5 ideas to spring clean your closet

It’s officially spring! If you’re in NYC, you might be saying sure – then why is there snow in the forecast for this week. This weather… warm weather or not, spring is here. It might be hard to think about it, but it’s a good time to start thinking about that clothing switchover since warm(er) temps will be here before we know it. This time last year, I was just dusting off my non-maternity clothes – so I pretty much skipped this altogether in 2017. While there are so many other types of cleaning I also want to focus on, this year I fully intend to spring clean my closet. Here are five helpful ways to do so.

Time for a fashion show. It sounds silly, but I’ve found the best way to get things out of your closet is to put them on. Even better, put them on and wear them for a day if it’s warm enough to do so. If you didn’t wear it last season, you probably won’t wear it now. This will help you to get a lot of items out of your closet to make room for the things you love.

Make some moolah off the nicer stuff. Starting to comb through your items earlier has a financial benefit. There are several apps where you can sell your clothes and make a bit of your money back. I’m a fan of Poshmark, Mercari (use code XVYUZS for $10 off!) and ThredUp. ThredUp even offers for you to send everything to them in a bag and they handle taking the photos, putting up the listings and sending the items on to buyers. (Note, the amount you’ll take home will end up being less with this option.) It’s important to remember no one wants to buy your winter coat at the end of March, though. Spring and summer clothing has the most potential to sell for you if you list it early, so jump on it!

Start a donate pile. I’m a big fan of donations to Goodwill, especially now that our closest one has a drive through! This will get your clothes to a new home that will put them to good use. It also has a tax benefit for you. Make sure you keep the tax receipts for all donations, along with an inventory of what you donated. You can deduct the fair market value of excellent used clothing and a number of other items in your taxes. More info here on determining the value.

Don’t forget you can recycle textiles. Have jeans that have ripped through or t-shirts that moths have treated as dinner? Don’t be so quick to toss those out! According to GrowNYC, the average New Yorker tosses 46 pounds of clothing and other textiles in the trash each year – a total of 193,000 tons of textiles every year across NYC residents. GrowNYC does pickups across NYC area greenmarkets. Fab Scrap will come pick up a bag from you if you schedule for them to do so. Re-Purpose NJ (RNJ) has drop bins across NJ. If you visit their site, you can find the one closest to you. H&M also offers textile recycling in their stores.

It’s a good time to let go of those formals. If you have some formals lurking in the back of your closet, don’t skip them this time! There are several great charities such as Operation Prom and Becca’s Closet to get them to girls to use for prom this year.

Any other suggestions you have to share or organizations you’ve donated to? Share them in the comments, below!