Everyone is trying to make a buck last longer, and clothes are expensive. My husband nearly ruined my skirt last week (I don’t complain much because, hey, he does laundry!) But it got me thinking that while it’s easy to make clothes organizing mistakes, just a few tips will help your clothes last longer.

Clothes Organizing Mistakes

Treat Clothes Well in the Laundry

Over-drying in a clothes dryer causes hems to shrink and cause permanent wrinkles, especially on skirts and shirts. It’s best to take them out before they are completely dry or, even better, line dry what you can.

Putting sweaters away with active moths is a big mistake! Definitely dry-clean clothes or at least run through a high-heat dryer cycle, vacuum the closet, and install clothes moth traps.

You don’t have to love laundry, but there are ways to make it easier. My favorite hack is to have more than one hamper so you don’t need to sort lights from darks on laundry day. Yes, sorting clothes to wash darks separately from lights is still a good step to make your clothes last longer because color dyes won’t transfer to the whites.

Storing Properly Avoids Clothes Organizing Mistakes

It should go without saying that folding or hanging clothes is better than storing them in a pile, but I’m gonna say it anyway. It’s easy to learn what to hang versus what to fold, based on your closet and dresser space.

Folding jeans or other heavy trousers in a tall stack can be a clothes organizing mistake. This can leave permanent fold marks in places you don’t want them.

Folding jeans along the side seams can cause a permanent, uncomfortable double seam along the side. To avoid this, fold jeans with the seams touching, from the bottom hem.

Storing coats, blazers, and sweaters with pockets for the season without clearing out the pockets first seems harmless. You might leave candy in the pockets, which can attract bugs and pests.

Hanging thin sweaters on wire hangers, which can cause “shoulder nipples.” Use velvet hangers for sweaters. Even better, pair light sweaters over a shirt that you might wear them with to cushion the shoulders.

Shoving hangers into the neck of a shirt or sweater can stretch out the garment. Instead, feed the hanger up from the waist, so only the hook pokes through the neck.

Hanging pants long can cause two problems; it eats up space, and poor quality clips can leave marks on the waistband. To avoid this, start the bottom, match up the seams at the ankle, and fold over pants hangers with a rolled or cardboard bottom rail.

The Art of Laundry

You don’t have to have a high-end closet to treat your clothes well. If you hate your laundry area, you probably won’t spend very much time taking care of your clothes. Here are some ways to make any laundry room nicer.