You can use whatever method you want to declutter your home, but they all require you to find a good way to organize the items you choose to keep when you’re done. KonMari, arguably the most famous decluttering and cleaning technique, even advises you on how to fold your clothes when you’re finished deciding which ones spark joy for you—but this tip from Marie Kondo is too often overlooked in favor of her structured approach to paring down how much you own. Don’t let Kondo down by only following half her advice.
What is file folding?
This technique is one of Kondo’s original, most long-standing tips and comes straight from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Sometimes called “file folding,” this involves folding your clothes in a way that allows you to stand them up vertically in your drawers.
The way you fold each kind of clothing will be different and you can try a few approaches until you figure out how to get each one to look like a triangle or rectangle and stand straight up. Here’s how Kondo recommends doing it on a few kinds of clothing items:
Once you get everything folded so it’s vertical, you can stack it front to back in the drawer. You’ll know you’re doing it right if you can see every item.
Why file folding works
There are a few different benefits to folding your clothes this way. First, storing them vertically and with chunkier folds reduces wrinkles, especially because there are no items on the bottom that are being weighed down by ones on the top.
Second, this allows you to see all your clothes, so you have a better sense of what you’ve got. It’s easy to forget what you already own, buy duplicates, or waste space on things you never wear if you can’t see your stuff, but this prevents all of that.
Finally, you can store more this way than you can just plopping everything on top of each other, especially if you make crisp, small folds. While the ability to store more doesn’t necessarily help you declutter or reduce how much you have, it at least makes the drawers more organized, which prevents clutter and the space getting overwhelming.
Make this easier by picking up a few flat baskets, like this set of four for $15.99, to keep every type of clothing separate and maintain structure even when some items are removed.