The Clothing Cleanse

April 2017

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The Clothing Cleanse
Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Closet

If there were such things as clutter doctors (which, let’s face it, many people would sorely need), they’d prescribe patients a yearly closet cleanse to help get a handle on an overflowing closet and make some room for new spring pieces.

The idea of a closet purge can be exciting, but you have to enter the process with a careful plan of attack. Jumping in without knowing exactly what you’re doing can leave you overwhelmed and leave the project half finished. In order to complete a full closet cleanse, just follow the steps outlined below.

1) Set up a staging area and take everything out of your closet

If you’re truly committed to a new life with an uncluttered closet, then you’re going to have to begin by taking absolutely everything out of it. This is the only way to know that you’re not leaving a shirt you haven’t worn in 10 years or junk that needs to be thrown away somewhere in your closet’s deep recesses. Set aside a section of floor or even just your bed as a staging area, and start emptying your closet.

2) Get rid of clothing and accessories that you never wear

With everything laid out in front of you, it’s time to get rid of clothing and accessories that you never wear anymore. Now is not the time to be conservative – if you haven’t worn something in years and if you honestly don’t even like it, then it has no business being in your closet. You might even have some pieces that you like but that just don’t fit in with your wardrobe, and those should go as well. Any items which are still in good condition can be donated, and will be given to someone who will make very good use of them.

3) Group and organize everything you’ve decided to keep

Once you know what has to go back into your closet, it’s time to group like items with like items. You’ll want to separate shirts and pants, of course, and then categorise into even smaller groups such as “tank tops,” “t-shirts,” “long-sleeve shirts,” etc. Group and organize any accessories that you keep in your closet as well. Ultimately, how you want to group your clothing and accessories is up to you; just make sure that it’s a system which you’ll be able to stick with day-in and day-out.

4) Think about the layout of your closet

Now that you’re ready to return everything back to your closet, first take a second to think about your closet layout. It’s a good idea to keep items that you wear more often in an easily accessible location, and items which aren’t worn as much or which are out of season more out of the way. Clothing which is well out of season, such as snow pants and heavy winter coats, can even be boxed up and put on your highest closet shelf or stored away somewhere else in your home.

If you hadn’t done any major cleaning or organization of your closet over the last several years, then your first yearly clothing cleanse is likely going to be your biggest. But, by doing your best to stay organized from now on, any clutter you collect in the coming year will be much easier to clean out next spring.

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