Organize Your Closet in 5 Steps

Old clothes. Never worn clothes. Damaged clothes. The hardest part of decluttering is deciding what to part with, and what to keep. First, take everything out of your closet, then separate them into 3 piles: Keep, Toss, or Donate. To decide which pile, review each item and ask yourself:

• Does it fit?
• Have you worn it in the last 12 months?
• Can you see yourself wearing it again?
• Does it match your current style?
• Is it damaged in any way (e.g., pilled, ripped, stained, missing buttons, broken zippers); if so, will you get it repaired in the next month?
• Do you feel good about yourself when wearing it?

Once you’ve reviewed everything, put your donate pile in a bag (write down what you’re donating first for tax purposes!), and toss what can’t be saved. Then…

Clothes can get wrinkled and stale from sitting in the closet too long, and shoes can trap odor:

• Use a laundry detergent designed to get clothes smelling fresh again, like ARM & HAMMER™ plus OxiClean Odor Blasters; it’s specially formulated to get rid of body odor, sweat, and musty-towel odors.
• You can also add a scent booster to the wash like ARM & HAMMER™ Clean Scentsations In-Wash Scent Booster, which helps provide long-lasting freshness to your laundry.
• Remove odors in your shoes with this DIY kids’ project that uses baking soda and old socks; you can also put dryer sheets into your shoes overnight to absorb odors.

Closets get dusty and dirty, too, so now’s your chance to get it clean! To clean inside surfaces like drawers or shelves:

• Sprinkle ARM & HAMMER™ Baking Soda onto a damp sponge, then rub surfaces lightly, including the inside of your closet doors. Rinse the sponge with water, wipe everything down again, and dry with a cloth.
• Vacuum or sweep as necessary.
• Put an ARM & HAMMER™ Fresh-n-Natural Odor Absorber in a corner inside your closet to keep it smelling fresh for longer (remember to replace every 30 days!)

Now that your clothes and shoes are fresh and ready to go back in, think about how to organize them so you can easily find what you’re looking for:

• Divide your closet into clothing sections such as by color, clothing type (shirts, pants, jeans), or function (work vs formal). Put your out-of-season clothes in a bin, outside of your closet, or keep them together in a seasonal section.
• Make a clear separation between each clothing section by using different colored hangers.
• Hang as much clothing as possible to conserve space.
• Recycle dry cleaning hangers or return them to the dry cleaner.
• Place remaining items in plastic bins in your closet below hung items; shoes can go in bins or drawers, or line up neatly on a shoe rack.

For storing bulky items, nothing tops your top shelves:

• Fold and pile clothing of similar weights together to keep your stacks looking neat.
• Line up purses, one next to the other and stack hats, place them neatly in bins.
• Add battery operated lighting or LED lights above your top shelf to give you more light!