For years I’ve struggled with trying to store my clothes. I’m gentle on them so I keep them for over 10 years! The accumulation is crazy but getting rid of things that I wear all the time and use for work would be a waste so my next problem was how to store them. After trying many methods and on the tightest of budgets here are a few of my top tips to a refreshingly organized closet that stays clean all year.
First separate your clothes into fall/winter and summer/spring categories. Whatever season it is, store the others away for later leaving out only a few pieces such as a warm sweater, socks, and pants for in between seasons. For the unused seasons I highly recommend zip bags that can have the air removed from them. At first, I used regular trash bags but they are bulky, tear easily, and bugs can create a warm nesting ground inside. The airtight bags can prevent bugs, dust, and mold keeping your clothes fresh and ready to use. Look online or in the travel section of your local stores for these types of bags. To store your clothes properly wash them and make sure they are fully dry. If you are in a humid climate area be sure to store them with dehydration packs (large silicone packs) that will wick away the moisture and keep them dry. Seal the bags and don’t open them again until the season comes. You can stack them onto each other or put them in a large plastic box and seal that as well for double protection. Doing this you’ve already cut down your wardrobe in half and now you can focus on organizing the rest.
(Please note! You must put the clothes in the drier to kill the mold spores before storing them away. This sterilization process will prevent mold from growing in the bags. If you live in a high humidity climate region try testing one bag of clothes to see if mold will grow.)
For the clothing you will use often you can separate them into subcategories. I usually do sleep wear/underwear, work clothes, and “play”/outdoor clothes, and in town clothes. Let’s tackle sleepwear and underwear. For these, I have a stacking 3 drawer tub. I can easily display my bras for selective choosing and a neat little trick I learned from Japan on how to store underwear makes it easy to see them all. Take a look below at how to store underwear like a pro.
Sleepwear is usually tiny and I don’t have much so I put that in the top tub, middle is underwear and bras, last is socks and belts. If you find that these rolling tubs are too expensive (I happened to get mine free) you can look into stackable tubs which are much cheaper and last just as long. You can buy each tub individually for the amount of clothes you have. With tubs be sure not to fill them too full or with super heavy objects. The plastic will break more easily and you won’t be able to see everything you have. Look for snap on lid to create a seal from bugs but remember overtime these will break if you aren’t gentle. You can even store your shoes in these if you have a lot of them! I separated my clothing categories into tops and bottoms and then work and in town wear. Rolling the clothes into tight circles does create wrinkles for certain fabrics but it allows you to store more into the tub. You can either iron those that you need or keep them on hangers.
The last option is hanging. I only hang the work outfits I need for the week to keep them wrinkle free and ready. A few jackets or long dresses are also stored this way if the fabric can be easily stained or is rather expensive. You can make a dress cover for these precious items or find them at the store/online for a reasonable price. For years out of desperation I put a plastic bag over the hanger, poked a hole for the neck to come out and once the clothes are inside I tied off the end to keep the outfits protected. This works amazing if you live in a dry climate, but if you live somewhere with humidity don’t do it. It’s a greenhouse for mold. Instead search for cloth bags or those made of a thin material to allow air to flow through the covers. Cloth bags will last a life time while plastic breaks down in about 2-3 years. Keeping this in mind cloth can be more eco friendly and a better investment overtime.
These little tips and tricks will help keep your closet clean and organized on a budget yet classy way condensing the mess so you can easily see what you have. You can go so far as to organize by colors and style but I’ll leave that up to you! If you have any more interesting tips or experiences leave a comment below.
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