I’m trying for New Year’s decluttering, after a couple of years with more buying than giving away. I am just now catching on to the mathematics of it all. If I bring new things in, and equal number should go out. Between me and my four year old…plus old coats and sleeping bags of my Husband, I am ready to tackle it all.

Here’s my big question. How do I store clothing and sleeping bags in a room that is not temperature controlled? I have a detached garage that is not heated or cooled. We live in Oregon in a mild damp climate. Few days below freezing, few that are very hot, but lots of moisture. Can I put plastic tubs of clothes or sleeping bags here? Also, what is the best source for dessicant bags? Nontoxic? Your link above seems to be for electronics? Good for fabric too?

I also tend to buy more clothes than I need – sometimes they look fine in the dressing room and then it looks awful at home. So sometimes I give away new clothes to Salvation Army… it’s all for a good cause anyway!

I, too, am pregnant and cannot even wear any of my pre-pregnancy sweaters this fall/winter. That means NOTHING I owned previous to becoming pregnant can/will be worn. I barely have enough closet space to keep 1/2 a year, let alone, a whole year of clothing plus maternity clothes too… so packing away I will do!

What’s the best way to care for wool, alpaca, or other fiber animal garments? Simple – Baby shampoo. A good quality baby shampoo is PH balanced, and will not remove all of the lanolin from the fibers themselves. If your baby shampoo has conditioner in it, even better. Yes, there are commercial wool washes (Euculin and Soak) but over 30 years my gram, my mom, and I have found that simple is most often best.

For storage of wool sweaters, a simple wash is usually best. Let dry completely. If you need to store in an airtight container, be aware that the natural oils may cause “sweating” and discolor, which is why we try to stay away from plastic bags. Gram has folded her hand-knit sweaters and set them on a cedar plank (it is just set on top of the shelf) in the closet since 1930. She has yet to have a single moth or bug. When you can’t smell the sharp cedar smell, you can freshen the plank with sandpaper. I think she replaces the plank once a decade.

I do use clear plastic totes, but mine are not airtight and I check to ensure there is no moisture under the lids after the first few hot days. I have a handful of cedar cubes that I toss into a bag for each box. The hubby just cut up a piece of cedar for those. I have my first hand knit wool square from 1977, and have never had a problem with moths or bugs – to this day it is as soft as the minute it came off the needles!

First – congratulations!

I had the same problem last summer – all maternity clothes for the summer and then still maternity clothes for after my son was born for a bit of time. By the time I was out of them, the weather was getting cool so I was back into my warmer clothes.

Here are two ideas:

1. If you have some close friends/family that have similar body sizes, perhaps you can lend them some of your summer clothes. It would give them a new wardrobe for a season and give you some space. A few of my friends and I swapped clothes like this because we all seemed to stagger our pregnancies just perfectly. We swapped maternity clothes, regular clothes, and even bassinets, toys, etc. It is a good way to save some money too.

2. Most likely, you do not have an abundance of maternity clothes since you will only wear them for a few short times in your life. Therefore, you could keep your warmer clothes out and just organize your drawers/closet so that your maternity clothes are easily accessible. Pushing your “normal” clothes to the back corners so you don’t have to worry about them. When you can fit back into normal clothes, you can just put your maternity clothes into the back corners of your drawers/closet (or donate them if you are finished with them).

Good luck!

I learned all about using the bags on this site:
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008.....rage-bags/

They also talk about using the bags for all sorts of storage, even storing away your “fat” or “skinny” clothes that don’t current fit you. What a great idea!

The chemists I’ve asked have said that if you left a vacuum sealed piece of wool over a heat vent next to a sunny window for a year or two, both the fiber and the plastic would start deteriorating. But, I doubt that is how anyone is storing their out of season clothing.

This is my first visit here, just wanted to say nice place, I’ll enjoy looking around.

I only pack away scarves, gloves, long underwear, and those sorts of smaller things. We don’t have enough storage space to pack away coats, and those sweaters still come in handy now and then!