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heidihohum

hang or fold?

HeidiHoHum
19 years ago

What do y'all do with your sweaters and/or t-shirts? I am talking about the good t-shirts worn under thinner cardigans, etc.

I have sweaters that crease terribly when I fold them and put them on the shelves in my closet. I almost feel like I have to iron them before I wear them, but then some are not really ironing material!!! However, everything I have read says NOT to hang them?!?!

Same for t-shirts...do you hang them or fold them, then have to iron them before wearing to remove any creases running down the front?

This has been making me crazy for a while now!

Comments (8)

  • trekaren
    19 years ago

    T-shirts and lightweight sweaters - hang them but only on hangers with paper covering (the ones from the drycleaners) or other high-quality hangers.

    Sweaters - I bought the canvas thing that you attach to the closet pole. I fold them and store there. I also purged and gave away the ones I truly never wear, to make room. It can hold about 3 folded sweaters per shelf.

    If any can't fit, they are folded, then draped over the rod of a pants-style hanger but never actually hung.

    I got the canvas thing at Target.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Canvas Closet Organizer

  • blazedog
    19 years ago

    I think it really depends on what storage you have available.

    You can't hang sweaters as cotton or wool knits will stretch regardless of the padding. I don't have any particular issues with respect to knits wrinkling as any folds immediately straighten out.

    I do hang good cotton (non knit t-shirts on padded hangers.

    That said, I have ruthlessly cleaned out the stuff I don't wear because squashing things down is going to cause folded stuff to become very crushed -- also jamming stuff together means that I used to create a mess whenever I looked for something.

    As to where to place folded items it comes down to what you have -- I have an antique bedroom suite so I have lots of drawers so I find it convenient to store folded stuff in drawers. The hanging bags are a good solution if you have excess closet space -- I once used something like that for shoes.

    If you have excess closet shelf space, you can buy dividers and store folded items there. This didn't work for me as I am short and taking one sweater out created more of a mess.

    Again, it depends on what space you have but the bottom line is that to keep clothes looking nice you can't squash them together -- whether in a drawer, on a shelf or hanging from a closet :)

  • jamie_mt
    19 years ago

    I hang t-shirts...I'm not overly concerned with wrinkles, so I guess that concern never occured to me (I haven't touched my iron in years LOL). Pretty much everything I own is hung...it's just easier, and takes up less space that way.

    Sweaters - I do hang a few, knowing they will stretch, but I have limited space for folded things, so they just have to hang. Those that I do fold are stored in a dresser in my bedroom...the top of my closet is full of yarn. ;-)

  • claire_de_luna
    19 years ago

    Hang the t-shirts and the sweaters. It's just so much easier for me to find everything in my closet if it's hanging. I just had this issue recently with pants and never knew what to do with them. Fold flat, roll up or hang? I never really had a good system that worked before, so I decided to find room to hang those in my closet. Hanging works for me!

  • mvastian
    19 years ago

    Sweaters stretch only if they're actually heavy or a very loose knit. I have good quality all wool sweaters that I always hang (for years) and they don't stretch at all.

    T shirts on padded or just plastic hangers are perfectly ok too (no wire hangers - paper covered or not).

    It solely depends on the space you have.

    I do touch up the creases though (of the items that I do fold due to hanging space limitations)... The amount of wrinkles depends mostly on the material (pure cotton and pure wool crease more) and the drying method (no dryer here, so more ironing to do).

    Just my 2 cents.

    Maria

  • joann23456
    19 years ago

    T-shirts and dress shirts are hung, sweaters are folded and put in the dresser. Fortunately, I have enough room now, but when I didn't, I used to use an inexpensive bookcase for sweaters.

  • wildchild
    19 years ago

    T-shirts are hung. Sweaters are folded. T-shirts or turtlenecks that I layer under other things are sometimes folded and sometimes hung depending on frequency of use.

    I rotate my summer and winter things so the things that are hung are things I am wearing most.

  • alicesRestaurant
    19 years ago

    I'm in the group that hangs everything and my closet is pretty small. If I fold it, I probably won't wear it (or find it). (Come to think of it, our house is so small that my drawer space is limited too.)

    I bought some special hangars that have the big rounded shoulder to keep knits from taking on the pointed shoulder look. Hanging of course does require that you have the closet space. Use this as an opportunity to declutter your closet. I did this recently and it helps a lot. I plan to make another pass at it soon. I recommend it.

    (Unless you're one of those people who are so organized, you don't need to declutter your closet. If so, then you probably can do anything you want and everything will always look nice and you can always find anything and I envy you.:)
    --Alice