Jul 06, 2016

Maintaining Your Closet

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.

This post was sponsored by the Maker of OxiClean™ through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about their Versatile Stain Remover, all opinions are my own. Thank you for helping to support the well-loved brands and sponsors that make this blog possible.

Now that you have your minimal wardrobe complete, you’ll want to be sure to take good care of it. Since I emphasize buying quality, timeless clothing that lasts, I thought it would only be proper for me to share my best tips for maintaining your closet. Today I’ve partnered with OxiClean™ to do just that.

Buy Quality Items
You have to start with a good base, and you can’t do that if you’re busy shopping items that fall apart after two washes. Look for quality fabrics with well-made details. My favorite fabrics are made from natural fibers like cotton, silk, wool, etc. They feel better on my skin and seem to last longer in my closet. I own jeans that have lasted me years, and some sweaters as well!

Store Your Clothing Properly
I feel like this is a no-brainer. Once you have those quality items, you’ll want to keep them in a safe and appropriate place! You wouldn’t hang socks on a hanger or shove a beautiful silk dress into a drawer would you? All clothing that can hang on a hanger, should if you have space. This includes items like tops, dresses, jackets, skirts, and even denim. I prefer to keep my denim folded into a drawer, but that’s personal preference. I also keep my shorts, intimates, loungewear, swim, and activewear in a drawer too. Clothing that is a heavier knit (like sweaters) should be folded so it doesn’t stretch out of shape. I prefer the KonMari Method for folding items in drawers because it makes it easy to see everything lined up and it looks prettier, too.

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.
Before

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.
After

Caring for Whites, Lights, and Stains
I first discovered OxiClean™ when my son was in cloth diapers and have been a fan ever since. I used it with his diapers then, and now use it to help boost my regular laundry detergent in white and light-colored clothing loads. I keep it with my other washing materials and it’s so easy to just add a scoop with my normal laundry and let it do its thing. I can’t believe how much of a difference it makes. When I have a stubborn stain to remove (ahem, wine!), I can pre-soak the item for a few hours in a small amount of OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover mixed with warm water, then wash as usual. I even use it to brighten up or soak bedding and cushion covers from the couch. Here are a few videos. that explain how to clean different items.

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.

Darks and Denim
To try to cut back on fading, I try to limit how often I wash dark items like black and denim. Unless they’re pretty dirty, they go a few washes in between. This is not only because they can, but because they tend to fade more in the wash. Always wash inside out in cold water, then line dry if possible. White and super-light denim are exceptions for me on this though, averaging a wash every 1-2 wears at the very most.

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.

Dry Clean Only Items
These items usually don’t offer much slack when it comes to being dry-clean only. Sometimes I test hand wash items that are 100% silk, and some silks sold are hand washable, but it’s not often I test my luck.  I visit a dry cleaner who is eco-friendly, accepting hanger returns and using environmentally friendly methods for their process.

Make Repairs
They say if an item isn’t broken, don’t fix it. However if it is, fix it right away! Determine whether or not the repair is something that you can do on your own or if it requires professional help. I recently repaired a favorite hat and it went well. You’d be surprised at the amount of repairs you can do on your own if you devote some of your time to it. And while I am very proficient at sewing, some items I take in for repair simply because I do not have time to figure out how to repair them myself.

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.

Shoes
Last, but certainly not least, are shoes! I used to keep my shoes in their respective boxes, but this is not ideal for small space living so now I store my shoes in rolling under-bed bins. I keep them organized by pair and style instead of in a messy pile. I make it a point to keep them clean and free of dust and grime from the outside world by wiping them down quickly when I put them away.

Do you have any wardrobe care tips & tricks to share? Have you ever had a stubborn stain that was a pain to remove? Share your story on Dear OxiClean™.

Maintaining your closet, tips & tricks to help your capsule wardrobe last longer.

SHARE THIS STORY
Comments
Expand Comments

[…] of 4 (plus 3 fur babies), I spend a lot of time doing laundry. A lot. I’ve even written lengthy posts about how to care for your clothing, but I don’t get to enjoy laundry in my day-to-day life. Our laundry area is located in the […]

[…] Proper clothing care is essential. I’ve covered proper clothing care a few times on my blog because it’s essential to maintaining a smaller wardrobe. When you […]

[…] On top of using regular laundry detergent, which I usually pour in a glass bottle, I also use some OxiClean, wool dryer balls, and clothespins for hanging clothes out to dry (the boys love to steal these for […]

[…] Follow care guidelines. I’ve emphasized this before, but care guidelines on clothing are so very important! On some sweaters you can get away with a […]

I have been making the (very slow) process to a more minimal closet, focusing more on quality than quantity. It’s always good to have a reminder to treat my clothes with respect as they are now going to be with me a lot longer!
I love your blog!

My progress has been very slow as well. I feel like if I do it all at once I might make decisions I regret. Thank you for the kind words. 🙂

I love buying quality! I love all the cuyana you post 🙂 as far as dry cleaning I like to hand wash myself! So many brands just put that to ensure that if something goes wrong it could be user error, when it really doesn’t need to be dry cleaned.
elle
Southern Elle Style

Cuyana is a definite fav. here. 🙂 I agree about dry cleaning, I hand wash a lot of my dry cleaning too and then just let it hang to dry.

im all about investing in classic pieces that’ll never go out of style!! love those rose gold hangers!

xoxo, Preeti
http://www.ninesto5.com

Love the before and after of the tshirt! It’s obvious that this really works!

Xo, Brianne
http://www.scrubsandsparkles.com

Great tips, girl! Our family uses OxiClean and we’re such big fans! XO

Anna || A Lily Love Affair

Thanks, Anna! We’re long-time users as well. 🙂

Such great tips! Thanks so much for sharing…I’ve heard such great things about OxiClean and need to give it a try!

xo,
Brooke | http://www.kbstyled.com

I need this in my life! Just the other day, I was asking for something that would just what this OxiClean does, and now that you’ve introduced me to it I’m going to pick it up. Thanks for sharing lady! xx Adaleta Avdic

Love your tips! I keep my summer and fall clothing in two different closets and I also organize my closet my color.

xx,
Amanda || http://www.fortheloveofglitter.com

Two closets?! Totally jealous over here. I’m lucky if I have room for both.

OxiClean is a worthy laundry product. I have been using it for several years now.

Love this post!! The tips are amazing, I am totally bookmarking it for reference!!!
Also your photos are amazing as always!!

xoxo
Brooke | InaWorldofBees,There’sMe

Great post!! I love the tips you provided on organizing and maintaining your clothes. I’m going to try out using some oxiclean when I am washing my whites – thanks!
Charlene The Frugal Fashionista

Love this post! Maintaining my closet is key, as I treat my clothing like gold!

xx, Bri || http://www.Neutral2Neon.com

love these tips.. my closet is a mess, I really need to work on it asap!!

These are really great tips! I try to avoid washing darks as often too, and it really does make a difference with fading!

Fizz and Frosting

Such an informative and well put together post! Love your tips, babe! xo

Thanks, Kari! I always hope this kind of information is a duh, but I’ve seen so many posts from people lately asking about proper clothing care that I thought it would be a helpful post.

Add a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.