Archives for Closets
Are you keeping duplicate items in your closet?
I’ve always heard that if you have two pairs of jeans (or any kind of clothes), that you’ll get longer life out of them by alternating them on a daily basis instead of wearing one pair until they wear out and then wearing the second pair. Many people make this claim when they’re justifying holding onto four of the exact same black shirt, or whatever multiple of a piece of clothing that is taking up space in their closet. Unfortunately, after many days researching this very topic, I have yet to find a single piece of scientific evidence to support the extended-life claim.
Each piece of clothing you own has a limited life cycle. Natural fabrics are made of predominantly short fibers (sheep fur, rabbit fur, flax shafts, cotton) that eventually break down and unwind over time (for example, pills on a sweater). Man-made fibers are longer and more durable (rayon is a single, long, silk-thread-like product), but they can and will eventually show damage. Wearing, washing, and drying fabrics damage fibers, plain and simple. (Even storing fabrics can damage fibers if under poor conditions.)
Think of it like a math equation:
Life Cycle = X wearings + Y washings + Z dryings
The Life Cycle is a set number that doesn’t change if the days come in succession or not. A cotton t-shirt is going to reach its Life Cycle after something like 200 wearings, washings, and dryings. It doesn’t matter if those 200 wearings, washings, and dryings happen over 200 days in a row or 200 days spread out over two years; you’re only going to be able to wear your t-shirt on 200 occasions before it reaches the end of its Life Cycle.
Hanging clothes on a drying line instead of putting them in the dryer can extend the length of your clothes because the fibers in your fabrics won’t get beat up going round and round in the metal drum (high heat also does damage to fibers). Hand-washing is also better on fabrics than machine washing, but not significantly (the enzymes in detergents still take a toll on fibers). And, you can get a little more life out of your clothes by wearing them more than once (I’m thinking jeans, not underwear) between launderings. But, bacteria, dirt, and mites damage clothes, too, so washing your clothes extends their life cycle (in comparison to not washing them ever).
Ultimately, a piece of clothing has a set life cycle and alternating or rotating its wear doesn’t change that fact. Knowing this, do you feel more comfortable letting go of duplicate items of the exact same piece of clothing in your closet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
P.S. As far as I can tell, the above information is also true for all shoe materials except for leather. For some biological reason, animal skins have a shrinkage period that can improve the life cycle of your leather shoes if given a day to dry out and rest. So, you might get a few more days or weeks of wear out of a pair of leather shoes if you wear them every other day instead of every day. Again, this only seems to be true for shoes made of real leather.
Popularity: 12% [?]
The Uniform Project
We’ve talked in the past about uniforms and how having a signature look can reduce clutter in your wardrobe (like Seth Brundle in the movie The Fly). We know that wearing the same outfit every day isn’t for everyone (certainly not for me), but a number of people do pull it off successfully. We’ve recently stumbled upon The Uniform Project and are amazed at the variety Sheena Matheiken is getting from a single dress and a lot of accessories.
Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir.
She takes a picture every day of her outfit and posts it online. The simple black dress can be worn either forward or backward, which gives the dress even more versatility. The first image below is the plain dress, and the other two are simply ones I fancied. Check out the website to learn more about the project:
Popularity: 13% [?]
Thought experiment: How would you organize Hannah Montana’s closet?
A year or two ago when Hannah Montana became the favorite topic among my young cousins, I decided to watch four or five of the episodes on the Disney channel to figure out what they were discussing. I’m not really sure I’ll ever understand the appeal of the show, but I did learn about Hannah Montana’s closet. (The link goes to a video of her closet. I couldn’t bring myself to embed the video.)
Hannah Montana has an enormous closet with library stacks filled with shoes, belts, and purses, and rotating racks of dresses, tops, and sequined pants. While a fashionista might see the closet and start salivating, my first thought was, “How could I better organize this space?”
A Closet Carousel would definitely be an improvement over the spinning metal racks in Hannah’s wardrobe. Getting rid of all of the clothes she no longer wears would be another good idea (but my assumption is that since she leads a double life, she has more clothing needs than most). And, Simple Division Garment Organizers wouldn’t hurt in such a large collection of clothes.
The pièce de résistance, however, would be a digital wardrobe database with images and descriptions of all of her clothing and accessories. This way, Hannah might be able to pick out what she wants to wear before setting foot into her closet for an evening of party hopping or whatever it is secret rock stars do with their time.
If she has a Mac, she might enjoy the Dress Assistant closet organizing software:
If she is a Windows user, she might like the Victoria Clothes Organizer:
Or, if she wants a custom solution, I’m sure she could whip one up in Access without too much trouble.
For those of us not living the secret rock star life, any and all of these ideas would be overkill. However, it’s still a fun mental exercise. How would you organize a fashionista’s closet?
Popularity: 12% [?]
Illuminate your clutter hiding spaces
Clutter has a way of accumulating in poorly-lit spaces. If you can’t see it, you forget it’s there, and it’s easier to mindlessly add to the disorder. Deep drawers, basements, closets, lower cabinets, and garages are especially vulnerable to dark spaces where clutter can hide.
After you clear the clutter from an area, if it is poorly lit, I recommend putting in an adhesive LED Puck Light ($14 for a 3-pack). They require very little energy, can be used with rechargeable batteries, and help the spaces to stay clear of clutter going forward — just be sure to put the light in a place you can easily reach.
How has better lighting helped keep clutter out of your home? Is there a space where better lighting could help you? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Hanging coats
Since today is a national holiday in the U.S., we’re going to keep posting light this Monday. We’ll be back to our regular posting schedule tomorrow.
—
If you don’t have a closet near the front door to your home, a free-standing coat rack might be a good way to keep your summer jackets from ending up on the back of every couch and chair in the adjacent room. Website Remodelista has a roundup of 13 pieces that might be useful in your home:
On the left: The Sprout Coat Tree for $99. On the right: 10 Degree Coat Rack for $49.95. Both available at CB2.
Check out the post “10 Easy Pieces: Free-Standing Coat Racks” for eleven more ideas.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Hinge hooks
Back when I was a home renter instead of a home owner, I spent a lot of time trying to hunt down organizing and storage solutions that didn’t force me to change my space. I haven’t forgotten that frustration, and I like to keep an eye out for products that I can recommend that renters and home owners can use.
Recently, I learned about these simple hooks that fit over the pins of door hinges. You pull out your hinge’s pins, slip the hook onto the hinge, and then slide the hinge pin back into place. When it’s time to move, you remove it as easily as you installed it. No nail holes to fill or patches to paint. Plus, the hook is behind the door and out of sight when the door is open.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Ask Unclutterer: Laundry tips for apartment dwellers
Reader Diane submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:
I live in an apartment without a washer or dryer in my unit. Unclutterer is rich with laundry advice, but none of it gives specific tips for regular laundromat users. How can I make the process suck less?
In a strange set of circumstances, the next day I received an e-mail from reader Hannah that directly answered Diane’s question. Spooky.
The tips that you guys have given about laundry routines tend to be oriented (understandably) toward home-owners who have whole rooms for their laundry-related paraphernalia. As an apartment-dweller (with roommates), I just wanted to pass along a system that’s been working well for me in terms of the four laundry factors specific to apartment buildings:
- general lack of space
- lack of privacy (not being able to leave stuff in the laundry room between washings)
- having to tramp up and down stairs (often ice-covered), lugging hampers or bags of laundry
- having to hunt up quarters
The magic thing that has changed my life and enabled me to stop procrastinating about doing my laundry: a “laundry tote!” I’m using a shower caddy (this one happens to be a soft-sided waterproof vinyl bag with pockets, but those square plastic ones would work as well) to hold:
- various detergents decanted into Gatorade bottles (which hold enough for multiple loads but aren’t as big and heavy)
- stain remover
- dryer sheets
- quarters
- delicates bags
This way, when I finally get the gumption up to traipse down the stairs with a giant hamper in 2-degree weather, I don’t get bogged down searching for coins and juggling bottles and dryer sheets and my keys. And when I’ve got quarters hanging around, I know where to stash them.
I also use a couple of the pockets to hold the extra buttons that come with clothes, patches, elastic, etc.
And, to chime in at the end here, be sure to check out our post “How to use the laundromat to get our laundry routine under control” for a few more ideas.
Thank you, Diane and Hannah, for being a part of our Ask Unclutterer column. A solid question and an informative answer!
Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Storing specialty hangers?
Reader Iris wrote us an e-mail the other day that sincerely left me baffled. I struggle with a very similar issue in my home. Her question:
I always put away hangers in a cardboard box sitting at the bottom of the wardrobe when the hangers are not in use. However, the hangers are of different size tend to tangle up and it looks very messy. I just wonder whether there’s a neat way of storing them?
Okay, I can help out with the first part of this question and suggest that Iris ditch the cardboard box and exchange it for a hanger holder. I have one very similar to the one in the picture, and I recommend it highly. It is extremely convenient and transports easily to the laundry room when I’m pulling clothes out of the dryer.
HOWEVER (and this is a mighty big however), it only works for standard clothes hangers similar to the ones in the picture. Large suit and coat hangers are too big and get tangled, any hanger with a curve to it doesn’t stack well, skirt hangers never fit, and plain shirt hangers that don’t have bottom rods slide right off of it. I have to leave an empty space at the end of my closet rod to hold all of these non-standard hangers when they’re not in use. And, I always end up making a couple trips back and forth between the laundry room and the closet to grab the specialty hangers when I need them.
Admitting complete and utter defeat, I open the floor to you our readers. How do you keep the non-standard hangers organized when they aren’t in use? Please, fill the comments with your wonderful ideas — Iris and I need your help!
Popularity: 12% [?]
Ask Unclutterer: How many hours will a family of four spend on laundry each week?
Reader Amanda recently e-mailed and asked a few questions about laundry maintenance for a family of four. She wanted to know how many loads of laundry a typical family might do in one week, how long this would take, and what routines could be put into place to handle these loads. After doing some research, math, and making a few estimations, I think I finally have a few answers for her questions.
1. How many clothes can a washing machine hold in a single wash?
First off, know that there are not standard load sizes for washing machines. Phrases like “mid-size capacity” or “ultra capacity” mean different things from manufacturer to manufacturer. The number you need to determine how many clothes a washing machine can effectively handle at a time is its pounds of clothing per load.
For example, Whirlpool states that their top-loading washing machines can handle 12 to 18 pounds based on model. And, their front-loading machines vary from 12 to 20 pounds based on model. But, Whirlpool doesn’t provide in their product descriptions anything other than drum sizes of models in cubic feet. A machine’s drum size is irrelevant because it has no bearing on the motor’s ability to handle the weight of the clothing in the drum. To find out the weight your washing machine can handle, you may have to do what I did and call the store where the washing machine was purchased. I learned that my “large capacity” washer can hold just 12 pounds of clothing.
To learn how much 12 pounds of clothing is (or whatever your washer can handle), stand on a scale empty handed and weigh yourself. Then, have someone pile into your arms pairs of jeans. When the number on the scale increases 12 pounds over your empty-handed weight, you’ll have an idea of your washing machine’s capacity. For me, this came out to be between 9 and 10 pairs of jeans. Try the same thing with other clothing items to get a full picture of what your machine can handle.
2. How many clothes does an average person wear in a seven day period?
Obviously, this number varies based on the person. However, I was curious about how much clothing I dirty in a week. So, I abandoned my normal twice-weekly washing routine and weighed all of my dirty clothes at the end of the week. Turns out, I wore 16 pounds of clothing last week. My husband’s clothing came in at 17.5 pounds. Honestly, I was blown away that we dirty so much clothing in a single week. But, since we both started working out every day in 2009, we now dirty at least two sets of clothes a day. Between the two of us, we had three loads of clothing in a week (well, actually four because I had a delicates load).
3. How many towels and sheets does an average person go through in a seven day period?
Again, this number will vary based on personal preference. In our house, my husband and I combined go through 1 set of queen sheets, six washcloths, two kitchen towels, four bath towels, and two hand towels per week. This turns out to be less than 12 pounds, but unfortunately all of it won’t physically fit in a single load in our washing machine. So, the sheets get their own load and the towels get another. If you’re keeping track, this means that our family of two generates five or six loads of laundry most weeks.
4. What is your best guess for how many loads a family of four would generate in a week?
Kids seem to generate a lot of clothing — spills, sports practices, uniforms for after-school jobs, indecision about what to wear, etc. If I generate 16 pounds of clothing in a week, I imagine that a middle schooler or high schooler could easily create 14 to 15 pounds of clothing in a week. Multiply that by two and add in two adults, and a family of four probably generates between 60 and 65 pounds of clothing per week. In our washing machine, that would be five to six loads of clothing.
Then, figure in a load for all of the bedding for a week (three sets of sheets can probably fit in one load), and two loads for towels (12 washcloths, two kitchen towels, eight bath towels, and four hand towels), and a typical family of four probably generates between 8 and 10 loads of laundry per week.
5. How long does it take to do the laundry?
Again, this varies based on the machine you have and what you’re laundering. But … in our home, a full cycle in the washing machine is 35 minutes and most everything is dry in 55 minutes. A single load from start to finish in the machines takes 1.5 hours and then another 15-20 minutes to fold and put away. It can be a two-hour chore for a single load of laundry.
Eight loads of laundry would take roughly 10 hours to complete. (That is estimating 35 minutes to wash the first load without anything in the dryer, 440 minutes to dry 8 loads of laundry, and 120 minutes of folding and putting away time.) Ten loads of laundry would take just over 12 hours to complete.
6. What is a reasonable laundry routine for a family of four?
Reasonable is a pretty vague term in this instance, so feel welcome to offer up alternatives in the comments section.
Monday: Launder all the sheets from all three beds. (1 load)
Tuesday: Launder child #1 and child #2’s clothing. (1-2 loads)
Wednesday: Launder adult’s clothing. (1-2 loads)
Thursday: Launder towels. (2 loads)
Friday: Launder child #1 and child #2’s clothing. (1-2 loads)
Saturday: Launder adult’s clothing. (1-2 loads)
Sunday: Rest, or launder a load of delicates.
7. What are some additional tips and tricks?
Check out my previous posts on getting laundry under control for additional suggestions for tackling this beast.
- 2008 new year’s resolution wrap up
- Reader question: Ending laundry chaos
- More than 15 ways to handle recurrent clutter
- My 2008 new year’s resolution: Laundry
Popularity: 23% [?]
Donating clothing to Vietnam Veterans of America
A few years ago, I donated a few bags of clothing to my local Goodwill. Unfortunately, before the bags of clothing were actually donated, they were in the trunk of my car for almost eight months because I forgot about them. When I eventually went to donate the clothes, my local Goodwill informed me that they were no longer accepting donations at that location. So, I ended up driving to a location in another town to eventually donate the clothes.
I’ve recently decided to purge some clothing and this time am donating my clothes to the Vietnam Veterans of America. The VVA sent me a flier a few weeks ago letting me know that they would be in my area picking up donations (which, come to think of it, may have been the reason I got in the purging spirit).
I went to www.SCHEDULEAPICKUP.com and scheduled my pickup for February 2. (You can check out the site, too, to learn when they’ll be in your neighborhood next.) It was so easy. I don’t have to do anything except put all my donations into bags for their eventual pickup. The VVA sells the donated household goods to private companies by annual bid. The funds provide almost half of their annual needs to support local, state, and national service programs (e.g., homeless veterans, agent orange related health programs, improved hospital care for veterans with disabilities).
The VVA is a great cause, they make clothing donation easy, and it unclutters your closets and dressers. I’ll still donate to Goodwill, but the VVA is getting some of my clothes this February.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Storing board games and puzzles
Storing board games and puzzles can be an unnecessarily cumbersome task. The cardboard boxes are easily damaged and there isn’t a standard size to make stacking simple.
If board game and puzzle organization has you stumped, here are some suggestions for getting your games in order:
- When acquiring new board games, consider purchasing games in “library” or “book” style boxes. They easily fit on a bookshelf and their standardized sizes make cupboard storage convenient, too. Hasbro has numerous classic games in its library series (Risk, Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, Yahtzee, Clue, Stratego, Life, Jenga, Memory, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and Hi, Ho! Cherry-O). And, many of the Rio Grande games also come in bookshelf-friendly boxes, like Carcassonne and Puerto Rico.
- To avoid losing pieces, bundle everything but the game board and box into zip-top bags when the game is not in use. It’s a lot easier to find a bag of men, dice, and cards than it is to find a single piece.
- Use gallon size zip-top bags for puzzle pieces if the puzzle box is damaged. Take a picture of the puzzle box top and put it in with the pieces in the bag. Or, if you’re up for a challenge, just write the name of the puzzle on the bag with a permanent marker and don’t have a picture to follow.
- If your child is a fan of wood puzzles, the Wire Puzzle Rack can hold more than 10 wooden puzzles of varying sizes.
- A puzzle mat is good for storing puzzles when you need to put it away but aren’t yet finished working on it.
- If the box for a game becomes so damaged that it is no longer containing a game, there are plastic board game boxes to hold the pieces and most boards.
How do you store board games and puzzles in your home? Let us know your suggestions in the comments!
Popularity: 19% [?]
Martha Stewart’s on maximizing your closet space
In the January issue of Martha Stewart Living, there is a feature on maximizing your closet space. There is a great photo gallery on MarthaSterwart.com, which highlights some of the excellent ideas.
One of the ideas I liked was the following:
High Altitude: Hard-to-reach areas are a closet’s no-man’s-land. A spring-loaded pull-down rack, which you can install yourself, solves the problem. A light tug on a handle positioned in the center of the rod brings clothes to you. The racks are sold on the web and through some closet and organizing stores.
Be sure to check out the online gallery for even more ideas.
As a final note, I’ve looked for the “spring-loaded pull-down rack,” but have been unable to find a retailer that sells them. Does anyone have an idea of where to find this?
Popularity: 15% [?]
2008 new year’s resolution wrap up
At the start of 2008, I made a new year’s resolution to get my laundry situation under control. Laundry always has been the one chore that I hate more than all the others, and I was determined to find a way to clear my life of laundry stress.
I did a relatively decent job staying on top of my laundry situation until our dryer died and I had to declare laundry bankruptcy in May. Since the dryer situation was fixed, I have to admit that things have gone pretty well in the laundry realm.
From time to time, laundry will get folded and live on the couch for a day before making it into the dresser. However, washed, dried, and folded laundry is leaps and bounds ahead of the huge piles that used to form in the dirty clothes hamper.
The best change I made to keep laundry under control in our home was to decrease the size of our hampers. I got rid of the large hampers and replaced them with single load size hampers. When the hampers are filled, I know I have one load of laundry to wash. Psychologically, I know I can easily take on one load and so I do it without any procrastination. Most weeks, I do a load of laundry every Monday, and two loads on Thursday (I change the sheets on the bed and wash the bath towels as an extra load on Thursday). That’s it. Laundry no longer is a major stress in my life — a wonderful improvement from this point last year.
I’ve started to think about what organizing goal I’m going to add to my 2009 new year’s resolutions. As I did last year, I’ll announce my decision in January and my plan to achieve that goal.
What organizing resolutions are you considering for 2009? How did you fare with your organizing resolutions for 2008? I’m interested in reading what goals you plan to set in the comments!
Popularity: 23% [?]
Save time and effort with a personal shopper
I’m not someone who enjoys spending time shopping for clothes. When I need to update, enhance, or replace items in my wardrobe, I write the information down on a list that I keep on my computer. Then, usually twice a year, I will go shopping to collect the items I need from my list.
In every sense, I am a utilitarian shopper.
One of the frustrating things about being a utilitarian shopper, however, is that fashion trends and my list usually don’t mesh well together. Styles, cuts, and colors change from season to season, and I don’t keep up on these things so it takes me days to find matches for my list.
Recently, I discovered that I can greatly improve my shopping experience with the help of a store’s personal shopper. In every case I have encountered, the service has been free. And, in all but one case, when I offered the shopper a tip, the shopper refused to take it. Free help is my kind of help!
Here’s how it works: You put together a list of what you’re looking for and take your measurements. Then, call your favorite department store and ask to speak to a personal shopper. The shopper will ask you basic questions about your life and your price range, and then you give him or her your list and measurements. You’ll also set an appointment for when you will come in to meet with the personal shopper. At your scheduled time, you arrive and the personal shopper will have clothes already pulled for you that you can try on and see if you like. You have no obligation to buy any of the clothes, and the shopper sticks around while you’re trying on items to see if you need different sizes or different cuts. Usually, at least some of the pieces work, and you’re out the door and on your way home in half the time of a normal shopping experience.
I’ve even tried this process in shops that don’t officially have personal shoppers. When a clerk in the store asks if he or she can help me, I whip out my list and discuss what I’m looking to buy. Nine times out of 10, the clerk will ask you about your size and then go and find some pieces for you. I’ve even had clerks tell me to go ahead and make my way to the fitting room and they brought the items to me. The clerks know their merchandise and find items much more quickly then someone coming into the store.
I also feel that I dress a little more hip now than I used to. The personal shoppers and clerks know the latest trends much better than I do, and they always seem to find things that flatter my body better than I find when I’m left to search a store on my own. For a utilitarian shopper like myself, a personal shopper saves me time and energy when I need new pieces for my wardrobe.
And, it should go without saying, but only use these services when you need to replace or improve your wardrobe. I like to follow the one-in-one-out philosophy with clothes: If I bring something new into my wardrobe, at least one old piece in my current collection has to go to charity or the rag bag.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Ikea hack for toy storage
The older your child gets, the more important it is to find great ideas for toy storage. It is always important to get rid of toys that your child doesn’t want or play with any longer to keep the toy inventory manageable. It also is important to find a storage solution that is easy for you and your child to use. Enter this idea from Ikea Hacker:
The hack uses the Ikea Pax wardrobe and Trofast storage boxes, which fit perfectly in the slots. This hack stores an incredible about of toys and is simple to create. I’m not sure if my daughter has enough toys to fill a full Pax wardrobe, but I’m sure we will be able to find use for all of the drawers.
(via ohdeedoh)
Popularity: 28% [?]
