Simple Tips for Hanging and Folding Clothes
Ever asked yourself, should I hang or fold this? Here are the ways I prefer to store my clothes, a few tips might surprise you!
TOOLS
CLOTHES TO HANG
Blouses – Silk, Rayon, Satin, Velvet, 100% Cotton all should be hung. Heavier fabrics or cotton blends can be folded in a drawer, but for organizational purposes I like to keep ALL of my shirts that are suitable for day to day wear (i.e. not including pajama/workout shirts) hanging in my closet. That way I can visibly see all of my options each morning as I’m picking out an outfit.
Jackets / Coats / Blazers – it’s recommended to hang these on larger wooden hangers to preserve the shape of coats and blazers however I have been hanging mine on velvet hangers for years and haven’t noticed much (if any) negative impact on their shape.
Dress Pants and Skirts – If you have enough vertical hanging space, hang your pants at the hem with an adjustable clip hanger. If not, drape them at the knee over a trouser hanger.
Sweaters – this one tends to be controversial, most people will recommend that you fold your sweaters and cardigans because hanging them will cause draping in the shoulders. But I have limited drawer space and chunky sweaters take up a LOT of room when folded. I also like to keep all clothing options visible as I’m getting dressed so for me, I choose to hang!
The trick is to hang them in a way that won’t cause draping. Fold sweaters in half then drape the sleeves over one side of the hanger and the body over the other side. This way you won’t get shoulder drapes but you’ll still be able to hang ’em up.
Dresses – this is an obvious one but worth mentioning. You will almost always want to hang your dresses. The only exception is if you have a heavily embellished or beaded dress, fold those girls carefully with acid free tissue paper separating the layers.
Belts & Ties – This one’s for the boys. My husband has a bad habit of leaving his belts on the floor after coming home from work, and it drives me mad (can anyone else relate?). The only thing keeping me sane is this belt hanger solution – quick and easy for me to get those belts off the floor and into his closet. I also love this tie hanger for the same reason.
CLOTHES TO FOLD
Sweaters – Above I made a big case for why I choose to hang my sweaters, but folding is still the gold standard here. If you have the drawer space and don’t mind keeping sweaters hidden, go for it!
Casual T-shirts – I fold mine and store them upright (the Konmari way!). There are tons of video tutorials on the web showing how to fold t-shirts the way Konmari recommends, however I prefer this super quick method (also check out the GIF above for how-to).
Pajamas & Workout Wear – Absolutely zero need to take up precious hanging space for these items. I fold and store mine in drawers, but I have seen some clever storage solutions using hanging shoe racks for workout wear.
Socks – I used to bunch my ankle socks inside of one another and toss them into a drawer, but for the past 2 years I have been folding them in half and storing nicely in my drawer. I have different socks for different types of shoes so it helps to have them organized and visible this way when I’m getting dressed in the mornings. No mismatched or missing socks for me!
Bras – Like my socks, these used to just get tossed haphazardly into a drawer with sports bras and swimsuits. Since then, my favorite way to store these is just stacking them inside one another. I fold my sports bras and stack them behind my regular bras to keep everything in one place.
Purses – In a perfect world, you would stuff your purses and store them on shelves – but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we? I hang my purses on hooks and just accept the fact that the straps will likely wear out faster that way. It’s the easiest and fastest way for me to keep them off of the floor and to me, an easy-to-clean room is worth far more to me than extending the life of my (under $250) bags. But if you’re more attached to your totes, stuff and shelve those puppies!
