Struggling to figure out how to declutter, especially when it comes to clothes? Clothing can be one of the most difficult things to purge, but knowing how to declutter clothes can be one of the most freeing things in your home.
Whether you’ve been hanging onto clothes that don’t fit, you don’t wear, or you straight up don’t like, these tips will help you to organize your closet.
Why Should I Declutter My Clothes?
Decluttering your clothes will help you feel more confident. This is because we use clothes to represent our individuality and our own personal style. If you are wearing only clothes that you love and are the right size for you, you’re going to feel fab!
In this post we’ll take a closer look at how to declutter clothes.
Decluttering Clothes Clutter
Before you decide what items of clothing you are going to keep and which you are going to get rid of, you’ll need to set a few things up.
Make sure you take EVERYTHING out of your wardrobe and drawers and place it on your bed. Also, make a separate shoe pile and anther pile to declutter accessories.
What to Donate
Set up a donation box for items you are going to donate. If you have clothing items that are still in excellent condition, you could give them away to a charity shop or donation center.
What to Sell
Set up a box for items you are going to sell. If you have some items of pricey clothing that are in good condition, you could sell them online.
What to Trash
If you have clothing that has holes or is too worn to donate or sell, trash it guilt-free!
Additional Bins or Bags to Keep in Your Closet
This is also a great time to set up bins in your closet for items that need to be repaired, dry cleaned, or washed. Get in the habit of placing items in these bins as soon as you take them off.
When thinking about how to declutter clothes, there are a few questions you should ask yourself during the decluttering process.
Let’s get started!
How To Declutter Clothes: Step-By Step
Does The item Of Clothing Fit?
This is the first and most important question to ask yourself. If you’re unsure whether it fits or not, try it on.
Be honest with yourself. If it’s too tight in a few places, just get rid of it. If it’s a size or two too small, then it really needs to go!
Don’t do what I do and think ‘well I’ll keep it because one day I’ll fit back into it’.
You know what happens? You’ll end up with an entire wardrobe full of clothes that don’t fit and nothing to wear!
Once you’ve got a pile of clothes that don’t fit – decide if you are going to donate them or sell them and put them in the box.
If you’re struggling to decide whether to donate, sell, trash, or keep, use this decision matrix for help.
Do I REALLY Love It?
If you think, “it looks ok, or it will do,” it needs to go.
You should love the clothes you wear. They should make you feel confident.
Not sure if a particular item looks fab on you or not? Then try the article of clothing on in front of a full-length mirror – does it make you feel good? No?! Then say goodbye!
You could also take a selfie in front of a full-length mirror to get a more objective view of how the item fits from all angles.
When Was The Last Time I wore This Piece Of Clothing?
If you haven’t worn it for the last 6 months, odds are you never will.
There may be a couple of exceptions to this, such as your best dress and shoes that are for special occasions – these are fine to keep as long as they comply with questions 1 and 2. You may also want to keep items you have an emotional attachment to, such as a wedding dress.
If you’re unsure of when you last wore a piece of clothing, you could try this trick.
The Hanger Method
You put all the clothes in your wardrobe with the hangers backwards. If you take out an item and wear it, then when it goes back in the wardrobe, put the hanger the correct way around.
At the end of the month, all the clothing still on backwards hangers are the ones you don’t wear!
The time limit doesn’t have to be a month, you can choose – many people do three months so they feel confident about getting rid of items knowing they really don’t wear them!
Putting It Back Neatly
Make sure you put away what you’ve kept neatly. You want to maximize your storage space.
You can look at using a different type of hanger. For example, you can buy magic folding hangers to give you more storage space for hanging clothes.
Download my free printable clothes organizer!
Do you find yourself wearing the same three outfits on repeat? Get the Organized Wardrobe printable to plan and organize your outfits!
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In addition, I love using this printable wardrobe organizer to keep track of my clothes so I know what to wear and when. This is especially helpful if you tend to wear the same three outfits on repeat. 😉
For your shoe collection, can you make use of a shoe rack in your wardrobe? The aim is to have a tidy closet and dresser.
Also, if you live in a climate with four seasons, you may need to use totes to store your out-of-season items. Just be sure to label the bins well and stack them out of the way.
Donate or Sell
Make sure you quickly get rid of the clothing collection you don’t want, otherwise you’ll be tempted to get things back out!
Start by loading your “donate box” in your car immediately and make definite plans to take the donation to your local charity shop.
You may get lucky and have a donation pickup service in your town (visit donatestuff.com to check), in which case you can just call and place the items on your front porch. I scheduled several pickups when I was decluttering before we moved!
You can sell your clothes in many places, such as ThredUp, Facebook Marketplace, Shopify, or eBay.
Make sure to take pictures of each item in bright lighting and price your items to sell! The extra cash will come in handy for buying any additional clothing items you actually need!
Final Thoughts On How To Declutter Clothes
Decluttering your clothes for the first time can be time-consuming. I recommend you allow yourself extra time each month to follow these steps. Then it will take you no time at all!