Hi there! Not a weird question at all. 🙂 I’m mostly following this method here, with the exception of running a duplicate file scanner because I was too lazy to download one and figure out how to use it. D: (I’m sure it’s not difficult but I’m always cleaning my CC in the wee hours of the morning and can’t be arsed to look into it…) But I’ve basically been plopping down objects with multiple recolors on an empty lot, saving the lot, packaging it from neighborhood view, and deleting the meshes and recolors via Clean Installer as explained in the post I linked to. It’s a bit tedious, but it helps ensure you delete the mesh and all the associated recolors (which may be scattered in different folders but Clean Installer will list them all for you).
For Maxis recolors or objects that don’t have any additional recolors, I’ve just been deleting them in-game.
Hope this helps! Feel free to message again if you have any follow up questions. 🙂