Spring Cleaning Your Closet? Think About These 5 Things Before You Do
Let's make a daunting task a little easier.
*This Stuff is a newsletter by me! fashion journalist, Alyssa Hardy. Three times a week, I unpack the ways our clothes impact the world through news, essays, interviews and more. Subscribe for free here and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.*
It's that time of year when the hint of summer is previewed by a budding tree outside your window. This tree gives you so much hope, and at the same time, it elicits a sneeze when you even think about it. Your t-shirts buried in the back of your drawer are making their way back into the rotation. You can just taste the ice cream and fresh fruit in your future.
After months of stuffiness and heaters, you want to clean and organize. You want a fresh new you for summer 2022. So you decide it's time to go through your closet. This year, it's potentially more daunting than most because you might actually be able to wear those clothes in your wardrobe for the first time in two years. While we want to strive to have a closet full of clothing you want to keep for as long as possible – right now, that's not the case. You've changed, and so has your style, which means a massive undertaking will happen.
Before you start, here are a few essential things to think about.
Figure out the goal.
Cleaning your closet can be emotional. Maybe there's a shirt you haven't worn in years, but you keep it because it reminds you of a moment in your life you don't want to forget. Or perhaps you have something that you got from someone else as a gift, and it always makes you think of them. Those things will come up as you clean, and it's a good thing. Connections to clothing are important.
For me, though (and maybe I'm just a little over-the-top when it comes to clothing), these feelings can get in the way of my ultimate closet cleaning mission. I get too attached or too overwhelmed by it all, and I just stop cleaning altogether. That's why you need to set a goal from the outset. Are you cleaning your closet because you have too much? Decide how many pieces you want to remove. Are you looking to hone in on your personal style? Think about what that means before you find yourself crying in a heap of fabric on your floor (just me?).
Further reading: 22 Do's and Don'ts of Fashion For 2022
Ask yourself: Can I repair, tailor or DIY this?
So you've gotten to the point where you've decided to get rid of an item of clothing that isn't working for you anymore. Before you move it to the get rid of forever pile, ask yourself if something can be done to make it fit your life a little bit better. Could those pants be tailored to work a little bit better for your body? Is that hole in an adorable dress worth fixing instead of tossing? Or is there something you can do to make this garment different enough to feel fresh for you? For example, could your jeans become shorts, or could your t-shirt become a tank top?
Further reading: Don't Toss It: Skinny Jeans
Toss the one-to-one rule.
I don't know where this came from, but there is a cleaning rule that says if you're going to buy something new, you have to get rid of something. I definitely follow this from time to time. I tell myself that if I get rid of this pair of shoes, I can go find another to replace them. However, just because you are getting tossing four pieces of clothing doesn't mean you need to add four more to your closet. The whole point of this Spring cleaning adventure is to cultivate and curate. Don't use it as an excuse to reload.
Further reading: Does Guilt-Free Shopping Exist?
Arrange by type and assess your shopping habits.
The point of this cleaning should be to just get rid of things; it should also be to figure out why you have so much you want to get rid of in the first place. One way to do this is to pull everything out of your closet and arrange it by type. I know this sounds like a lot of work but hear me out: it will show you so much about the way you shop. When I did this, I realized I had 8 oatmeal-colored sweaters. Now, when I'm walking through a thrift store drifting into a sea of beige knit, I stop myself knowing that I already have so many.
Further reading: How To Stop Buying the Same Clothing Over and Over
Don't just throw everything in a bag and toss it.
Please, please, please, please, please, consider the impact of the clothing you're getting rid of. If you can help it, don't just throw it into a bin and never think about it again. These items often end up in different countries worldwide, filling up second-hand markets and landfills when they could have a significantly lower impact if they had just been appropriately discarded.
Host a clothing swap with friends and family.
Sell clothing on resale websites like ThredUp where the work is done for you. You just have to mail the bag of clothes, and they do everything else.
Donate to a recycling program such as For Days that will take your old t-shirts and make them into something new.
Use recycling incentives from brands that give discounts to reuse. Edwin jeans, for example, offers a 20% discount on new jeans when you send an old pair. They then break down the fabric into something new.
Further reading: There's a Mountain of Unsold Clothing in the Chilean Desert