Day 12: Hanging Clothes {31 Days of Easy Decluttering}

Hilda Rodgers
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Welcome back to 31 Days of Easy Decluttering!  If you’ve missed any of the previous posts, there are links to them all here.

Today’s Easy Decluttering Project

Today we’re decluttering hanging clothes.  This is one area in many homes that can become very overwhelming, because we have to deal with it on a daily basis.  We waste time trying to find something because there are too many clothes hanging in the space and they’re all packed tightly together.  It makes it hard to hang clothes back up after cleaning them too.

But there’s a saying that we wear 20% of our clothing 80% of the time.  I never thought about it before but I started to watch my own clothing habits and those of the rest of my family, and it’s so true!  We have our favourites and we wear them the most often.  The rest of our closets are filled with clothes we rarely wear.

But it doesn’t make sense to keep all those clothes we hardly ever wear if it makes our day-to-day lives more overwhelming!  It’s so much better to look in a less cluttered closet and feel peaceful when choosing what we want to wear.  Nicer way to start a day, don’t you think?!

OK, so choose any closet in your home and go through the hanging clothing today!

Easy Decluttering Steps

Throughout the series, you’ll follow these steps to complete each daily task.  {Don’t forget to take before and after pictures to share too!}

Note: The main purpose of this series is to declutter so don’t get overwhelmed doing too much cleaning.  Once your house is less cluttered it will be easier to clean so you can always come back and do it later!

Also, if you have the time, you can organize the space while you’re doing this step, but don’t get overwhelmed with too much organizing this month.  We’re focused on decluttering!

Purging Tips for Your Hanging Clothes

Follow the steps listed above, and use these tips as you purge (step #5) your hanging clothing:

  • Toss any clothes that are worn out or torn
  • Relocate any hanging clothing that doesn’t belong in the closet you’re purging
  • Give away clothes that need to be repaired unless you’re going to repair them today (most people’s mending pile never gets dealt with and becomes clutter)
  • Donate all clothing items that you know don’t fit (just by looking at them – don’t worry about trying things on if you want to finish this task in 10-15 minutes)
  • Give away any items of clothing you haven’t worn in the last 6 months (or 12 if you have all your seasonal clothing together)
  • Donate all clothing you don’t love 
  • Give away all clothing you don’t feel great in
  • Donate any clothing items that you have multiples of, unless you wear all of them regularly
Alejandra

And, once you’ve decluttered your hanging clothing, the best way to keep that area decluttered is to follow the one-in-one-out rule.  Each time you add a new item in your closet, find another one to give away!

Pictures and Links to Inspire You

  • If you’re not sure how long it’s been since you’ve worn an article of clothing, use the reverse hanger trick.  It really works!  At the beginning of the year or at a time when you’re decluttering your closet, hang all your clothes backwards.

As you wear your clothes, turn the hangers back the right way. Then at the end of the year or season or when you declutter your closet the next time, you’ll know that all the clothing on hangers that are still backwards has not been worn. It’s really amazing how much easier it is to let go of clothing when you can tangibly see what you haven’t worn!

  • If you want to freshen up your wardrobe with a few new-to-you items, consider having a clothing swap. That way you’ll get rid of all the clothes you don’t need, use, or love, and you’ll gain a few “new” things.  Just don’t pick up too many clothing items or you’ll still have a cluttered closet!  Here’s a post from Oprah to help you host a clothing swap.

13 Rules for a Successful Clothing Swap

  • If you want more inspiration for owning less clothing, here are some great tips from Becoming Minimalist.

If You’re On A Roll…

You can tackle more than one closet today.

Or you can do more than a visual check of what fits and what doesn’t, by actually trying on all your clothes.  You’d be surprised how many articles of clothing you think fit you but they really don’t fit “just right”.

Good luck with today’s decluttering project!  I’d love to hear how you did, so please leave a comment and use the hashtag #31DaysEasyDecluttering when you share your pictures.

How many items of clothing did you declutter today?  How do you organize your hanging clothes to keep the clutter at bay?  Any purging tips I missed?

If you need help decluttering, contact me for in-person organizing services in the Mississauga area, or virtual organizing services anywhere else.

Happy organizing decluttering!


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