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Pack It Up: How to Properly Store Winter Clothing

How to store winter clothes by Jos A Bank
 

With warm weather (hopefully) right around the corner, it's nearly time to trade in the jackets, scarves, and boots for short sleeves and sandals. We love our cold weather clothing, and quite frankly aren't all that confident in the prognosticative abilities of our local meteorologist, but we hope that spring has finally begun to – well – spring.

Before you push all your heavy clothes to the back of your closet for their 7 month hibernation, there are a few important factors to consider to ensure that they are easy to find come October, and they look as good when you pull them out again as they do now.

  • 1) Clean, clean, clean – Dry clean, hand wash, machine wash, it doesn't matter. Make sure that before you store your winter wear away that they have been properly cleaned. Nobody wants the unpleasant surprise of reaching for their favorite sweater or overcoat on the first day of fall and finding they're mustier than they remember.

  • 2) Proper container – Choose a method of storage based on the space you have available, and how neatly you want to package your clothes.

    • A trash bag will provide an adequate moisture barrier, they are easily punctured and don't allow for keeping clothes neatly folded.
    • Large plastic tubs are able to store more clothes, but can be bulky and take up a lot of space.
    • Vacuum-sealed bags will conserve space, however they don't allow for much inventory shuffling.
    • A suitcase is also an option, though if you decided in May that you want to take a vacation you might be left with your sport coats strewn across your bedroom floor.

  • 3) Freshen up – Include lavender, moth balls, or dryer sheets in the container with your clothing to keep them fresh while they are stored away.

  • 4) Better together – Make it easier to find particular items by storing like articles of clothing together. That way when grandma asks if you like her gift it will be easy for you to find that knitted turtleneck sweater that you've been pretending to wear for years.

  • 5) Ease of access – Most of us are hesitant to stash away our winter wear for fear that Mother Nature will throw us a curveball sometime in mid- April, so make sure that you keep your storage containers of choice handy - just in case. You can put them in a closet, under your bed, or even transform them into a homemade table. If you're severely hurting for space, (or you have too many clothes), it might be worthwhile to look into renting a small storage space to house your winter wardrobe.

As we say goodbye to another winter of erratic weather, make sure that you take the necessary steps to store your warm clothes appropriately – you'll need them again before you know it.