorted box of hardware at a yard sale, or a box of screws I like, I always get them - a buck or two now will save you way more than that and a trip to the store when you need them. Screws don't take up much space. Also you can learn a lot about fasteners from sorting them.
That's all common knowledge. The pro tip here is that children under about eight (I think, it's been a while) like to sort things. Give them a tray and a couple of boxes, dump your hardware on the tray, and an hour later it'll be sorted much more carefully than you could do it.
For thread sizes, teach them to hold two bolts up in opposite directions. If the threads sit neatly against each other, they're the same pitch. If you're really determined, get a thread gauge. You can eyeball almost everything, though.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:29 AM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have several large targe shallow trays 18" square that I dump things into so the material is only two items deep, and then just root thru it - like google, search don't sort.
posted by unearthed at 2:14 AM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

Screws and nails separately.

Within each category, sort by length in 1-inch increments (<1>
Within each length category, sort by separate size/type.

Each then goes into a Ziploc bag with like items, and the bags are stored in their 1-inch groupings.

I use an old library card catalog for storage in my workshop.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:39 AM on July 21, 2023

Generally good advice above. I'll only add that you may have a lot of a few things, and only amount of many things. Some things are just going to be outlyers, no matter the system.

I'd consider a statistical sampling approach. Grab a couple of representative handfuls and sort carefully. That should help in seeing how big or small a solution need be.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:11 AM on July 21, 2023

Within each category, sort by length in 1-inch increments...

Clearly my use of the "less than" sign was a poor choice! Should read:

Within each category, sort by length in 1-inch increments: Less than 1 inch, 1-2 inches, 2-3 inches, etc.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:51 AM on July 21, 2023

I've been putting off the same project and keep thinking about all the optimization that needs to happen first. It's a nice way to tell myself I'm not really procrastinating, but planning.

I'm going to start with types, nails, wood screws, machine screw, deck screws, nuts and their bolts. That's probably all I'll realistically do in phase one. I might get spicy and make nails two containers, brads (small) and nails (large). Then I'll put it off for a few more months.

Then I'll figure out which one of these categories annoys me most and break that down by how it annoys me. My guess is that it's going to be by head type of screw. Length is easier to paw through quickly.
posted by advicepig at 5:54 AM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I mostly use pill bottles for small misc. stuff; you can cut off the part that makes them child resistant. Lg. plastic spice jars for larger quantities, mayo/ peanut butter jars for bulk. I have a mayo jars of just nails, screw, etc.

For things like the specific O-ring for the faucet, I label conscientiously. There's a balance between being able to find stuff, and spending way more time than it's worth. When I lived in town, the hardware store was 10 minutes away. Now it's 20 minutes to a big box store, where the selection isn't as good.
posted by theora55 at 6:38 AM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

What screwdrivers/wrenches do you have? For wood screws, what size of pilot drills do you have? What fasteners in the boxes fit those? I'd sort and prioritize based on that because tools are expensive, fasteners less so.

A two box mixter-maxter of random hardware represents a lot of time and concentration cost to organize. For me, it would represent barrier to getting stuff done. I've disposed of a mixed box of random machine screws and nuts before because the morass of thread standards, materials, finishes and drive methods made finding the right parts a huge time sink.
posted by scruss at 7:08 AM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I use a muffin tin to organize/divide up leftover nuts and bolts, the latter sub-divided into flat-headed wood screws, round-headed sheet-metal screws, and slot and Phillips-head bolts.

Anecdotally, my father would toss all of these leftovers into a big plastic bin he called his "Culch Pile", which I've inherited. I never find anything useful in it, but I can't throw it out. Apparently, 'culch' means leftover seashells, usually from oysters. Another word associated with this stuff might be cruft.
posted by Rash at 7:43 AM on July 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

My to be organized jars are also an inheritance/burden. ;)
posted by advicepig at 8:12 AM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

I got a couple of the clear plastic organizers from Harbor Freight, it worked out that one is screws and one is various other little bits (screen hardware, split rings, whatever). I cut a piece of index card to go in the bin as a label if needed. Large screws are mostly still in the 1# boxes they came in.

Anything rusty / stripped head / etc. got trashed.

The Habitat for Humanity Restore got whatever seemed least useful to me. I also get things there sometimes, it's the cycle of stuff.
posted by momus_window at 9:25 AM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm a (hobby) woodworker. I use a lot of screws. I got tremendous freedom a few years ago when I realized that there was some inventory worth carrying, and a lot where it was easier to buy for a specific purpose. So I keep a small (#4) screws drawer that has 3 dividers, a brass screws drawer, and row of drawers for #6, #8, and #10 countersunk in roughly half inch increments.

And a bin for #6, #8, #1, 1/4", 5/8", and assorted metric.

Everything else I throw out. It's easier to walk down to he hardware store than it is to try to save and organize all of the odds and ends. If there aren't 8 of them? Out. Weird head (and for a lot of sizes that's Phillips)? Out. Round head? I'll buy them when I need them, and throw out the excess.

There is tremendous freedom in letting the hardware store manage inventory.
posted by straw at 9:15 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

This... sounds so familiar. I still have a sunburn from sorting random boxes in the driveway on our quest to clean out part of of the garage.
We have metal shelves! And they are full!
And we have many, many containers of hardware.
It's a mixed blessing.

Some thoughts....
Get a tetanus shot. No, really.
Get a first aid kit and keep the cuts clean and splinters removed.
Gloves are a good idea.
A magnet is helpful. A strong box for sifting hardware from dirt and random debris is helpful. Add a mesh screen at the bottom.
At the end of the day, how much trouble is this worth?

Moving on....
Be ruthless. Toss the random and rusted.
Sort hardware roughly by function.
Store by size.
If you can't put your hand on the right tool for the job in a few minutes, then the system is either too big, too disorganized, or... you need a trip to the hardware store because that particular wood screw is no longer available in the storage units. Congratulations!

Plastic bags get holes and eventually disintegrate. Plastic boxes crack after exposure to heat. Plastic box lids pop off and warp under the weight of other heavy boxes.

What does work:
Baby food jars.
Other jars with screw-on lids (pickles, mayonnaise, jelly, etc.) We have an ungodly number of M&M candy plastic jugs from Sam's.
Metal jars and boxes (Christmas cookies, spices, etc.)
Paint cans with metal lids.
Back in the day coffee was sold in metal containers with plastic lids. The lids do not last.
Fishing tackle boxes.
Toolboxes.

Plastic hardware storage bins work if they are kept clean. They often have open backs which let dirt and sawdust inside the drawers. Chaos happens when they tip over or are moved around.

I hate the open storage bin system. This is how I got a sunburn last week, sorting random screws and washers and fishing tackle (?) into Tupperware containers.
So much debris. So easy to drop. Sometimes the hardware is stuck to the plastic (airborne contaminants in the shop that settle in the bins). The hardware just feels... nasty.

Tupperware containers and Sterilite boxes eventually fail. However, I keep going back to them for my storage.
Plastic containers last longer if you put them in shelves instead of stacking them.

Good luck. I hope you find many buffalo nickels in the toolboxes.
posted by TrishaU at 4:57 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not to violate the editing window, but I just re-read the question.
They have two shoeboxes of hardware.
Two shoeboxes.
Mind. Blown.
posted by TrishaU at 5:02 AM on July 22, 2023

Two shoeboxes is almost certainly way more hardware than you can reasonably ever use. Unless you are looking for just one or two of some item, it's unfortunately easier to just buy what you need and excuse yourself from the time suck of trying to sort out that many items. However, that wouldn't stop me at least trying.

First off, sort into nails, screws and bolts/nuts/washers. Next, choose one of these and sort them into whatever categories seems useful - size, wood vs metal screws etc. Repeat with the other categories and you then have a fair idea of where you have useable quantities of anything and, if not (given you don't want to discard anything), just group them as best you can and resign yourself to sorting through a smaller pile when you want something. You might do something like large, medium and small screws each with their own pile. If you have 10 or so of something, you could dedicate one of your compartments to that.

With bolts, try and match them to nuts and put the nuts (and washers if you have them) on the bolts so at least you can easily tell if you have both and don't have to search twice for a bolt then a nut.

The reality is that you will never use the majority of what you have because you won't be able to find just what you need or there won't be enough of them, so I don't think sorting the mess into perfection is going to be a useful activity. Aim to make the sorting process quicker and less frustrating in future.
posted by dg at 3:07 PM on July 22, 2023