Now’s a Good Time to De-Clutter Your Linen Closet

I just got word from my local SPCA that they need towel & blanket donations. Chances are your local pet welfare charity will take yours as well. Some will even take sheets, pillows and other linens – call ahead to be sure. What a great excuse to clear out your linen closet? Letting go to a good cause is a super motivator to clearing clutter. Here is a simple process to organize you linen closet. Grab your organized tween or teen or your partner, spouse or a friend to team up with you on this if you are in a larger household.

Prework:

Do the laundry. All of it. Or at least launder all linens

Note:  This primer assumes you are sticking only to bedding and bath linens. They are like items usually kept together. Unless you are in a small household and keep them in the same place, kitchen and dining linens are a similar but separate project.

Tools:

Bed or a couch covered with a sheet, for your work surface. Choose a work location closest to your largest linen closet or storage areas

Trash bag, for donations

cleaning gear

Steps:

1. Collect all bedding, towels, blankets, comforters, pillows and the like from everywhere in the household and bring them to your work area.
2. Sort them all. Make a folded pile of bath rugs, a pile of bath size towels, one for hand towels, beach towels, blankets, throws, and so on.  When you sort sheets, keep matching sets together – the fitted & flat sheets together with the pillowcases.
3. Now you see what you have in each category. Make reasonable choices about what you need. Minimalists have one sheet set per bed. I have about 2 sets of sheets per bed and about 3 bath towels per person.
   1. Don’t keep more than you need
   2. Don’t keep blankets that you don’t love or that itch
   3. Don’t keep linens that are stained or ripped
   4. Fill up that donation bag! Be brutal about what gets to say to be kind to yourself and your household. It’s easier to stay organized with less!
4. Now that it’s cleared out, take a moment to wipe down the shelving, sweep the floor, clean the door handles, and so on in your linen closet or spaces.
5. Put things away. Remember these core organizing tips:

• • Keep things close to where you use them
  • Keep like things together.
  • Consider accessibility – sheets are used less often so put them higher or lower. Towels that you grab more often you want to be well within reach
  • Fold items to match the size of the shelf.

Bonus tip

If you have a space issue, consider keeping sheet sets in a drawer or on a shelf in the bedroom. Alternatively, towels can be kept on a bathroom cabinet or shelf.

Here’s the notice from the San Francisco SPCA:

We Need Towel & Blanket Donations!
Please bring them to our Mission Campus at 201 Alabama St, 8am–6pm, 7 days/week and drop them in the blue bins in the courtyard. We are only accepting towels and blankets, no sheets or other supply donations due to Covid-19. If you can’t make it to our campus, you can also ship items from our Amazon Wish List. Thank you!!