The Ultimate Guide to Spring Cleaning Your Wardrobe
At least once a year, you should give your wardrobe a good sort out and be quite ruthless on what you wear and wish to keep, and what you do not. This will ensure that your wardrobe is manageable and useful and is a great time to declutter your wardrobe and review what clothes you do use, and recycle those that you do not! Here is a guide for you to make a start with;
How Often do You Have to Declutter Your Closet?
When to start spring cleaning your clothes is always something that we all tend to put off, so have a really clear plan of attack. Most people have summer clothes and winter clothes and wardrobes that are not big enough to hold both, and so the natural time to have a clear out is March and September, as the weather changes and you are likely to need your lighter weight clothes for summer, or your cashmere for winter.
Wardrobe Spring Cleaning Checklist – What You Will Need;
Arm yourself with the right kit to start the job, if you have a friend who is free, another pair of eyes is always a great help, and they may question some of the items you hang onto…
1.) Storage boxes or vacuum storage bags
2.) Hangers
3.) A clothing rail if possible
4.) Bin bags and labels
5.) Half a day!
What is The Best Way to Start Decluttering?
So everything has to come out, that is everything! Initially sort your clothes into three categories; those you will certainly keep / those you definitely don’t and can go for recycling / give to charity / and those you are not sure about.
The pile of the items you wish to keep can be put on hangers or folded and separated into summer / winter if they are seasonal pieces.
The pieces that you have not worn for a year/ still have labels / you keep looking at and thinking you will wear it sometime but never actually do / don’t fit that well and don’t make you feel great when you wear them – perhaps are no longer age appropriate (we all have some of these!) / You used to wear but really would now be more appropriate for your daughter! Anything that falls into this category, needs to go.
The Best Way to Get Rid of Clothes During Spring Cleaning
You need to be quite tough about these – if they have not been worn in the last year you are not going to wear them, so you can either try and sell them online if they are designer and may command a good price OR give them to a friend who may use them. Consider alterations to a garment that may upcycle them for your use, changing the leg shape on trousers can revitalise them / altering long sleeved shirts to short-sleeved/ chopping jeans into shorts OR if they are fit to be recycled at the charity shop OR they are just worn out and have lost their shape they can go to your local clothing bank and be put to use for people who have very little, in the UK or abroad – this is a great service and applies to footwear too.
What Are Some Effective Ways of Arranging a Wardrobe?
It rather depends upon the space that you have available to you – organisational tips for a small closet which is what most of us have – we are trying to cram far too much into too little space, and you end up unable to see a lot of what you have and then never wearing it!
If you keep your tops, trousers and skirts and dresses hanging, your jeans and jumpers folded, and your tops that do not need to be crinkle free folded it is a simple and effective method. If you have the room I would suggest hanging your coats separately as they are bulky.
If you are super organised and have the space you could colour code your clothes into the paler spring colours and then the darker winter tones. Some people also segregate their work / casual clothes.
Spring Cleaning Your Footwear
All of the above suggestions apply, get all of your pairs of boots and shoes out, anything that you have not worn for a year / is uncomfortable / the wrong size / worn out – attend to in the same way as your clothes. For the super organised amongst us, see-through shoe boxes are useful that can be labelled – it also helps to keep the shoes in shape and in pairs.
Use Belts and Accessories to Restyle Your Wardrobe
Belts can completely change the look of an outfit, and if you are not using them much currently, you are really missing out! Jeans and most trousers have belt loops for a reason; belts keep your trousers in place and stop that baggy bottom look, and can also finish a clothing combination off.
Always wear a belt that works with your preferred colours, so if you wear a lot of blues, blacks and greys, a navy, grey or black belt will work, although a black belt on black jeans is a bit lost and a grey or python print design will stand out much better.
If you tend to wear tans, browns and beiges then a tan, mink or brown python print belt will work well. Some colours such as mink and tan can work on almost any colour of clothes – as can a metallic belt.
I recommend wearing a python or animal print belt (zebra or leopard) if you are wearing very plain clothes as it will add some interest and a breakpoint between your jeans and top, if you prefer something more muted then the planer colours will blend in more with your clothing.
If you want to use a belt on a dress to create some shape or some interest, the skinny belts are perfect for this and the 30mm width of belts with detachable buckles are a useful option.
Make sure you have belts for all eventualities as they can be a cost effective way of improving an outfit or changing the look of trousers – by attaching a more decorative buckle to the belt you will distract the eye away from the jeans and make people think you have an enormous wardrobe!
Belts are best stored on a belt hanger for the straps and then many people use a wardrobe organiser with clear plastic pockets for different buckles and other necklaces and accessories that need a bit more space, it can also work for scarves.
Remember – Best Spring Cleaning Tips
Be ruthless! If you have not worn it in a year – you are not going to.
Get rid of it / give it away – someone else may love it and give it more use than you do.
A wardrobe deep clean is an invigorating job – you will be ready to start afresh when you have done it – and you have the space to start shopping!
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