How to Store Winter Clothes in Your Garage: 4 Organizational Tips

These tips on how to store seasonal winter clothes in your garage will help get those heavy coats out of the way while keeping them in tip-top condition until the weather cools again.

Summer’s almost here, and if you haven’t put your winter clothes into storage, your closet may be overflowing. The bulkiness of winter clothes makes it hard to find light summer dresses, tops, and shorts. These thin articles of clothing—especially summer fabrics like linen—can get crushed and wrinkled between heavier clothing items. No one wants to waste their time ironing or searching for clothes when there’s beautiful weather calling your name.

There’s still time to get organized. By moving your winter clothes to garage storage, you can free up closet space and enjoy an uncluttered closet. In the fall, it will be easier to pack up summer clothing and start the cycle again. And if you’ve properly stored winter clothes away from light, dust, and humidity at a cool temperature, they’ll last longer. Here are some tips on how to store winter clothes in your garage.

How to Store Winter Clothes: Garage Storage Tips

A winter wardrobe can become an expensive collection, especially if you love clothes. So you need to take proper care of them if you want them to last. Rotating your wardrobe by season is one of the best ways to do this. Packing your clothes away carefully ensures they’ll be ready to wear the moment you take them out of storage, even if the first frost comes unexpectedly.

#1: Get Your Wardrobe Ready for Storage

Because you’re going through all of your clothing anyway, now’s a good time to donate or throw out items that you haven’t worn in a year, and ones that are damaged. This will free up even more space for storing clothes and prevent you from wasting time caring for a garment you’ll never wear again.

Wash your clothes before storing them, as stains and dirt will be very hard to get out if they’ve had several months to settle in. You should also wash clothes that smell, as those odors will not only settle into the fabric but they can spread to other clothing, too. Wipe boots down with a damp cloth and dry them before storing, as they can spread dirt. To keep them dry and odor-free on the inside, insert a satchel filled with baking soda into the toe of each boot.

By cleaning your clothes and shoes before storing them they’ll be ready for you to wear whenever cool weather comes. But don’t iron them first. You may need to steam or iron items that come out of storage, and you don’t want to waste time doing it twice.

#2: Keep the Bugs Away!

Wondering how to keep stored clothes fresh? Moths or silverfish can be attracted to smells left on clothing, which is another reason to wash them before storage. If you’re thinking of putting mothballs in with your clothing, don’t. They contain harmful chemicals and leave an unpleasant odor. Instead, try adding oil or satchels that contain lavender or cedar. Not only are these more natural, chemical-free alternatives to mothballs, but they’ll make your clothes smell nice. And opening a garage clothes storage container only to be greeted by a whiff of lavender or cedar is a lovely way to welcome each fall.

#3: Place Each Garment in the Right Storage Container

Now that your clothes are prepped and ready, it’s time to get down to business. First of all, you should store the majority of fabrics in a cotton storage container that’s breathable. The reason why you don’t want to use plastic containers is that they don’t allow any air flow and can become humid, which may lead to mold.

To pack your items in a garment storage box, place the heavier articles of clothing at the bottom of the cotton container. Then stack medium-weight items on top of these, and finally place the lightest items on top. Wrap delicate fabrics in acid-free tissue paper. You should fold as many items as possible. But if you do leave something hanging up, use a padded hanger, not a wire one. As clothing hangs their weight pulls them down and wire hangers can leave necklines and shoulders misshapen.

Be sure to store clothes somewhere dark to avoid fading. Make sure it’s cool, as hot environments lead to mildew. Don’t overpack storage containers; make sure your clothing can breathe.

#4: Use a Custom Storage System

Finally, the best way to get organized is to use a storage system that’s designed to fit your garage and your lifestyle. All the tips listed above can definitely help keep your clothes preserved and organized, but they can do a better job when used along with custom storage.

Custom garage storage can include any combination of shelves, lockers, overhead bins or other hardware configured to fit your garage perfectly. And by engaging expert storage design professionals you can have high-quality, durable hardware installed. Some of the features you can choose from include:

• Wall-mounted metal shelving that can hold heavy clothing: up to 300 pounds

• Overhead racks that can securely store clothing storage containers

• Storage cabinets that come in your choice of finish and have adjustable shelves

• Slatwall panels that can hold many accessories, including; hooks, tool racks, metal baskets or garden racks

Of course, your solution can be customized to provide storage for winter or summer clothing. And as your storage needs change over the years, your solution can be adjusted by adding or moving accessories.

Keep Winter Clothes Ready to Wear with Custom Garage Storage

If your garage is cluttered, it can be hard to store winter clothes where you can easily access them in fall. And if your garage lacks a custom storage solution, it can make it hard to organize everything in your garage, not just storing your winter clothes. But Closet America can transform your garage into a useful, accessible storage area, even if you’re working with a relatively small space.

No matter what your garage looks like, our team can help. We’re happy to send over a closet design expert who can examine your garage and learn more about your storage needs. Then they can put together an interactive 3D model of what a storage system that’s custom-designed for your garage might look like. If you like what you see, our craftsmen will build your storage solution by hand at our shop using only the highest quality materials. This way, your storage system will never sag, bulge, or break. Plus, every garage storage solution we build comes with a transferable warranty that lasts twice the lifetime of your home.

Closet America knows how to store winter clothes in your garage—along with everything else—using our custom storage solutions. If you’re ready to transform your garage, contact Closet America today.

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