Kids grow quickly. And clothing can be expensive. So if you have an expanding family – or friends and family who plan to have kids – keep hold of clothes you can pass along. This is fantastic both from an economical, as well as a sustainable perspective.
Here’s how to get organised and sort out your hand-me-down system so you have kids’ clothes ready for another child.
1. Review
The first step is always the ‘review’ process. This is essential to check out all the items you have and work out what is still wearable. Kids’ clothes can easily get soiled and spoiled, so check them out and see if they are still usable. If not, make sure you recycle the material.
If they have life left, set them aside for another child to enjoy. Keep an eye out for outfits, or pieces that fit together so you can deliberately keep these items paired.
2. Sort
Then you need to organise clothes into groups. Typically, the useful age brackets start off in months. 0-3 months, 6-9 months and so on. You will also need to think about anything that is specifically seasonal. Winter clothes in 6-9 months won’t be useful for a child who is living these months in the summer!
Sort and group the items into relevant piles. If you find yourself with an excess of a certain age group, you might want to consider donating some items to charity, or sell on an online marketplace.
3. Store
Before you store – wash and iron everything so it is perfectly ready to be passed on.
Then take all your groups and start to pack and store. Stackable transparent storage bins are brilliant; you get an overview of the contents, plus they can be neatly grouped together and easily moved around.
Be sure to label each box with the main age bracket and a quick overview of the types of items inside (coats / jackets / summer or winter essentials) so that it can easily identified.
If you find you run out of space at home – a storage unit is a great idea. It will keep your house clutter-free, while leaving your items in a clean and dry Storage unit that is accessible and cost efficient. Perfect for keeping your baby clothes until they are ready to be used again.
4. Use and pass on
For anything that you are keeping within the family, makes sure you have a process in place. Each time you need to access a new bundle, be sure to review all items in-use and create a new group to store as well. It is important to keep a similar level of clothes in circulation!
It is likely you will have forgotten what you place in storage so have an overview list of what you have to act as a reminder of the type of clothes you still have to use. For clothes and shoes that will fit soon – it is worthwhile to keep these items already stored in the closet in a ‘will fit soon’ section’ so they don’t get forgotten and are close by!
Package up items that you will pass on to another smaller child and hand these over as soon as possible to minimise what you have in storage!
How do you organise kids clothes – to keep for yourself and to pass onto others? Let us know in the comments below! Plus, if you need some extra tips on how to pack and store clothes check out our blog on how to store away seasonal clothes.
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