The Organized Clothing Challenge: Week 19

Sorting clothes for six children each season has been one of my biggest organizing challenges over the years. I understand why some mothers of many don’t store clothing to pass down. It takes an enormous amount of time and space!

But like any big job, you’ve just got to dive in and this week is as good as any.

#1 & #2 Sort & Make Shopping List for Kids

Sorting kids’ clothes will likely take you more than 15 minutes. I am allotting two days to do this. You may need more time like I do. If you want to hand clothes down, start this process with your oldest child. Here is the process I use:

Do kids’ laundry
Collect same items (all short-sleeve shirts together, for example)
Put clothing in poor condition in the trash. That includes socks and underwear!
Determine which items are outgrown by eye balling or having your child try them on
Put clothing that is never worn or is too small in hand-me-downs or in a giveaway bag (I use the large leaf bags).
Store clothing that is too large in the closet to sort next season. I use white fabric storage bins and plastic drawers.
Count remaining items (how many casual shorts, etc.).
Decide how many of each item it’s reasonable to keep (I keep ten casual pieces because my kids are hard on their clothes and it gives me a little lag time on laundry. I keep three church outfits).
Have your children help you choose their favorites to keep and put the rest in the giveaway bag. You may want to do this in outfits. Put shorts and shirts together, for example. (I recommend against keeping these items as hand-me-downs. If one child doesn’t like it, the next one probably won’t either). Put keepers away.
Make a shopping list of items each child needs. I like to add this to my iPhone reminders list with the groceries. I often pick up groceries at Target or Walmart and having them on the list keeps me from forgetting to pick them up when I’m there. I also like to shop at home. My 14-year-old needed shorts and I just bought several pair for him from Kohls using Kohls cash and a discount code.

#3 Sort & Make Shopping List for Yourself

You can go through the same process for yourself that you did for the kids. You may enjoy reading how I learned to keep my wardrobe organized.

#4 Take Clothing to Consignment or Charity

In my city, there are many charities that make pick-ups from your home of these items. We also have regular church sales so they accept donations most of the year. But there’s nothing like having my husband load it all up and take it away to Goodwill!

If you want to put clothes on consignment, select the best items and prepare them according to the directions of your favorite store. Put all items into the back of your vehicle so you’re forced to deliver them soon. You’ll be eager to do this the first time you go to load groceries into the back of a car that is already full of clothes!