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Storing Small Clothing Items



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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Oct 16 2009, 6:12 am
How do you keep tights from being one big jumble in a drawer? Right now I have 2 shoeboxes -- one with shabbos tights, one with weekday tights (and a third for socks), but it's very hard to fit the tights rolled up in them (and when folded I can't easily find the matching pair)?

How do you store yarmulkas? We have a whole collection between my boys and right now they're just sitting on top of a dresser...

Do you hang up little boys' belts? I could get a belt hanger, but then my sons wouldn't be able to reach them. What about ties?
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louche




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Oct 16 2009, 10:51 am
Ties? plural? for little boys? too much stuff, my friend! One tie per little boy. They're kids, not accountants. Said tie can be draped around the hook of his shirt hanger or suit hanger. belts, ditto. If they have one for weekday and one for shabbos, shabbos belt stays in the pants till the pants are washed or cleaned.

Divide and conquer. IOW, divide the boxes, either by making interlocking cardboard dividers (look at the divider in a case of wine bottles to see how it's done) or inserting smaller boxes to create compartments for different things. For example, you could create compartments, each just big enough to hold one pair of tights, inside a large shoebox. Or invest in some clear plastic containers, or buy a clear plastic multipocket shoebag to hold all those pesky little items like kippot, belts and ties.

With kids, you need to make it easy to put things away, which means open-topped boxes and containers, preferably transparent so they can see what's inside.

when folded you can't easily find the matching pair? what does this mean? surely you put socks away already folded or rolled together in pairs? are you trying to dress several kids in matching socks? then put them away lechatchila in sets of two pairs or however many pairs you need for the number of kids. Try putting them in ziplok bags (the socks, not the kids) and then putting each set in aseparate compartment. Frankly, I like this idea better for adults than for little kids b/c of the danger of misuse of plastic bags and the added mess of the bags being dropped all over the place.

Make things really easy and buy only one kind of socks for each child, half a dozen to a dozen pairs at a time. Makes finding matching pairs a cinch.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Oct 19 2009, 8:10 am
louche wrote:
Ties? plural? for little boys? too much stuff, my friend! One tie per little boy.

I have more than 1 boy Smile
(My oldest has 2 ties -- one blackish, one blue-based; he likes to match, and he stopped wearing vests most of the time. For the $5 I spent on each tie -- and they were awards -- I saved money instead of buying vests Smile)
I have a total of 2 ties that need to be dealt with.

Quote:

They're kids, not accountants. Said tie can be draped around the hook of his shirt hanger or suit hanger. belts, ditto. If they have one for weekday and one for shabbos, shabbos belt stays in the pants till the pants are washed or cleaned.

Here's the thing. I don't really have hanging closet space, and the Shabbos clothes are folded on shelves (my sons are 4 and almost 3). I usually stuff tie and belts on the shelf, but they get mixed up with everything. Shabbos pants go straight in laundry and I don't have time when I do my once a week spree to look for and remove them...

Quote:

Divide and conquer. IOW, divide the boxes, either by making interlocking cardboard dividers (look at the divider in a case of wine bottles to see how it's done) or inserting smaller boxes to create compartments for different things. For example, you could create compartments, each just big enough to hold one pair of tights, inside a large shoebox. Or invest in some clear plastic containers, or buy a clear plastic multipocket shoebag to hold all those pesky little items like kippot, belts and ties.

Do the divider things take up more space than they're worth? I have a total of 6 drawers for 3 kids. We're stuffed to capacity (mind you, we do laundry once a week, so we might have more than the average amount of clothes).
I like the hanging shoebag idea to use on the closet. Maybe I'll do that for the boys' stuff.

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With kids, you need to make it easy to put things away, which means open-topped boxes and containers, preferably transparent so they can see what's inside.

How does open top help? Do you mean cubbies with an open side? (Which is what I use for their Shabbos clothing?) I find drawers are neater than cubbies in most instances, since things NEED to be folded nicely in order for the drawers to close, and not just stuffed in.

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when folded you can't easily find the matching pair? what does this mean? surely you put socks away already folded or rolled together in pairs? are you trying to dress several kids in matching socks? then put them away lechatchila in sets of two pairs or however many pairs you need for the number of kids. Try putting them in ziplok bags (the socks, not the kids) and then putting each set in aseparate compartment. Frankly, I like this idea better for adults than for little kids b/c of the danger of misuse of plastic bags and the added mess of the bags being dropped all over the place.

I am talking about tights -- we have a mix of different color/patterned tights that go with specific dresses/jumper for my daughter...Socks aren't a biggie (boys' even less so -- buy a big package of white hanes socks, black socks for shabbos Smile)...
I was thinking of putting each outfit in a separate bag, and just pulling out each one complete with shirt/tights/jumper/etc; I have to see if it takes up more space. I guess if I flatten it, it should really take up less.

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Make things really easy and buy only one kind of socks for each child, half a dozen to a dozen pairs at a time. Makes finding matching pairs a cinch.
Yeah, that's what I do for the boys Smile The problem came up in the winter with my daughter who doesn't fit into long pants since she's short and needs her legs covered for warmth when wearing dresses/jumpers, and therefore got tights as well. I would have bought boring colors if I was buying new, but alas ebay lots are a lot cheaper Smile
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louche




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 20 2009, 11:10 am
2 ties? you're making a big hoo-ha about two ties? I repeat: get yourself some small boxes, preferably transparent, for storing small items. If you don't want to buy boxes, use shoeboxes or cigar boxes, and paste pictures of the contents on the front and top so you and the kids know what belongs in them. That can be a nice little activity for the kids: get some magazines or catalogs and have them cut or tear out pictures of ties, belts, sweaters, socks, whatever you're going to put in the boxes, and then paste them on the boxes.

If you can get away with doing laundry only once a week, you probably have too many clothes. The fewer units you have, the less you have to worry about storing and keeping organized.

If you need some hanging space, install wall-mounted racks, preferably at child-height, so the kids can hang some of their own things.This is best for things like coats and backpacks that they use daily, as opposed to shabbos clothing. Or if you have any floor space, you can get a garment rack of the type used in retail clothing stores, to use as an auxiliary closet. If you get one that is height-adjustable, you will be able to raise the bar as the children grow, and accommodate their longer clothing.

Cardboard drawer dividers take up no space at all and make it infinitely easier to keep drawers neat. You don't even have to fold the socks, though folding does mean they take up less space. If you shove one pair of socks or tights in each cubicle, you can instantly find and pull out the pair you need. For items of which you have identical multiples, you can make the compartments bigger to accommodate the number of items you have. Try it--what do you have to lose except a little cardboard? If you don't like it, put the cardboard in a recycling bin and go back to your present system.

The cardboard drawer divider system works really well in underwear drawers even if the clothes aren't folded. Just having a section for underpants, one for undershirts, another for slips, another for socks or tights, keeps mishmash down. Depending on how much you have, fat chunky cartons like the ones that hold 10 quarts of powdered milk envelopes, or disposable diapers, or double-size cartons of cheerios (cut down to the depth of the drawer) may be the perfect size and are even easier to use than making your own interlocking dividers.

How does open top help? For chinuch. It sounds to me as if you're doing all the folding and putting away, which is fine if you plan to continue doing so for the rest of your children's life at home. If, however, you hope to someday have them take over the chore of putting away their own things, you have to start training them now, and that means making things easy for them. Regimented systems like folding clothes on a shelf are difficult for young children to keep neat. Boxes that open at the top, like shoeboxes, are easy for them to throw things into. Drawers ARE open-topped boxes, but very big ones that are hard to keep orderly unless you subdivide them.

Frankly, if I were the mother of little girls, I would avoid like the swine flu having tights and accessories that go only with specific dresses. Plenty of time for that sort of thing when they're older and capable of organizing their own stuff. But if this kind of coordination makes you happy, then hanging the accessories in a bag looped around the hanger is an excellent idea, though as you say, it will probably take up more space in the closet. Then again, less closet space may be worth it if the result is more drawer space.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 20 2009, 11:22 am
louche wrote:
2 ties? you're making a big hoo-ha about two ties? I repeat: get yourself some small boxes, preferably transparent, for storing small items. If you don't want to buy boxes, use shoeboxes or cigar boxes, and paste pictures of the contents on the front and top so you and the kids know what belongs in them. That can be a nice little activity for the kids: get some magazines or catalogs and have them cut or tear out pictures of ties, belts, sweaters, socks, whatever you're going to put in the boxes, and then paste them on the boxes.

It's the ties plus the belts plus the yarmulkas Wink Which is why I liked your shoe organizer idea. Where in the world would I put all these small boxes? I have 3 kids, a 2 BR apartment. You can imagine what their room looks like. Smile

Quote:

If you can get away with doing laundry only once a week, you probably have too many clothes. The fewer units you have, the less you have to worry about storing and keeping organized.

It's not a choice of mine to do laundry once a week. It's a reality that I'm forced to live with until we move elsewhere. I don't own a washer and dryer. And there is no where in my apartment to put one. It's not a l'chatchila at all. I would much prefer to have less clothing and be able to do laundry whenever I needed!

Quote:

If you need some hanging space, install wall-mounted racks, preferably at child-height, so the kids can hang some of their own things.This is best for things like coats and backpacks that they use daily, as opposed to shabbos clothing. Or if you have any floor space, you can get a garment rack of the type used in retail clothing stores, to use as an auxiliary closet. If you get one that is height-adjustable, you will be able to raise the bar as the children grow, and accommodate their longer clothing.

Their closet is stuffed on the bottom with blankets, boxes for storage, etc -- no room for hanging things there either Sad No floor space either Sad

Quote:

Cardboard drawer dividers take up no space at all and make it infinitely easier to keep drawers neat. You don't even have to fold the socks, though folding does mean they take up less space. If you shove one pair of socks or tights in each cubicle, you can instantly find and pull out the pair you need. For items of which you have identical multiples, you can make the compartments bigger to accommodate the number of items you have. Try it--what do you have to lose except a little cardboard? If you don't like it, put the cardboard in a recycling bin and go back to your present system.

Does it take up a whole drawer? I'd love to try it if it doesn't mean giving up a whole drawer just for socks. My sons' socks are stored in a basket on top of the dresser for 1, a shoebox in his pajama drawer for the other. It's my daughters' tights mainly I'm working on...last night what I ended up doing is matching up her outfits with tights, putting it all in one ziploc per outfit, and then keeping it together like that.

Quote:

The cardboard drawer divider system works really well in underwear drawers even if the clothes aren't folded. Just having a section for underpants, one for undershirts, another for slips, another for socks or tights, keeps mishmash down. Depending on how much you have, fat chunky cartons like the ones that hold 10 quarts of powdered milk envelopes, or disposable diapers, or double-size cartons of cheerios (cut down to the depth of the drawer) may be the perfect size and are even easier to use than making your own interlocking dividers.
How do they stand up? (I'm not such a creative, artistic person, so I need some help here Smile)
You just cut a cereal box and have a board that goes between different sections?
(No slips...I have a 4 year old boy, a not yet 3 year old boy, and a 14 month old girl...nothing that complicated here.)
My 4 year old son's top drawer is like this:
undershirts folded next to a shoebox filled with underwear which divides the drawer to leave the rest for pajamas.

Quote:

How does open top help? For chinuch. It sounds to me as if you're doing all the folding and putting away, which is fine if you plan to continue doing so for the rest of your children's life at home. If, however, you hope to someday have them take over the chore of putting away their own things, you have to start training them now, and that means making things easy for them. Regimented systems like folding clothes on a shelf are difficult for young children to keep neat. Boxes that open at the top, like shoeboxes, are easy for them to throw things into. Drawers ARE open-topped boxes, but very big ones that are hard to keep orderly unless you subdivide them.

Actually, no Smile
My older son helps fold sometimes when we do our weekly laundry (pants, pjs, underwear) and he puts away as well. He does just fine with drawers. I thought you meant using bins only, and not drawers...

Quote:

Frankly, if I were the mother of little girls, I would avoid like the swine flu having tights and accessories that go only with specific dresses. Plenty of time for that sort of thing when they're older and capable of organizing their own stuff. But if this kind of coordination makes you happy, then hanging the accessories in a bag looped around the hanger is an excellent idea, though as you say, it will probably take up more space in the closet. Then again, less closet space may be worth it if the result is more drawer space.
One girl...but I tihnk I figured out the tights issue Smile

I got to get a shoehanging thing now for the closet door for yarmulkas, belts, ties...
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