Moving House? Own Clothes? Then Declutter!
Moving house is an opportunity to rid yourself of the old. Nowhere is this more satisfying than in your clothing collection. The chance to declutter, bag up old outfits and rid yourself of unwanted garments is too tempting to ignore.
Separating new vs unwanted clothes can be a chore – but the results afterwards are worth it!
With that in mind, let’s run through our
movers’ tips to organising your clothes collection on the go. With these in place, you can streamline your wardrobe in the same breath as your house removal.
Your Tools: Just 2 Boxes
You might have heard of the 4 box method: keep, sell, give away and throw away. This is great for decluttering on its own, but not so effective when moving house. Homeowners spin enough plates without having to list items on eBay. Time, as they say, is money.
What you need is a simple, efficient system. In the name of streamlining, we’ll split our clothes collection into 2 boxes only:
The Keep Box
Simply put, keep the clothes you like. Remember not to be too sentimental about the older, worn items. You only need so much ‘loungewear’ before it becomes clutter!
The Out Box
Clothes you no longer have a use for go in here. These range from outfits you’ve fallen out of love with to torn and tattered old pyjamas. All of these should go in the same box, ready to be taken to the local charity shop.
Why The Charity Shop?
Most charity shops have two uses for clothes. The better garments are valued and resold to the public. Those in a worse condition are still valuable, for example:
- Humanitarian programmes overseas
- Recycled at the clothes bank for money
- Respun as “Shoddy“, Yorkshire’s own recycled yarn
- Reused for felt carpets, underlays and insulation
With that in mind, it’s better for everyone that old clothes are put to use rather than stuck in a landfill site.
Check with your local charity shop whether they accept old rags. If they do, that’s your place to unload all those unneeded outfits.
If they don’t accept rags, we’ve got the alternative solution below.
The Benefits Of Clearing Your Wardrobe When You Move
It saves energy.
In many cases, up to 1/3 of wardrobe space is underused. That’s kilos and kilos of stuff to be packed up, loaded into the van and dumped in the new house.
Getting rid of old clothes before you move saves all that tedium and encourages a lighter workload on moving day. Scale that to a family of five, and you’ll probably save money too!
It promotes a new start.
Starting with a blank slate is precious; moving house gives you a rare opportunity to turn a new leaf and enjoy an uncluttered home. By shedding your old clothes, you encourage a cleaner, quieter environment.
The Best Way To Transport Clothes
With your clothes pile considerably lighter, you’re probably wondering how to move it all. For our money, there are three definitive ways to pack and transport clothes when you move home:
Vacuum Bags
If you like a space saver, these are your best bet. Vacuum bags force out any excess air and compact your clothes to their densest, smallest size. Large piles of clothes can be shrunk considerably when using the hoover bag method.
Good Old Cardboard Boxes
There’s nothing wrong with cardboard! T-shirts, socks, underwear and jeans can all go in standard moving boxes. Our only caveat is this: go small! You’d be surprised at how much a stack of t-shirts weighs; don’t hurt your back by packing a huge box full!
Wardrobe Boxes
If you think cubes are the only storage solution – think again! Specially built “wardrobe boxes” let you transport clothes on the hanger. This is especially useful for suits, blazers, long dresses and items you don’t wish to crease in a hoover bag.
Don’t have a wardrobe box? Just fit your clothes onto a cluster of strong coat hangers. For bonus protection, cover the whole thing with a binbag. It might not look pretty, but it’ll do the job!
Other, Sustainable Ways Of Recycling Clothes
Clothes Recycling Banks
Don’t have a charity shop nearby? No problem! You can still give clothes to those in need by putting them in specially made clothes banks. There are over 250 of these across Yorkshire, so find your nearest one and get those garments recycled!
Clean Floors & Surfaces
Moving can be a messy job, especially in rain and winter months. If you still have an excess of rags, you can improvise and use them for the following:
- Floor protection for muddy boots
- Wiping surfaces clean
- Painting uniform
- Padding for fragile objects
So what do you think? Are there any other creative ways you can streamline the wardrobe when you move house? Let us know and we’ll feature it!
