Regardless of how many clothes you have, it makes good sense to take care of them. This includes washing them appropriately as well as taking care to hang them correctly on the line and ironing when necessary. Don’t forget to repair if needed. The old adage of ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ really does ring true.
Finally, storage is also important. By having less clothes they will be able to easily fit in the available space without being crowded in the hanging space or jammed into already over-stuffed drawers. Ironed clothes will stay looking fresh and crisp for when you are ready to wear them.
Items that are not hung will benefit by being neatly folded. I prefer to fold sweaters and cardigans rather than hanging them as the coathangers tend to leave marks in the shoulders. I chose a cardigan that is quite easy to fold for the purpose of the demonstration, however, this method works well with any cardigan.
I find that folding cardigans can be a challenge, especially when the shoulder seam does not seem to meet the armhole at the natural point of the shoulder. Most of my cardigans contain a degree of cotton so I tend to press them lightly with a warm iron. once they are pressed, this is how I fold them.
This shows the shoulder seam after the cardigan has been pressed. There is no use trying to work from the shoulder seams when folding.
Locate and in your right hand grasp the side seams at the lower edge of the cardigan.
Locate and in your left hand grasp the side seams at the underarm seam. Line up the two side seams
Lay the cardigan flat while maintaining the matching of side seams and sleeves.
Fold the sleeve down the length of the body of the cardigan.
Fold the cardigan in half with the sleeves enclosed in the fold.
This will ensure that when you next wear your cardigan it does not look as though you slept in it nor will it have marks from a coathanger.
I’m a pretty mean folder, but cardigans don’t really get folded to be honest, they are either hung at my front door for easy grabbing, or sort of bundled into my cupboard. Thankfully most don’t show signs of this abuse! Maybe I should try your method, it seems simple enough!
It depends a bit on the type of cardigan and how you wear it. Mine are at least part cotton and definitely look better if they have been folded.