Do you dread cleaning out your closet? Is your closet a place where piles of junk go to be out of sight and hidden away from the world? Well we’re here to help! Our quick and easy guide for how to clean your closet in 15 minutes will get your closets ship-shape in no time.
In this article, we’re going to throw on some de-cluttering jams, be Marie Condo-like ruthless in minimizing the junk we’re storing, organize that sucker, and then stand back and admire your how your closet transformed from a source of shame to you being that weirdo who shows all your houseguests your closet.
Ready to get started? Let’s go.
Set the Timer
So you want to know how to clean your closet in 15 minutes? First things first, grab your headphones or a speaker and put on your favorite Spotify playlist. Upbeat music motivates us and will give you that extra energy to complete your cleaning session. (Personally, I’m a fan of this playlist from Virgin Atlantic Airlines.)
Now that you’ve chosen a playlist, set the timer on your phone for five minutes, and let’s get that messy closet clean.
The First Five Minutes: Declutter
The first five minutes are all about removing any unnecessary items from your closet. How to declutter your closet, you may ask? Take a look at the steps below to learn how to sort through your clothes, shoes, and random items.
Step 1. Pick Up Dirty Clothes & Put Them in the Hamper
You had a busy week and have left a pile of dirty clothes on the floor. Collect all your dirty clothes and put them in a hamper for your next laundry day. Sometimes, when you’re in a rush, you may drop a few clean clothes as well. Make sure to examine each piece of clothing carefully and avoid washing any items unnecessarily.
Step 2. Match Shoes into Pairs
Just like with dirty clothes, your shoes can get all over the place. So, the next thing you’ll do is pick up all your shoes and match them into pairs. Then, store each pair in its place in your closet.
Step 3. Remove Any Random Items
Makeup, the cup of coffee you were drinking while getting ready, books, and anything that doesn’t belong in your closet should be removed. You might not be able to put all these items away in these first few minutes, so if necessary, create piles for each room the items should go back into, and come back to put them away after you finish cleaning your closet.
This step is just about getting some baseline organization in place and knowing what you have to work with, so don’t worry too much about making everything perfect just yet – that comes next!
The Middle Five Minutes: Purge
If you’re interested in learning how to clean your closet in 15 minutes, the next step is crucial. You’ll devote your middle five minutes to getting rid of the clothes you don’t wear anymore, for whatever reason. This is the time to go all Marie Kondo on your closet. Haven’t worn it in the last year? Time to kick that clothing to the curb!
Step 4. Hang or Fold All Clean Clothes
Next, get all your clean clothes and hang or fold them in your closet. This will allow you to examine each item and see if it still serves any purpose in your closet or brings you any sense of joy to wear. Personally, I have a few pieces of clothing that I really love, but just don’t get much use – they can stay. That shirt I got as a present two birthdays ago and never wore? Sorry aunt Sally, that thing is outta here!
Step 5. Sort & Remove Clutter
Once you’ve organized your clean clothes, it’s time for the purge. Letting go of things is always hard when you’re cleaning any part of your house. However, we assure you you will love that cleansing feeling after you throw away the things you don’t need anymore.
Below you’ll find a little guide to help you know which items you should remove from your closet.
- Seasonal items that are taking up unnecessary space – Remove all seasonal items. Having clothes that you won’t wear in the current season just ends up making it harder to keep your closet organized and clean. Think about every time you were looking for that cute crop top and you found a turtle neck instead. You can store the clothes that don’t belong to the season on a high shelf of your closet or in boxes under the bed.
- Torn, stained, or broken clothes – You’ll also want to throw away any torn, stained, or broken clothes you have in your closet. Unless you have an emotional connection to them, there’s no use in keeping pieces of clothing that you can’t wear anymore.
- Clothes that you don’t like or don’t fit you anymore – This is probably the hardest part of purging your closet: getting rid of clothes that you don’t like or don’t fit you anymore. It’s easy to deceive ourselves and always think that those pair of low-cut jeans will make a big comeback or that we will find an occasion to put on that old sweater. However, everything changes, size, style, cut, color, fit, tastes, and preferences. Be honest with yourself and remove the clothes that you know you won’t wear.
The Last Five Minutes: Organize
The last five minutes of our guide on how to clean your closet in 15 minutes will be devoted to organizing the items you’ve decided to keep.
Step 6. Organize Your Closet by Type of Clothing
First, organize your items by type of clothing. You can take everything out and make a pile of t-shirts, another pile of sweaters, another one of shorts, and so on. Once you’ve separated all your clothes into categories, find a good spot for them in your closet.
Step 7. Organize Similar Items by Color
In addition to sorting clothes by type, another good way of organizing your clothes is by color. Some people sort by the colors of the rainbow since this creates a good contrast. Although you can come up with a color coding that works best for you to organize your closet.
And there you have it: a short but efficient way to clean your closet in 15 minutes. While this isn’t a service we offer here at Summit Maids, it is a short chore you can to do boost the impact of your cleaner’s efforts and make your whole house feel clean.
Want a little help tidying up the rest of your house? Let our Cleveland house cleaners give you a hand.
