How to Get Rid of Too Many Clothes in Your Closet

It is a rare woman who has just enough clothes in her closet, and not too many. Most women (and men too) have many items they don’t wear but somehow find the surplus difficult to get rid of. Here are some trusted techniques to get rid of some of the extra clothes that you don’t want any more.

Your closet has a limit to the number of clothes you can put in there. If there are so many that you can’t access them, and they can’t move freely on the rail, then you have too many.

Most people only wear a fraction of the clothes that they own, so why do we keep them?

Many people have clothes still with tags on that they have never worn, that they don’t want, yet they can’t get rid of them because that would be admitting the mistake they made in buying those items in the first place. You have to either wear them or get rid of them.

Admit your mistake and let them leave the house.

In the closet of most women you will find clothes that are too small. They are kept because the owner hopes she will be that size again one day. Be realistic, maybe keep a few things one size smaller than your current size, but don’t keep anything two or more sizes than where you are now. If you did get rid of your skinny clothes and then lost weight it would be fun to buy new ones, and a nice treat for yourself.

How long have you had your clothes without wearing them? If you have had them for a year and not worn them, they should leave the house. There may be someone else who would love to wear the clothes you no longer use, who would be delighted to find them at a wonderful price in a thrift store. So your choice is, leave them in your closet with no one wearing them, or let them get some wear by someone else.

If when you hang your clothes in the closet, you always hang them in the same place, then the clothes at the opposite end of the rail have been untouched for some time. They are what you should address and consider getting rid of. Look very closely at the last 10 items on the rail, have you worn them recently? Do you intend to wear them soon? Do they even fit any more? Maybe you can find a better home for them.

Underwear seems to get pushed to the back of the drawer when we don’t wear it. The new stuff is at the front and the drawer won’t close because of the old stuff we are not wearing any more. Do yourself a favor and get rid of what you don’t wear and let your drawers close easily.

How many pairs of shoes do you need and how many do you have? I’m sure you have many more than you need, and can get rid of some.

Here are the different ways that you can get rid of your clothes

Sell The obvious place to sell clothes is ebay, but they are really saturated with women’s and children’s clothes. Most clothing doesn’t sell there any more unless it’s new with tags or really expensive to start with.

Consignment There are many consignment stores that will display your used clothes for a month at a time. If they don’t sell, you haven’t lost anything.

Garage sale If you are selling clothing at a garage sale, make sure it is hanging. People don’t like to hunt through a pile of clothes, it’s so much easier to see if they are all on hangers. Also, you don’t really get much for your clothes if they are sold at a garage sale. $1 per item is the usual price where I live.

Donate to thrift store This is my favorite because they will be displayed well, sell for a reasonable price, and go to someone who will wear them.

Give to friends If you have a friend who is your size, with similar tastes then give your unwanted clothes to them. Just make sure they don’t have a closet full already.

Freecycle Read my article about getting rid of stuff with freecycle. You can offer a large bag and let the recipient choose what they want and freecycle the rest. It’s a wonderful way of getting rid of a lot of stuff fast.