Good Housekeeping's Tips for Storing Winter Clothes

March 16, 2006 — -- This is the time of year to take your winter clothes out of the bedroom closets and drawers and hall closets and store them until you need them next winter. Good Housekeeping Editor in Chief Ellen Levine gives six tips from the Good Housekeeping Institute on where and how to store winter clothes during the warmer months.

Make sure the clothes you store are clean and stain-free, because any food or drink stain will attract moth larvae and other insects. Invisible stains can oxidize over the summer. The marks will be obvious when you pull the clothes out again and will be more difficult, if not impossible, to remove.

Hang the clothes, but be careful of the marks the hangers might leave. Use clean white sheets or pillowcases to wrap around the bars on pant hangers, and line the clips of skirt hangers if you are concerned about creases or hanger marks. Place clothes in heavy-duty plastic or canvas garment bags rather than thin plastic bags from the dry cleaner, which can stick to clothes.

Try using LNT wooden suit hangers, five for $4.99 at Linens 'n Things, and Richards Homewares crystal clear garment closet, for $11.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond.

In a sturdy plastic box, lay blouses and sweaters flat to prevent wrinkles. If need be, double them over with soft folds. Acid-free tissue paper between the garments will help them keep their color. Try storing your delicate items in clear plastic store 'n slide boxes from the Container Store, $12.99, with acid-free tissue sheets, also from the Container Store, $9.99 for a package of 20.

Mothballs can irritate skin and eyes, and the smell can be hard to remove. Mothballs kill insects, but are not needed if the storage area is clean and dry.

SpaceBags Storage Packs allow you to save storage space because they suck the air out of the bag and compress the items. The Good Housekeeping Institute found that they work well. Reduce down-filled clothes by no more than 50 percent, since further compression can damage the down.