Closet Minimal Clean-Out

Clear out your closet, keep what makes you feel good.

The first step to simplifying your morning routine and reclaiming your time is a good closet clean-out. The next step is stocking it with your high-quality, low-maintenance uniform that makes you feel comfortable and confident everyday. We at Closet Minimal are working on designing and producing the clothes for your personal kick-ass uniform, but in the meanwhile, let’s clean out that closet!

The Three Phase Closet Minimal Clean-Out

1. Take Everything Out
2. Keep What Makes You Feel Good
3. Donate the Rest

1. Take Everything Out

Mark your calendar, and dedicate a day to taking everything, yes everything, out of your closet. This is the easy step. Don’t think, just do it.

2. Keep What Makes You Feel Good

There are many rules you can use to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. We like using the “does it makes you feel good?” rule. Here’s some additional questions to ask yourself when evaluating an item:

• Does it make you feel comfortable?
• Does it make you feel confident?
• Does it make you feel sentimental?*

*We’re minimalists, not brutalists — keep things that make you feel warm and fuzzy, even if you don’t wear them frequently (or ever). So keep that untrendy sweater from your grandma, even if you only hug it occasionally to think of her.

Following this rule, you’ll end up with three piles: Yes, No, and Maybe.

• Yes! Put those yes’s back in your closet and admire your efficiency.
• No. Leave those in a pile and we’ll get back to those in step 3.
• Maybe? Below are a few strategies to deal with the maybe’s.

Maybe Strategy 1: Box Them Up 📦

Put all the maybe’s into a box and stick that box at the bottom of your closet. After a month, if you don’t miss them, then donate them (see step 3).

Maybe Strategy 2: Wear Them 🕺

Force yourself over the next few days to wear each of your maybe’s. If you are resisting wearing a maybe, then it’s probably a no.

Maybe Strategy 3: Deal With It Later ✌️

Stick them back in your closet with the yes’s. Yup, you heard me right, procrastinate about it. Sometimes we don’t have time or energy to deal with the decision making. You already did an awesome job making a “no” pile and you can feel good about that! Just do another closet clean-out in a year.

3. Donate The Rest

Donation is easier said than done. It’s time to sort your “no” pile into:

• Gently used clothes that someone could proudly wear.
• Everything else goes into a pile of clothes that can be used as rags.

First let’s talk about what you can do with your rag pile:

Rag Option 1: Cut Into Household Wipes 🏠

• Cut your cotton shirts into general purpose wipes for working on your car, working with paint, or any other messy household work.
• Turn your flannel shirts into re-usable Swiffer wipes.

Rag Option 2: Make Crafts ✂️

• Cut old clothes into strips of and use them like yarn for chunky crochet projects and braided rugs. Denim jeans make great sturdy yarn for rugs.
• Got a tiny dog? Is it cold? Make dog sweaters from your sweater sleeves.
• No dog? You could make pot holders our of your rag worthy sweaters.

Rag Option 3: Post Them on Craigslist for Free 🆓

If you’re not interested in making your own wipes or doing DIY crafts, and you feel bad about throwing the whole pile in the trash, then try posting them as rag fabric material on Craigslist for free. I know my mom would have loved to get more denim jeans to turn into yarn for her rag rug projects on her loom.

Donating Gently Used, Proud to be Worn Clothes

As for your gently used, clothes that someone would be proud to wear again, search for local thrift shops and homeless shelters to make the most local impact, and minimize shipping. For your higher quality donation items, you can even look for local consignment stores who will display your items for sale on your behalf. You can also check to see if you have a local chapter of an organization such as Dress for Success where you can donate professional clothing for women.

As a courtesy, please put everything in that donation pile through the wash one last time before dropping them off.

If you still feel like there isn’t a good local option to donate your clothing you, you can consider donating your items through an online service like Mighty Good Things, and choose which school or non-profit organization to support with your donation.

Done With Your Piles? Celebrate!

Congratulations! You just completed the first step towards simplifying your morning routine, and reclaiming your time to focus on what matters to you.

Simplify your morning routine, and reclaim your time to focus on what is important to you.

The next step is to save even more time every single morning by eliminating the “what should I wear” debate by creating your personal uniform. Learn more about what personal uniforms are and why you should adopt one.

Shout out to Katerina Limpitsouni for her amazing unDraw illustrations, modified and used in this post. And thanks to Sarah Dorweiler for the background photo used in our header.