Summer is drawing to a close, and Brits everywhere are facing up to an unfortunate truth; that it’s time to start packing away your swimwear and airing out your jumpers. With the temperature dropping over the last couple of weeks, it’s unlikely you’ll need your bikinis and shorts for some time. Many people will be looking at turning around their summer wardrobe to prepare for colder weather.
Autumn, then, is the perfect time to declutter both your summer wardrobe and free up room in your winter one, giving away or donating anything you’ll no longer wear. With that in mind, we’ve teamed up with Caboodle, the smart storage service, to give you these; our 4 IDEAL tips for stowing away your seasonal summer wardrobe.
VACCUM BOX
When mapping out storage needs for summer clothes, it’s important to organise and declutter your wardrobe. It’s all too easy to shove all your clothes into the back of your wardrobe or in plastic bags in the basement, and hope for them to simply shrink, but this can turn your home into a cluttered disaster and damage your clothing permanently. If you’ve haven’t got much space, then plastic vacuum bags are a wise investment, as they compress bulkier items into a much more manageable size. Magic.
WASH EVERYTHING
Make sure everything is washed and clean before storing it. For well-worn items, you can even add ½ cup of baking soda into your washing machine load, to eliminate any residual smells which will then lurk for the duration of the colder seasons. Be aware that clothes must be bone dry before packing them away. Any dampness will only cause a musty smell, or even worse, could result in mould.
LOVELY SMELLS
Try storing your clothes with sprigs of dried lavender, as this helps keep your clothes smelling fresh and is known for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Spritz your favourite perfume on cotton balls or cotton wool pads and fold the aroma into your clothes to keep them smelling fresh. Just make sure clothes are clean first and properly stored away so the fragrance doesn’t attract moths.
CONSIDER CHALK
A nifty trick, this, but one which really works; to ensure clothes stay dry, place a small bundle of chalk in your storage box or hanging in your wardrobe to absorb any dampness. You could also invest (we say ‘invest’, but they’re only a couple of quid) in some wardrobe dehumidifiers, which serve as similar purpose.