The picture shows a child's toy wheel, which can be used to build a rotating system

3x easy and effective system for decluttering and recycling children's clothes

One of the biggest stumbling blocks to keeping a busy family home tidy is recycling children's clothes. From a professional organiser's point of view, it's a time-waster approaching a side hustle, so let's break this down into atoms and weed out the unnecessary. In this article, we'll go through 3x easy and effective systems for decluttering and recycling children's clothes.

I will give you an example of three different systems. Choose the one that suits you best and fine-tune, or contact me and let´s create a system that works for your family. The article's table of contents allows you to click between headings if you don't have time to read the whole article. But remember to subscribe Ruuhkaton Newsletter, and you will continue to receive concrete tips in your inbox.

Learning managing skill of goods is like putting money in the bank

What were those goods skills again? Skills of goods are similar to emotional skills. Most of us are familiar with managing things, but we may never have really stopped to think about how huge the whole thing is. Goods skills include, for example, the ability to notice the difference between need and want, the ability to keep things safe and in good condition and the ability to remove things from the home for recycling.

The picture shows recyclable goods and clothes that can easily end up in reusable bags on the floor for a long time. A simple and effective system for recycling children's clothes will help prevent piling up.
Recycling bags pile up if there is no system for removal.

For example, in the case of clothing, goods skills include the ability to identify a genuine need, plan the purchase or acquisition of clothing, carry out maintenance and finally recycle or dispose of outgoing clothing. If we are not aware of such needs or steps, we may clog up our homes and our daily lives.

To make it easier to work with goods, I think you have to create systems to make everyday life run smoothly. If you are looking for solutions that will allow you to continue shopping without worrying, I will tell you right from the start that constant shopping usually leads to an overabundance of clothes and an uncontrollable laundry tangle. In other words, an insane amount of unnecessary work that could be avoided. So this is a matter of choice. However, you can also buy new clothes if your system is designed with these purchases in mind. Below is an example of this. (Read also the article Three concrete tips to prevent piles of stuff)

Who writes here?

The blog is written by a marketing pro-turned-professional-organiser, a mother of three, Henna Paakinaho from Pirkanmaa, Finland. I have strong track record managing both home and demanding career in busy years. Through Ruuhkaton I help my clients to focus on their everyday life instead of unnecessary stuff. Nice to have you here!

In this article I'm going to go through 3x easy and functional systems for decluttering and recycling children's clothes. With these examples, you can create an easy and functional children's clothing system for yourself. You'll also build up your goods skills as you consciously learn and decide to become an owner of the system.

First, let's look at four of the most overwhelming bottlenecks where most of us systems break down, no matter how well thought out they are.

Identifying a need or making a consumption decision triggers the system of children´s clothes

Identifying a real need usually starts when insurmountable holes or stains appear in your current clothes, or they become too small, or the season changes and the clothes don't work for the new season.

Bottleneck No 1: too much clothing

Overheating of the system, on the other hand, can occur, for example, when someone dumps a big bag of recycled clothes on you, because they have to be gone through and at least stored or forwarded. This takes time, energy and space that most people don't necessarily have. The rumba is also sure to start if you like to buy clothes without the immediate need to clothe your child (so he or she would have intact and suitable clothes).

I want to stress that identifying the real need is a critical point. The battle will be lost or won at this point! If you're not super-precise about whether the need is genuine or not, you'll quickly find yourself with hours of extra housework without even noticing. Therefore, identifying the need and acting on the impulse is bottleneck #1. Read more on the difference between want and need from a previous article.

The bathroom, which is overloaded with too many items and clothes
If the clothing system doesn't work, it's easy for spaces to become overcrowded and everyday life to become hectic. Create your own easy and functional children's clothing system with these three examples,

The decluttering-recycling conveyor belt is roasting, but who is shovelling at the end of the belt?

Another key bottleneck is recycling. We can, and even do, recycle, but our homes are not designed to be practical for today's recycling.

Bottleneck No 2: Recycling the sediment

So you need to decide for yourself what kind of recycling area your home should have and create it. This is a very important part of the functionality of your home and should be taken into account, especially in new construction.

Recycling and second-hand markets are the future, so prepare accordingly. So it's worth spending a few hours on this to save time in the future.

A black hole in the bathroom or a clothes closet in the utility room

Hands up who has a pile of either clean or dirty laundry waiting in the bathroom, as I'll probably have time to put these on right away, just tomorrow...? The only hands that don't get up are those whose laundry is on the sofa, right?

Bottleneck No 3: The amount of clothes in relation to storage space

I honestly haven't seen a single family home with children where the laundry isn't either on its way somewhere or coming from somewhere. In my own home, I find that almost without exception, there is always an item on the level that needs at least some special attention, which I imagine will get it faster while waiting on the table (this error in thinking does not help speed things up, quite the opposite).

So here again we have a kind of meeting of modern housing problem. Our current living spaces are not designed for such a huge amount of clothing. There are at least two ways to address this: either to cut back on the amount of clothes or to create a laundry room of its size.

The overflowing buffet at the Sales fools us into picking up unnecessary delights

The colourful and cheerful offerings of the Sales will make many people forget their good intentions. Even if you're prepared with a shopping list and a budget, anything can happen.

Bottleneck No 4: Overconsumption or timing mismatch

This is a really difficult point, because as buyers, we are appealed to through subtle and scientifically researched marketing. If you go into a sale with your jacket open, you can be pretty sure that someone else will make your decision for you. And there's an element of boredom in that too, because that's what we need: someone else to decide for once.

However, underselling doesn't solve your problems, it usually adds to them. With a scavenger hunt, you'll suddenly find yourself with hours of extra work. The reason is this: clearance sales rarely offer (at the bottom) the products you REALLY need NOW, so you end up both spending your money in advance on different seasonal items and missing out on the ones you need this season. This way you build up a stockpile that ties up both your money and your time. Your inventory time will increase and your home will fill up with the wrong season or size of goods.

In the photo: trained professional organiser Henna Paakinaho from Pirkkala, Finland

If you need tailored organisational help in Pirkanmaa, Finland for your home, I'm happy to help. I am a trained professional organiser Henna Paakinaho and organise homes via my company The Flow of Home .

I offer free consultation and a satisfaction guarantee for my work. Call 044 324 9483 or send me a message henna@ruuhkaton.fi

3x easy and functional children's clothing system for the home

Now to the systems themselves, of which I will present three different ones: the storage, the brand item and the minimalist system.

Children's clothing system No 1: The Storage system

The Storage system can be useful for you if you can't immediately take your clothes to the next destination, or if you can't just go to a flea market or shop to find what you need. For example, a non-stop operation with a baby under your arm or a long journey may prevent you from making an immediate withdrawal or buying at just the right time.

A person who has a relatively large amount of space in their home and a relatively large amount of work to do a recycling trip will benefit most from the Storage system. The storage area should be located out of sight, at least so that it is not too conspicuous in everyday life. This is so that the work that is not being done (not being taken to the recycling centre) does not become an unnecessary burden. The most important thing about a storage system is that there is genuinely space in your home for this system.

The regularity of emptying the bins is planned according to the area, i.e. if you only have space to store one bin, then the bins should be emptied more frequently than in a family with a cupboard full of space.

The storage system often needs to be supported by a calendar reservation, i.e. when the storage area starts to fill up, you reserve yourself or delegate the delivery of depreciation to the next destination. This is the most important step in the decluttering process, so treat the reservation like medical time, and don't run from it. Once the stashes are cleared, it's back to decluttering and refilling.  

The benefits of The Storage system for children's clothing:

+ Unnecessary clothes are decluttered and everyday life is not burdened by them
+ Save time by concentrating your trips

The weaknesses of The Storage system for children's clothing :

- The things you take away may be knocking at the back of your head, because you haven't finished the job yet
- Requires a lot of space to function practically

The Vivo barefoot sneakers in the picture, which are about to go on sale
A lover of branded clothing can create a (sales) system for children's clothing, so that everyday life flows smoothly and clothes do not accumulate too much.

Children's clothing system No 2: The branded clothing lover's (sales) system

One of the most difficult steps in decluttering is deciding on the value of the items. An old garment is probably worth more to you than it actually is to others in the children's clothing market. This is due to both sentimental value and sunk cost.

You may vividly remember how your toddler took those first steps wearing this very body - just moments before the arrival of the banana stain gleaming faintly on his chest. You may also have paid full price for the garment under the spell of a new drop, adding to your burden "when it was worth a pretty penny". Two weeks later, the drops came, so you could get similar clothes at half price without the banana stains...

So a lover of designer clothes has to create a system all his own to make thrifting effective. It includes both valuation, sales listing and storage sections. A storage area is created in the home to store the clothes that are moving for sale (when time to list them) and those that are already listed in the market place.

When you have decluttered your clothes and are about to put them up for sale: is it really worth the time and effort? Do you really need the money from the sale? I encourage brutal honesty. You can use a decision tree, for example, to help you get a reasonable price for your time in relation to the cost of selling your branded clothes. A decision tree can be made using the following example:

The Clothing Sales Decision Tree helps you decide whether or not a sale is worthwhile.
The decision tree will help you decide whether it's worth selling or just recycling.

The weaknesses of The Branded clothing lover's (sales) system :
+ A clear sales system helps you get rid of vague sales bags in corners
+ The decision tree helps you assess the true value of the garment, saving you precious time

The weaknesses of The Branded clothing lover's (sales) system :
- Creating a system initially takes time and accuracy in maintenance
- Giving expensive clothes can be emotionally difficult

Children's clothing system No 3. A minimalist system that eliminates dirty laundry baskets at its best

I present this extreme system to provoke thought: are all the steps in the system really necessary?

In a minimalist system, even the laundry basket is cut down. The amount of laundry is so carefully considered that the clothes that go into the washing machine can be thrown straight into the washing machine. The clothes are also designed to withstand the same washing programme and can be mixed and matched.

This may sound like an incredible option if you have an arsenal of clothes filling up your utility room, but it is an option. This system can be approached with a little experimentation. Leave just a few shirts and see how you feel about the reduction in your workload. Or pack away all your clothes for a while, and select just a few bottoms and tops to use for a few weeks.

In a minimalist system, the number of garments in circulation is so small that they do not get stuck in parts of the system, but flow smoothly into use and washing. Maintenance may increase, but the other steps take much less time.

The benefits of The Minimalist system:
+ Possibility to cut down even parts of the system and save time
+ Laundry does not pile up

The weaknesses of The Minimalist system:
- Initially requires a large investment of time and mental effort
- Perhaps requires a character that enjoys minimalism

The picture shows a child's toy wheel, which can be used to build a rotating system. A simple and functional system for recycling children's clothes allows more time and energy for other things.
When you create an easy system of decluttering and recycling children's clothes that works for you, you make your everyday life easier and free up time and energy for other things.

Above, we went through three different easy and effective systems for decluttering and recycling children's clothes. Were these familiar to you or could any of them work for you? What kind of system do you have and how is it currently working for you?

Every home works in its own way and there is often no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of household maintenance. If you need professional help and speed to make a change, and a recommendation that's right for your home, contact me! I serve in Pirkanmaa, Finland and offer a satisfaction guarantee for my professional organising service.

Let's calm your home too!

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