Sorting through piles of your children's clothes is quite a chore. Kids typically grow out of their clothes in months, leaving you with more stuff to organize and store as hand-me-downs for your younger kids.
Admit it or not, you’ve tried in the past to avoid the chore, wishing the clothes would magically organize themselves. Well, we all know that’s not going to happen, and you’ll still need to start organizing at one point, so we made this simple to follow guide to make the task less dreadful for you:
Why should you start organizing your kids' hand-me-downs?
Organizing your kid's hand-me-downs not only helps you get rid of unusable clothes, it also keeps money in your pocket as you get to save on buying new clothes for the younger siblings. And if you're sentimental about clothes, you'll remember the moments tied up to them when you see your kids wear something their older siblings used to love.
Even when you don't have many kids, you get the chance to donate grown-out clothes to a charity that needs them more. Also, the thought of having an untidy wardrobe has a way of affecting your productivity at work or parenting. Thus, it's worth the time to organize and store hand-me-downs once and for all.
It's a win-win situation here; you get to declutter, save clothes for your younger kids, give out clothes to others, and free your mind from the stress of having a messy closet.
The things to consider as hand-me-downs
Pajamas
School uniforms
Sportswear
Casual wear
Formal wear
Shoes
Pants
Things to toss out
Underwear
Trendy clothing (they need to be handed over soon as the trend dies down)
Socks
Materials needed
Pens
Labels
Storage bins
Closet for hand-me-downs
Steps in organizing and storing your kid's hand me downs
1. Categorize minimally.
Don't go overboard in organizing just yet—you'll be overwhelmed if you classify items by season, age, gender, and purpose. Not all children's wear is same-sized, gender-specific, and suitable for one season only. So the most straightforward approach to classify things is categorizing by:
Newborn wear
Toddler wear
School uniforms
Shoes
Toss out/To donate
2. Fold clothes neatly.
Now that you have classified them into five categories, you can start folding them up neatly. This will minimize fabric wrinkles as you store them and help you save up space in storage.
A great folding approach is by enabling them to sit upright on storage. This means that you won't be stacking clothes, which is a recipe for disorganized and mess-prone storage. Having clothes upright and inserted from front to back allows you to see things quickly and avoid digging through piles that ruin tidiness.
3. Pile clothes according to similarity.
Before you store the clothes in their designated bins, you should strategically pile items of the same size, fabric, purpose, and gender. This way, the clothes are not randomly bunched together and placed in a bin.
For example, you should pile together all the girl's toddler clothes and keep a separate pile for the boys.
4. Get your bins and label accordingly.
Now get your bins and label them according to the five categories you identified. Labels will help you easily identify the containers and their contents. You can get creative by color coding and printing the labels. You'll use these labels in the bin itself and the dividers that you'll use to segment different types of clothing in each bin.
Some of the labels you need to prepare are the first five categories, the types of clothing identified based on age, season, and gender. You may even use your child's name to specify who will wear the clothes next as labels. The idea is you need labels for dividers that you'll insert in between the segregated hand-me-downs.
5. Put the clothes in bins and place the dividers.
Now that the clothes are categorized per category and subcategory, you may add them to the labeled bins. Clear plastic containers are preferable, but you may use any bin if you don't have clear ones.
Insert the dividers to separate sections by age, gender, season, and purpose. Then, tidy up the clothes before you set them aside for storage.
6. Pick one centralized location for storing hand-me-downs.
Find a spot that can accommodate all hand-me-down bins. The centralization will prevent you from forgetting where you stored the containers. The best location can be the top shelf of your indoor wardrobe or under the bed—places that are easy to find yet are usually out of your way.
You may store them in the basement. However, beware of molds that may accumulate over time. The best spot must be dry, clean, well-ventilated, and dust-free.
7. Pick up your "to donate" stash and give them away.
Your "to donate" stash may also include clothes that you may give away to other kids you know. The idea is as soon as you acquire them, think of how you'll get rid of them. This is to lessen the load you have in your children's wardrobe. You won't have any use for them anyway.
Other reminders when organizing and storing your kids' hand-me-downs
Toss out ripped, stained, or too worn-out clothes.
Donate right away the trendy clothes that will go out of style.
Give away clothes that your kids won't use regardless of how expensive or cute they are.
Use a timer to encourage speedy sorting.
If there are any extras, you may scale them down and move them to your "to donate or give away" bin.
If your kids don't want to get rid of their unusable clothes, you may consider sorting them out when they aren't around.
Conclusion
Going through your children's old clothes doesn't have to be overwhelming. While it may be time-consuming, you can have fun doing this as a form of stress-reliever or bonding time with your children. With the mentioned steps, you can surely find your way to seamless hand-me-down storage.
About the Author:
Hazel Santos is an experienced Content Writer for Skill Success who also has a knack for DIY home redesign and organization. When she isn't writing, she keeps herself busy by browsing through home organization blogs and redesigning her space at home.
