Wardrobe Planning and Clothing Care
Bringing order to clothes closets and keeping laundry chores under control brings real-time payoff to a busy household. Wardrobe planning cuts scatter-shot shopping trips and keeps spending in check; conquering chaos in the laundry room keeps the clean clothes flowing. No more early-morning basket-diving sessions in search of clean underwear!
Shopping for clothes as the spirit moves you can be a lot of fun, but it’s no way to build a working wardrobe. Crafting an integrated collection of clothes that work together takes a plan; the goal is to get you out the door each morning, ready for any event or activity that will come your way.
Take charge of family wardrobes with this simple wardrobe planning routine:
1. Declutter existing clothing. Sort crammed drawers, tossing stained, outworn, or outgrown items as you go. In the closet, quickly sort items by type—shirts, pants, dresses, or skirts—and hang like items together. Toss worn-out or out-of-style items into a donation box.
2. Evaluate clothing needs. List the types of clothing necessary for your lifestyle, be it work clothes, dressy outfits, and casual or fitness wear. Compare your decluttered closet to your list. Will you need to add or replace garments? If so, start a shopping list.
3. Play matchmaker with the survivors. Try on and assemble outfits for each clothing type you identified in the last step. Be creative! Mix and match to make the most of what you have. If you need to fill in an outfit, make a note of it on the shopping list.
4. Update wardrobes seasonally. When packing away seasonal clothing, declutter as you go; it’s easier to toss worn garments than to store them. As you bring seasonal clothing out for use, review your list of clothing needs and assemble outfits as you unpack. Keep a shopping list handy for any fill-in items and for ideas for new purchases to bring your wardrobe up-to-date.
Creating a Laundry Activity Center
Cut the crazy out of laundry day by creating a laundry activity center in your home to speed washing chores. If your household includes a washer and dryer, they’ll anchor your center for efficient clothing care. For families who launder clothing off-site, a mobile laundry center will cut time and expense at the laundromat and make it easier to transport clothing and supplies.
Too often, laundry areas lack sufficient storage and space to support the activity. Examine your household laundry area with an eye for function. Is there a place to store detergent, fabric softener, and stain-removal supplies? A slender rolling cart creates a good home for laundry products if it can be placed between the washer and dryer.
Next, look at your walls. Do you have a place to hang just-dried clothing? Mount a clothing rod on an adjacent wall to snap the wrinkles out of shirts, dresses, and jeans. If folding space is hard to come by, consider a drop-down shelf. It will help you smooth and fold sheets and T-shirts, and can be folded up and out of the way when it’s not in use.
If you travel to a laundromat to wash your clothing, put the same principle to work, but make your activity center portable. Stock a bucket or cleaning tote with laundry products for easy transport. Presort dirty laundry into separate laundry bags, one per load. Set aside small bills or stockpile change to make it easy to fire up the washers and dryers. A nested stack of laundry baskets lets you sort freshly cleaned clothing as you fold it. At home, have family members grab their basket and go!
Crafting Clothing-Care Routines
With your laundry activity center stocked and ready, it’s time to craft a get-it-done laundry routine. Your family size will dictate whether you need to do laundry daily, weekly, or a couple times a month. Create a schedule that is frequent enough to keep the clean clothes coming without resorting to partial loads.
A sample laundry routine might look like this:
• Once a week, collect dirty laundry and sort it into a divided laundry hamper.
• Run one load of laundry each morning, after the family showers.
• Dry and fold one load of laundry each evening, sorting folded clothes into color-coded laundry baskets.
• Before bed, put away clean laundry and return baskets to the laundry area.