7 Ways Getting Rid Of Clothing Clutter Is Awesome

Today's mission is to get rid of clothing clutter, specifically the clothes that you don't like, don't fit or are no longer in style.


Today kicks off the beginning of several weeks worth of missions all about getting rid of clothes clutter, so obviously today isn't the day that you need to do it all.

The idea behind the Declutter 365 missions is that you do just a little at a time. Therefore, over the course of several weeks we'll first focus on your own clothes, and then you can deal with other people's clothes, like your kids' clothes.

Each day you'll see me mention specific types of clothes, or places where clothes often reside, that you should declutter, such as hanging clothes, or all the ones in your dresser drawers, or to declutter t-shirts, pants, socks, etc.

To see a full list of these missions check the Getting Rid Of Closet Clutter round up page here on the site.

That means you'll have time, over the course of several weeks, to go through some major categories on specific days.

Today's mission is meant to give you a boost, a quick start to this whole clothes decluttering project, because momentum is good.

That means today you are to focus on what I call low hanging fruit -- get rid of the clothes that are no brainers to toss. The stuff that you don't have to think about at all, or consider, or second guess. You know it needs to leave your house and the only thing you wonder is why didn't I get rid of this sooner?

If you absolutely hate it, it is five sizes too large or small, or it hasn't been in style since 1984 today is the day to say goodbye to it!

To help you with this I've got several resources here on the site.

First, you can check out these 9 questions you can ask yourself when decluttering clothes. This can help you gain clarity about what you should get rid of.

But really, today is about the stuff you already know shouldn't stay in your home one minute longer.

So, in addition, I've also rounded up photos, sent in by readers who've done this mission, showing the clothes they were getting rid of. It's meant to get you inspired to tackle your own clothing piles.

What I noticed, however, as I gathered up these photos was there were themes -- readers would mention the same things over and over again about why they were happy they got rid of clothing clutter. So I've compiled this hall of fame a bit differently, showing the 7 ways that getting rid of this wardrobe clutter will make you and your home feel awesome!

Scroll down to see the 7 most common reasons Declutter 365 participants were happy too see that clothes clutter leave their home.



Top photo courtesy of a reader, Kylee, who showed a pile of clothes she decided to declutter from her home

1. Help Someone Else In Need

The photo above was sent in by a reader, Marlo, who pointed out the first reason that decluttering is great, you can help others in need who will be able to use the clothing you cannot.

She said, "One of my dear friends just found out she's expecting and needed to clean out her closet as it was long over due and she needed space to accommodate maternity clothes and clearly she was holding onto things she didn't need! So she enlisted me as her helper...I was happy to help!

10 bags of clothes just from her closet alone will be donated to our local homeless transition assistance resource center! Often we lack vision for overcoming our clutter but can see the potential in someone else's space or are inspired to transform our space.

She had basket on a shelf with her "dressy scarves" as she calls them but didn't have a place for her swim clothes so I swapped out the scarves for the swimsuits and put the scarves on a hanger in section designated for her dress clothes...problem solved! I'll be back over helping her fine tune organizing her closet space and now I'm inspired to tackle my closet!"

Similarly, Lisa sent in the photo below, explaining, "We spent all day Saturday decluttering our master bedroom closets! This is all getting donated!"

2. Make Some Money

While above Marlo mentioned how she got joy from donating clothes, you can also sell the clothing you don't want anymore.

This can be more work, but it can be quite motivating as well, as a reader, Jamie, mentioned when she sent in the photo above. Jamie said, "This is the second bag of clothes this size that I've pulled from my closets! I spent the extra time and listed all of them on a local auction site. I've made $50 so far! Great motivation!"

3. No Wasting Space Storing Stuff You Don't Use

Gayle sent in this photo, showing how she was getting rid of "one big contractor size bag of clothes not worn in a year or more, along with kid clothes that are too small."

The beauty of getting rid of clothes clutter is that Gayle and others are no longer wasting precious storage space in their home holding stuff that no one ever uses anymore.

4. You'll Feel Good In The Clothes You Keep

The photo above was sent in by a reader, Jackie. She said, "Cleaned out my closet, ready to bag stuff up for Goodwill. I dropped some weight so I don't want these bigger clothes hanging around anymore. I only want clothes that make me feel fabulous."

Jackie makes a great point. When you get rid of all the clothing you don't like anymore you'll be left with only things that make you feel good, which is a great feeling.

5. Reduce The Amount Of Laundry You Wash

Amanda sent in the photo above, and she said, "8 giant bags of laundry I'm never washing again. And I still have the kids clothes to go through."

You can sense Amanda's relief, and it's understandable. Getting rid of excess clothing keeps you from washing an excess of laundry over and over!

6. Makes It Easier To Put Away Clean Clothes After Washing

Robin sent in the photo, and said, "A laundry problem for me is getting my own laundry put away because my dresser is full. So I ruthlessly purged. 3 to donate, 1 to toss, and my teenage babysitter took some special occasion dresses, so it felt good to know where those went."

Putting away clean clothes can be something we struggle to do as part of the laundry cycle, and if it is a problem for you, getting rid of excess clothes may help you fix this problem!

7. Makes You Feel Fabulous

Finally, the last reason that getting rid of clothing clutter is awesome was said perfectly by a reader, Kathy, who sent in the photo above.

Kathy said, "Decluttered clothes and basement. It feels FABULOUS."

It does feel absolutely fabulous to free yourself of unwanted clutter, and I hope seeing how all of these ladies have already done it has inspired you to take on today's mission for yourself, and begin the journey to get your wardrobe clutter free.

Here's one last set of pictures below, from a reader, Tina, who was so excited when she got rid of 7 bags of clothes. Great job girl!

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Clothes & Closet Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your clothes and closet, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 2 page clothes and closet decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

If you're ready to get going with decluttering your own clothes right away, make sure to use these 9 questions to ask yourself when decluttering clothes.



In addition, here's an article with tips for how to declutter kids clothes, including criteria and questions you and your child can ask as you do this task.



Finally, here's a round up of all the Declutter 365 missions on the site for decluttering clothes of all kinds.

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Closet Clutter Hall Of Fame

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