Happy New Year!
If you're anything like us, you'll have set yourself some clothing-conscious New Year's resolutions, and seeing as it's a time of new beginnings, we thought there was no better time to share our top tips for how to declutter your clothes and detox your wardrobe. Plus, with our ultimate wardrobe organisation tips, you'll have the closet of your dreams in no time...so here's how to declutter your clothes.
1. Preparation is everything.
Charging at your metaphorical (or literal) mess of a wardrobe without a plan can mean a decluttering disaster, and you may get discouraged by the seemingly huge task if you don't break it down first, so start by making a plan.
Dedicate a block of time to declutter your clothes, and break tasks down into smaller, manageable sections. Either go for bigger tasks like clothes, shoes, accessories etc, or if you're guilty of fashion hoarding, you can divide it into even smaller sections, like sportswear, outwear, underwear etc.
2. Pull everything out to see what you've got.
We're all guilty of finding a garment we haven't worn in a while and thinking, 'I forgot I even had this...', so in order to declutter your clothes, you need to start by knowing exactly what you've got. Pull everything out of your wardrobe from one of your categories (clothes, shoes, accessories). This is a great wardrobe organisation tip too - to be organised you have to know what you own!
3. Donate, Repair & Keep.
Once you can see everything from that category of your wardrobe, a key step to declutter your clothes is to sort the garments into piles based on whether you're planning on keeping, repairing or donating the clothes. Out top tip? Be ruthless. Our general rule is that, if you haven't worn a garment in the last year (perhaps with exceptions like formalwear for weddings etc) you don't need it and it can be rehomed. The last thing you want to do is send anything to landfill, so consider donating to a charity shop, recycling into fabric recycling, or reselling if the garment is in good condition - you could even host a clothing swap with your friends.
You may find that some of the clothing you haven't worn in a while is in need of some TLC - perhaps moths have been feasting on your favourite knits. Nightmare!
Luckily we've got the tools you need to get your repair on, and mend your garments at home. Our
Darning Needle Set has an assortment of needles, from short and spiky for small weaved fabric, to chunky needles for your chunky knitwear. Plus, it comes with a guide so you know exactly which needle to use for what! Paired with our
Darning and Mending Support, you'll be repairing your favourite garments in no time.
4. Clean clean clean.
While you've got sections of your wardrobe empty, you'll want to clean out those areas in order to keep your clothes fresh. Moths are attracted to dirty, disorganised spaces, so wipe down any surfaces in your wardrobe and get a vacuum cleaner into those dark corners to get rid of any residual moth larvae.
You'll also want to make sure any of those clothes that have been bundled up in the back of your wardrobe are clean before putting them away.
You might be used to sorting your laundry by colour, but, at Clothes Doctor, we recommend also sorting your clothes by the technique that you'll use to clean them.
- Refresh pile for steaming (light marks, slight odours, creased, tired looking)
- Machine wash pile (heavily soiled, well worn or smelly items that are machine washable)
- Hand wash pile (silk, knitwear, delicates etc)
5. Wardrobe organisation is a must!
Once you've taken the time to declutter your clothes, you'll want to but them back into storage in a way that's manageable for you. Here are our top tips for wardrobe organisation:
- Store similar items together. You could organise this by type of garment (sportswear, knitwear etc) or by occasion (formal, holiday-wear etc).
- Ensure that items are easily reachable and easy to put away. There's no point hiding piles of garments behind other things if you'll be reaching for them frequently.
- Fold your knitwear, hang your durables. A common mistake we see in wardrobe organisation is people hanging their knitwear on hangers, when actually, it's much healthier for your knits to fold them flat so the fibres around the neck and shoulders don't stretch.
- Fold long-sleeved items with a sleeve poking out so you can easily identify the item. This is useful if you have a lot of similar looking shirts and need to differentiate them in your wardrobe.
- Store your garments with a couple of our Natural Fragrance Bags to keep your clothing smelling fresh. They help deter moths too!
SHOP FRAGRANCE BAGS
We hope that, with our tips, you'll be able to declutter your clothes and boss your wardrobe organisation in time for that New Year detox. Got any more questions about decluttering? Pop us a message on our Instagram, @clothesdoctoruk, and follow for more clothing solutions and laundry tips.
Shop the whole Clothes Doctor clothing care range to become a laundry pro this year.
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