At the end of each year, many of us make a New Year’s resolution to declutter and get our wardrobes cleaned out and organised. Out with the old, in with the new, as the saying goes. It’s a great chance to store away off-season clothing to make space for summer pieces.
If decluttering your wardrobe is on your to-do list, here’s help from an expert with a quick and easy hack that only takes five minutes and will transform your entire wardrobe!
“The reverse hanger hack” is designed to be done as soon as the New Year begins, but the concept will work any time of year – pop a date in your diary six months from the day you make the change.
If tackling your clutter once and for all this year is a challenge you’ve set yourself, professional organiser Anita Birges from Mise en Place, has a bunch of clever clearouts to get on board with. Her wardrobe hack promises to change your life instantly – with lasting results.
The best wardrobe clean out hack:
- One by one, take all your clothes on their hangers off the rail and reverse them so that they hang in the opposite direction – so the open part of the hanger faces out towards you
- Set yourself a timer to remind you in six months’ time to recheck your hangers
- Now, each day as you wear clothes one by one, replace them on the rail with the hangers facing back to the inside as you would normally do
- Wear your clothes and replace them in this way for the next 6 months
- In six months to the day, look at which of your hangers have not been turned around – this means you haven’t worn them for the entire season and can remove them from your life! Donate, sell or swap the items with your friends.
Watch Anita’s video from a few years ago with her wonderful explanation of how it’s done:
What to do with your clothes you don’t keep:
After clearing out your wardrobe, you’re likely going to be left with a pile of unwanted clothes. For the items that are still in a good condition, you can try your hand at selling them on Facebook Marketplace or Depop, before donating any other items to your local op-shop.
For the items that aren’t in the best condition (stained, stretched or discoloured), don’t throw them in the bin. Instead, you can take advantage of one of the great companies, such as UPPAREL, that will pick up your old textiles and recycle them properly.
Follow Anita on Instagram here.
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