We need clothes, and they’re cute but do we really need to be drowning in laundry all the time because of it?
No, we do not! This episode and blog is going to teach you how to declutter your clothes in a very simple way. But first, let’s get clear on some reasons why it can be such a challenge to declutter clothes.
1. We need clothes.
Having less scares us and makes us think we won’t have enough to meet our needs. Especially if we live in places with variable weather.
And double especially if you have ever been a parent on a tight budget. It feels like a risk, and can really rattle our nervous systems to think about not having enough clothes for our children. This is normal, and okay. Acknowledge that feeling so that you can come with me to the practical decluttering steps in a minute.
2. We think it’s going to make us do more laundry.
Not true. You will be doing the same amount of laundry, you just won’t be able to fall behind and get overwhelmed, have laundry piles all over. You won’t have to wear the “cleanest” dirty clothes because you are behind and can’t remember what is clean, or not.
I know on paper, and thinking about it, you don’t believe me. But it’s true.
You will not be doing more laundry. You MIGHT be doing it more often, but even that is probably not going to happen. I am not blowing smoke with this claim. I have seen it happens for hundreds of moms who have taken my course Clothes Decluttering 101.
But even if you did have to do laundry more often, wouldn’t it be worth it to at least try and for sure not have the laundry piles you have now?
3. Clothes are cute. They’re a creative expression.
Fast fashion markets really well to us and makes us want to buy all the cute things, matching outfits and fun things to express our individuality.
For many of us, we just love to have them. Love to adorn our children. And we should totally do this. Unless it’s making your every day life overwhelming and miserable.
Too much of a good thing, is never a good thing. Even when it comes to cute clothes.
Now that we know why it’s hard, let’s talk about how to actually declutter the clothes.
1. All at once Marie Kondo style.
When you do this you essentially get to shop your stash and piece together outfits then put them back into your closet or drawers. Do it by person or size/season.
To me, it doesn’t make sense to do the entire household at once. I would do one room at a time. One person at a time. One season/bin at at a time for the clothing you are saving for the future.
2. As you’re doing laundry.
Declutter things as they come out of the dryer and sort into put away piles or donate piles. This often requires you to do the backlog of laundry and you will need to set a date because Parkinson’s law.
Parkinson’s law says: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. So if you just say you’re going to do it with no clear deadline, it won’t get done. One way you can do this is by just motoring through it at home, or you can utilize a laundromat.
Some quick and simple ways to do this:
- Get rid of clothing that is broken, holey, stained, worn out, stretched out, no longer fits right
- Declutter the clothes you just realistically never wear, or reach for, and deep down know you never will
- The choose what you want to KEEP, and keep it within the boundaries of your closet or dresser. Only keep what comfortably fits in the space you have.
AND for a full step by step system and process for decluttering, and managing all the clothing in your home, enroll in Clothes Decluttering 101 here.
Get the full transcription, and closed caption video here.
0:42 – why is it hard for us?
1:02 – 1st reason decluttering clothes is hard
3:01 – clothes decluttering 101 https://motherhoodsimplified.com/clothes-101
4:18 – 2nd reason decluttering clothes is hard
7:00 – 3rd reason decluttering clothes is hard
8:47 – link to podcast about clothes for moms https://motherhoodsimplified.com/simplified-laundry-for-the-mom-overwhelmed-by-clothes/
9:03 – 2 ways you can actually declutter the clothes
12:08 – quick run down of the sequence of clothes decluttering
15:38 – enroll in decluttering simplified during August 2021 and get the clothes decluttering 101 as a bonus for free https://motherhoodsimplified.com/declutteringsimplified/
16:16 – leave a review on iTunes and take a screenshot to send to krista@motherhoodsimplified.com and I’ll send you a 1 hour workshop as a thank you. If you dont use iTunes just send me the positive review that I can post.