8 Tips on How to Effectively Store Clothes

How to store clothes?

It’s easy to keep putting clothes in your clothes, but in time, you’ll see that there could be a more effective way of storing your clothes.

Storing clothes might seem like a small thing, but you’ll see that having a great strategy could make your everyday life a lot easier.

With that said, check out our eight tips on how to store clothes.

1. Decluttering

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First, you’d want to take everything out. Empty the boxes and the dressers. You’d want everything out before you even start.

Once all your clothes are out, you might notice that you have a big pile in front of you. You might have even created a mountain of clothes!

Well, it’s time to cut that mountain in half, or at least, as much as you possibly could. It’s time to get rid of everything you could or should.

Look for pieces you don’t want anymore. These are the garments that would probably be the easiest to part with.

You probably didn’t make a dent with the criteria above. Many of us form some attachment with our clothes and things, and this link makes parting with clothes a little challenging. Make sure you carefully assess which pieces you can still use and actually need.

Asking yourself if you’ll ever get to wearing an article or not is a great question to ask. Asking when you’ll get to wear it is a good follow-up question. If you’re not sure what the answers are to these questions, it might be a good sign to let that garment go.

Marie Kondo and her organization method might greatly help you with this step.

What to Do with the Discarded Clothes?

There are many things you can do with those pieces you’ve taken out from the pile. You can sell them or donate them, but one clever thing you could do is trade them in for a discount at stores like Eileen Fisher and Levi’s.

2. Clean and Repair

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Once you’ve reduced the number of clothes you’re going to store, it’s time to clean and repair them.

You could say that this step is still part of the first step. You’d want to clean and repair your clothes next so that you can decide whether to keep or get rid of those that can’t be cleaned or repaired.

In addition to that, cleaning and repairing is also a preventive measure against things that could ruin your clothes. When it comes to storing clothes, a little dirt could hurt.

Before you store clothes, you want to make sure they’re clean. If you store clothes without cleaning, the stain it has could set in and become permanent. That’s the best-case scenario. Some problems are not localized. They don’t stay and ruin one piece of clothing. They spread. We don’t want that. Not only will your efforts at storing your clothes be wasted, but half of your wardrobe might disappear.

3. Sorting and Grouping

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After decluttering, cleaning, and repairing your clothes, it’s time to sort and group them.

Sorting and grouping may not seem like a necessary step when you’re doing it. However, you will see its value when it’s time to take your clothes out again.

There are many different ways you could sort your clothes. You could do it by size, fabric, etc. However, we highly suggest you do it by season. This type of grouping would easily make wardrobe rotation easy.

If you live in an area where you could experience different climates all year round, you could skip grouping your clothes by season. Still, it’s important to have a grouping method. This way, you’ll easily find what you’re looking for when it’s time to take something out. Sorting will also help preserve your effort. Imagine opening and digging up every box you’ve sealed to find a scarf.

4. Folding Techniques

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After you’ve decided how you want to sort and group your clothes, you’d want to decide what folding technique you’re going to use. That is if you’re going to fold them. As you might already know, hanging clothes is also an option.

You don’t have to use only one technique. We actually advise using different folding methods to save space and keep your clothes in the best shape.

You could fold many clothes according to your preference. However, some need to be folded in a particular way to be in their best shape. Denim, for example, need to be folded. Hanging runs the risk of stretching it. On the other hand, it is advisable for suits to be hanged.

Marie Kondo also has a way to fold clothes. If her organization method was able to help you before, she might be able to help you with this matter again.

5. Picking a Good Storage Container

Next, you would want to find a great storage container.

Finding a good storage is vital to successfully store your clothes. There are many different options, but what you want to look at is what type of container would best preserve your clothes. What type of container would act as a time capsule, if you will. One that would keep your clothes the way you put them in the container.

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Plastic bins seem to be a crowd favorite as it is easy to find and convenient to use. If you want to go for this storage, you might want to go for those you can see inside. This way, it’ll be easier to see if something is going on inside that you would need to fix.

You have lots of choices when it comes to storage containers. However, you might want to avoid cardboard boxes. They might be good for when you’re moving, but not when you’re trying to store clothes for a long time. Cardboard boxes are easy to find and convenient to use, but they’re not the best choice when it comes to preserving your clothes.

6. Picking a Good Location

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After storing your clothes in their storage containers, you’d want to find the best place to put those containers.

Of course, you’d want them where they won’t be an obstacle. You might think of the attic, the basement, or the garage. You could, but you might want to think twice. These places could be problematic.

The attic is not ideal as you’d want to be able to check your clothes every once in a while. Also, you might have to be vigilant against mold if you’re placing your clothes in the attic or garage.

On the other hand, flooding could be your main problem if you place your clothes in the basement. If you plan to put your clothes in any of these places, you might want to make sure you address the problems you might face in the future.

With that said, even if you don’t put your clothes in these places, you might want to address any problem the place you’ve chosen could have.

Many suggest putting your clothes under your bed. You can find many containers that are made exactly for this purpose.

7. Placement

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Now, for the clothes that are still in your closet, you’d want to place them in a way that your most used clothes are in a position where it would be easy to get to them.

On the other hand, you might also want to think of the placement of the clothes you’ve put in the storage containers. You might want to put those you think you’d reach for soon at the top and those you will not, at the bottom. This way, you won’t have to dig deep to get particular pieces.

8. Preventive Measures

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Finally, let’s talk about preventive measures.

Now that your clothes are all stored up, you shouldn’t forget about them. Probably the most effective preventive measure is to check on your clothes now and then. This way, you’ll be able to catch any problem before it takes a turn for the worst.

In addition, before you store your clothes, you might want to add some things that would help with problems you might have to face.

For mold and mildew, you might want to place silica gel packets or anything similar.

On the other hand, you might want to use mothballs for pest problems. However, many don’t recommend mothballs. That’s because they could help, but they could also leave an unpleasant smell that isn’t good for you. Only use mothballs if you think they are necessary.

Summary

How to store clothes? Well, there you have it, our eight steps on how to store clothes.

Many can store their clothes. It’s not that complicated of a task. However, as you’ve seen, there are simple ways you could make storing clothes more effective than it already is.

Do you have other concerns like this one? Maybe you’re moving, and you’re wondering how to pack clothes? Well, we’ve talked about that recently! Check out our past discussion for other topics such as this one. We’ll see you there!

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