How to store clothes so that they last for ages

In an ideal situation, you will keep your clothes in a vacuum with no bacteria or insects, and your clothes will last forever. But this is not possible (at least not at home) for you and me. So what do I do to keep my favorite clothes – my wedding dress, those silk blouses, and pashmina shawls from self-destructing in the wardrobe?

Yes, there are tips for storing them properly, which almost recreates an ideal situation – well, close enough.

How to Store clothes properly

1. Do not expect miracles from low-quality clothes

Remember that good quality fabric will last without much damage for a long time. And in the same coin, cheap fabrics will not last long – whatever you do. It will turn yellow or brown. It will deteriorate, or the creases will break down, and holes will appear out of nowhere.

Do not buy clothes just because they are on sale. Look at the quality of the fabric, sturdiness of the seams, and ease of maintenance. If you are ok with throwing away clothes after some use or you want disposable clothes for soiling work, it is ok to look at the price; but if you want keepers – buy quality.

2. Do proper preparation before storage

Remove pins and other decorations like brooches from the cloth before storing. The pins may rust on the cloth or leave visible holes.

Refrain from throwing good clothes with heavily soiled clothes in the laundry bin; Also, check for clothes that you know may bleed in the bin or the wardrobe; do not keep them together with other clothes. I have lost a beautiful white tunic this way. It emerged blotched in pink stains after contact with a pink scarf in the laundry bin.

Do not keep shoes in the cupboard where you hang clothes. At least keep them in a shoe bag if you must.

Ensure that you have enough space in the wardrobe for all your clothes. An overflowing overstuffed wardrobe is not the best start for great storage. There is no way delicate clothes will survive stuffing and careless handling.

Ensure your clothes are not exposed to sunlight for long.

3. Clean clothes properly before storage

Store garments that are clean. Keeping a dress with food stains and such dirt will surely destroy the fibers at some point. There will be some unseen spots with dirt in your dress that may not be easily visible, so for clothes that you do not plan to wear for some time, it is better to get it cleaned – yourself or by a dry cleaner.

You can give the dress to a dry cleaner, and they will clean it and keep it in a box for storage if you request. Some fabrics like wool and silk may have to be dry cleaned. Basically, I do not particularly like dry cleaning. Too many chemicals in my opinion. Know more about dry cleaning here.

Clean your precious clothes by hand washing them yourself. But do not attempt this if the dress is heavily embroidered (check out this post on hand washing clothes to see which are the clothes you can easily wash at home and which you cannot). The thread used in the embroidery may run, and this is enough for panic.

If you are washing the clothes at home yourself, you should ensure that you have rinsed all the soap residue from the cloth before storing them. The soap residue will gradually corrode the fibers. 5 rinses would not be too much for your heirloom.  

Remember not to use bleach on any of your delicate clothes. Especially on white clothes. Bleach will cause the fabric to turn yellow over time.

Hand wash your clothes in cold water – distilled water can be good for very precious pieces of clothing. Make sure the detergent you use is ph balanced and fragrance free. Do not scrub hard if you do not want fabric fibers damaged. And do not tumble dry if possible for longer lasting clothes.

Check out these post on washing bras and lingerie properly so that they last long and washing delicate clothing here for more details.

Soaking very delicate clothes repeatedly to replace the agitation you give in usual washing may keep the delicate fibers of your garment intact.

Do you know that you can vacuum your clothes – use the hand vacuum to take out dust particles in clothes that are not suitable to be laundered? If you have a very delicate fabric, vacuuming may damage it, so keep a protective layer/screen over it before attempting vacuuming.

4. Storage ideas

Ensure that the storage area is dry and clean. Your damp basement is generally not a great space for storing your precious clothes.

Check for Humidity inside the wardrobe – high humidity means moisture will be present inside, and this is not good. Mildew will soon follow. Here are some tips to remove mildew spots from clothes.

Make sure that the place you have chosen is not near any heat source. 

Hanging your gown by a hanger for a long time in storage is generally a bad idea. After some time, the hanging will take a toll on the fabric. Storing the clothes flat in a cupboard is recommended.

If your wardrobe has metal anywhere inside, do not keep your clothes in contact with this surface. Use a muslin lining and then keep clothes. In the same token, do not use metal hangers.

Plastic boxes will sweat, so it is not a great idea to use them for storing clothes. They also give out toxic gases, which are harmful; Plastic bags are also out of the question for long-term storage of clothes.

You can choose large clean cardboard boxes to store the clothes. Make sure that there are large holes in the box for air to circulate. Some cardboard boxes will come moth infected. They should be avoided.

Line the box with the acid-free, lignin-free, neutral ph, tissue paper so that the fabric doesnot come into direct contact with the cardboard. You can also use washed thin muslin/mul cloth. Keep the garment and then place the tissue/cloth over it as well.

The dress should not be cramped or stuffed inside the box. They should lie flat and without creases. If there are deep creases, the fibers may crack there after some time. It is a good idea to take it out and change the position of the folds from time to time. This way the creases would not set permanently. Some people roll the garments rather than fold them to avoid permanent creases.

Fabric bags with zips may also be used to keep precious dresses neatly arranged.

Do not arrange your wardrobe so that the thin delicate clothing are weighed down by heavy clothes on top.

5. Prevent and stop moth attacks

Make sure that there are no bugs in the cupboard. Cloth moths and carpet beetles are small insects that eat fabric fibers in the dark corners of wardrobes. They leave holes behind which are unsightly. They are not easy to spot till you notice your clothes getting holes.

But once you have seen the moths, be aggressive in cleaning them out. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove every drop of their trace. Dispose of the vacuum bag without delay or even better, burn it.

Keeping moth balls in a sachet inside the wardrobe is a good preventive measure against cloth moths. These balls ( also known by the chemical name paradichlorobenzene crystals) will have to be kept inside a closed wardrobe for it to be effective. Do not let them come in direct contact with the clothes. 

How to keep the moth balls so that they do not touch your clothes.

• Hang the balls from a small sachet on the clothes rod.
• Keep inside a box with holes so that the vapor will spread inside the wardrobe( this is important – the vapor kills the moths).

Keeping the moth balls along with a sachet of herbs like orange peels, lavender sprigs will make sure that the horrible smell of moth balls is somewhat lessened. The herb sachet may not be enough to keep the insects away, so keeping them along with moth balls offer a better realistic solution than some claim.