Performing a closet clean-out can help to keep your closet organized. Closets tend to be disorganized and cluttered with hangers and unused clothes, making it tricky to find a cloth you need for a specific occasion. However, you can get things in order by cleaning out the closet.
Getting rid of clothes you no longer wear can help declutter your closet and keep it organized. As a result, you won’t waste time searching for your favorite attires. The good news is that cleaning out an overflowing closet is super-easy, and you can do it as frequently as possible.
How To Clean Out Your Closet
Once you’ve scheduled time for your wardrobe clean-out, you don’t have to engage in other tasks. If you have a baby, consider hiring a babysitter for the day to minimize distractions. Also, playing some background music during the clean-out can keep you motivated.
Here are the steps to follow when cleaning out your closet:
Step 1: Empty the Closet into a Giant Pile
Start the clean-out process by removing every item in the closet and placing them on your bed or floor, including the hangers, shoes, and clothes. Also, remember to take out the items in the bins, drawers, and shelves. That way, you’ll visualize the available space in your closet.
Step 2: Clean all the Compartments in the Closet
Once you’ve emptied your closet, clean the drawers and shelves to remove dust or dirt. Also, to remove the settled dust, ensure you vacuum the wardrobe floors and baseboards last. Finally, leave the wardrobe doors open to let out the air in the closet for fresh air.
Step 3: Sort the Items Removed from the Closet
Go back to your giant pile of clothes and sort them one by one, evaluating their fit, style, and condition. Create three distinct categories: Keep, Toss, and Sell/Donate.
- Keep the clothes and items you still intend to use
- Toss anything that you plan to throw straight into the trash
- Resell or donate the things that are still in good condition, but you don’t need
Consider tossing stained, ripped, or discolored clothes. Broken items and paired accessories with missing halves should also end up in the toss pile.
Step 4: Refine the Items in the Keep Pile
Refine the “Keep” pile by layering the pieces that fit any season and the clothes or accessories that blend perfectly with any trend. Please don’t forget to keep the staple and everyday pieces you wear seasonally. Finally, ensure that the “Keep” items match your style.
Step 5: Return the Clothes in the “Keep” Pile to the Closet
After selecting the clothes and accessories you intend to keep in your closet, you need to return them to the wardrobe. First, consider adding hanger rods, organizing drawers, and new shelves if there’s more space. Then, arrange the items in a way that matches your daily routine.
For instance, if you work out every morning, place your athletic attire and shoes near the front of the wardrobe. Likewise, your work clothes should be in a prime location. Conversely, you can put your casual weekend clothes behind the closet because you won’t have to use them daily.
The following strategies can help you organize and keep your closet free from clutter.
1. One Thing In, One Thing Out
This strategy can help prevent your closet from overflowing with clothes and accessories. Once the wardrobe is full, ensure that you let one thing go out whenever you bring in a new item. It could be a piece of cloth or a pair of shoes. That way, your closet won’t get cluttered again.
2. The Hanger Trick
When returning clothes to the closet, let the hangers face the same direction. So, after putting on a cloth, turn around the hanger when returning it to the wardrobe. After one month, check the hangers that face the original position and reevaluate if you need them. If you don’t need the clothes, consider selling or donating them to clean your closet.
3. One-Year Rule Strategy
This closet clean-out strategy encourages you to eliminate clothes, shoes, or other accessories you’ve not worn in the last year. You don’t have to hold onto a dress or T-shirt you’ve not used in the past 12 months. Please let it go because it will take up much of your valuable space.
4. Slow-and-Steady Clean-Out Strategy
Another method of cleaning out your closet is by setting up a donation box near your wardrobe, then aim at putting five items there daily. Please try to make it part of your everyday routine. As a result, you won’t get overwhelmed by spending several hours decluttering your closet.
5. Wear the Maybes
If there are clothes that you are unsure whether to keep or toss, force yourself to wear them. Pick a day in a week to put them on and figure out how you feel about them. If the cloth makes you feel good, keep them. However, remove it from the closet if it no longer matches your style.
How Often Should Cleaning Closet Organization Occur?
Well, you can clean out your closet once annually, whether it’s every new year, birthday, spring, or summer. That will help keep your wardrobe organized and prevent clothes, shoes, and other accessories from accumulating and getting out of hand.
The one-year rule can help you perform a perfect closet clean-out: eliminating the items you’ve not worn for the last year. Then, you can donate or sell unused clothes and accessories. You can also temporarily store the items at Vaultra Storage as you think of what to do with them.
However, you should not behold to the annual closet clean-out. You can always declutter your wardrobe as frequently as possible, say weekly or monthly, to keep it free from clutter. Also, the following signs will indicate that it’s time to clean your closet.
- Your wardrobe doors don’t close
- Several clothes and shoes don’t fit you
- You have duplicates of the same item or cloth
- You often pull out ripped, broken, discolored, or stained items
- You have additional storage to accommodate an overflowing closet
Final Words
Your wardrobe must always stay organized to prevent an overflow. The best way to achieve that is by removing all the clothes, shoes, and accessories that no longer fit you. Then, you can donate or resell them at lower prices. If some items are discolored, damaged, or stained, please toss them. The good news is that you now know how to perform a thorough closet clean-out.
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