Chicago Home and Lifestyles – How to store your clothing

Clothing is an investment for many of us, so knowing the best way to store them can help them last for a while. There are several things to consider, like how much space you have in closets and drawers, what fabrics your clothing is made from and what type of garments you own. Here are a few tips on when to hang and when to fold.

What to hang: 

• Anything made of flowy materials like chiffon or silk should be hung — preferably, on a padded hanger to prevent shoulder creases.

• Linen pieces should also always be hung. Linen is delightful but will wrinkle just looking at it! Also give it space in the closet, as cramming linen pieces in next to other clothing will cause wrinkles before you even put the garment on. 

• Pants should also always be hung. Jeans of course can be folded but anything dressier should be hung the long way. Folding over a hanger can cause a crease if the pants are not worn frequently. 

• Blouses and jackets of course should always be hung to prevent major wrinkles and to preserve structure. 

• Dresses for the most part need to be hung, again on padded hangers to preserve the shoulders. The only exception are heavy sweater dresses or heavy dresses of any kind. If hung, they can stretch. The best storage for these is individual flat storage containers. 

What to fold:

• Thick knit sweaters should be folded. Some delicate sweaters can be hung folding around the hanger to prevent hanger marks, but for the most part fold those sweaters. 

• Any active wear or anything you wear to the gym should be folded. They can get stretched out on a hanger. 

• Seems like common sense but always fold your shorts, unless of course they are made of linen! 

There are a few items that will do well either folded or hung. This includes:

• T-shirts, since hanging will keep them relatively wrinkle free. But most t-shirts contain Lycra or some other stretchy fabric so folding is also fine. But use padded hangers to prevent that hanger distortion. 

• Jeans again can go either way. Hang if you have closet space. 

• Scarves can be folded, rolled or hung. The best is probably folded, but there are nice scarf hangers that work well and let you see them all together.

 So, let’s go out and invest in some padded hangers so those items we are hanging will stay looking great for years to come. 

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago