Throwing your not-needed-right-now clothes in the loft is an excellent way to make space in your wardrobes and drawers. You get the bulk of your garments out of the way and make lots of room for your must-wear-now pieces.
The idea is straightforward enough. However, one wrong move when storing your clothes in the attic, and you could be down a few outfits before the year is out!
If you plan on keeping clothes in a loft, there are a few must-dos that you have to carry out. Find out how to store clothes correctly in an attic below.
Step 1: Check Your Loft Is Suitable
It’s worth taking a look in your loft before deciding to store clothes there. Make sure it’s cool, dry, and free from pests. You should also note how light it is, as too much light could damage your clothing.
Based on what you see, smell or hear, you can deal with the issue(s) (for example, dampness, mould or rodents) before storing your clothes in the loft. Who wants to stick their jumpers in a rat-filled attic?!
While up in the loft, you should ensure the surface is stable and can be walked on/have stuff put on it. Not all attics have ‘proper’ floors. If yours doesn’t, consider where/how you will store/move your clothes in the area.
For example, if there isn’t a ‘proper’ floor in place, you’ll have to carefully walk across and balance your garments on the wooden beams; this can be tricky. One wrong step, and you will fall through the plasterboard ceiling!
Tip: Give your attic a quick clean before storing your clothes. This is to remove any noticeable grime and as much dust as possible.
Step 2: Sort Your Clothes
Once you know the attic is safe, you can start sorting your clothes ready for storage.
The easiest way to sort your clothes is by season. For example, store your winter stuff during the summer and vice versa.
Obviously, there’s got to be some leeway because you may need to keep a jacket out of the attic in case you need to wear it on a rainy day. But you get the gist!
In addition, you could sort your items further by assessing whether or not you need to keep, sell, donate or repurpose them.
Consider what you wear a lot and save it, and either sell your not-so-worn outfits on Vinted (or equivalent) or give them to a charity shop.
By whittling down your piles of clothes before storing them, you’ll have fewer outfits to manage and less storage containers/vacuum bags to worry about.
Step 3: Wash and Dry Your Clothes
Grab the clothes you intend on storing and clean them.
At this point, you need to ensure your garments are food-free and stain-free. Crumbs and blemishes tend to attract pests of the moth and rodent varieties.
If these unwanted guests get hold of your clothes, they’ll ruin them. One way to manage this is to not give the creatures what they want to begin with!
Dirty clothes also smell. This putrid odour will only grow stronger the longer your clothes are kept in an airtight space. Do yourself a favour and ensure your clothes are clean because you don’t want your nostrils to be assaulted come ‘opening-up-containers’ day.
In addition, you should fix up any damages – missing buttons, tiny holes or rips. This just keeps your clothes in good condition.
Step 4: Choose the Right Storage Solution
Loft spaces aren’t often temperature-controlled, and general grime and insects like to live in the area. With this in mind, you must tailor your storage to suit this environment.
Essentially, your storage needs to be airtight, damp proof and can keep moths and rodents out. See your options below:
Option 1: Sealed plastic boxes
Benefits:
- With see-through plastic containers like these from Dunelm you can see what’s in each box.
- Can protect clothes from liquids (for example, leaks and condensation) and pests.
- Readily available and not too expensive.
- Stackable – space saving.
- Come in different sizes.
Drawbacks:
- Can be tricky to manoeuvre when full.
- You can trap pre-existing moisture in the tubs. So, you have to put measures in place to deal with this.
- Some containers may off-gas.
Tip: Add cedar balls or scent sachets to the containers to repel creatures and keep laundry smelling fresh.
Option 2: Vacuum-sealed bags
Benefits:
- Garments are kept in a sealed location away from pests, mildew, and dampness.
- Space saving.
- Easy to come by.
- Multipurpose – can be used to store clothes when travelling.
Drawbacks:
- Not suitable for all fabrics. Some materials need air (natural fibres/puffy garments/shoes), but these bags don’t offer it. You’d have to find another storage solution for these items.
- Cheaper bags let air in over time, so they’re no longer vacuum-packed bags.
- Cheaper bags leave air in over time, so they’re no longer vacuum-packed bags.
- Occasionally, the bags open and leave the garments exposed to dampness, cold, and pests.
- You have to check the vacuum bags regularly to ensure they’re closed. But if they’re up the attic, you’re not likely to do this.
Option 3: Invest in a loft storage wardrobe
If you have a functioning loft space (proper floor and insulation), you could consider using the space as a wardrobe.
There are companies that specialise in creating storage solutions that fit in between the tresses in your attic.
One such company is Loftzone. Their fabric storage containers slot into the gap and are secured in place. You can then hang up clothes or pop your garments onto the shelves inside the fabric containers.
The wardrobes are made using a tough material that keeps clothes dry, damp-free and protected from insects.
Each wardrobe also comes with a window, so you can see what garments are inside without opening the wardrobe up.
Option 4: Suitcases
It is possible to store some clothes in suitcases and then pop them in the attic. This works as a short-term solution. But it’s not the best option.
The main problems you’ll encounter include the suitcases will be heavy to lift into the attic when full.
Plus, the cases may be made from fabric, so they won’t repel all the moisture and dampness in the attic. This will inevitably become a problem for your clothes which are inside.
Option 5: Sports bags
Sports bags are similar to suitcases in that they can provide a short-term solution to storage issues. They may be easier to manoeuvre because they’re smaller and have handles. But as they’re usually made from fabric, you’ll likely face damp and mould-related issues.
Things you shouldn’t store clothes in
Cardboard boxes
Cardboard isn’t going to protect your clothing for very long. The material won’t stand up to dampness, pests, and mould. Your clothes would likely be ruined if you leave them in a cardboard box for a long time.
Plastic carrier bags and rubbish sacks
Carrier and rubbish bags can sometimes protect items in an attic – Christmas decorations, for example. However, plastic bags often feel damp when you take them out of an attic, and sometimes their contents feel wet or extremely cold.
If you keep clothes in these types of sacks, they’ll feel this effect even more. The fabrics won’t fare well and will feel moist when removed from the attic.
Overall, carriers offer very little protection to clothes in a loft. The only way you could improve this is if you stuck your outfits in multiple tied-up bags! This, of course, can work out costly.
Step 5: Pack Clothes Away
Keep the following points in mind when packing your clothes away:
- Fold clothes into neat piles or roll them up and place them in the container/vacuum bag – You must be consistent. So, if you’ve decided to fold, fold all the clothes. Otherwise, you’ll have a mismatch of clothes and a half-filled container/vacuum bag.
- Don’t overfill plastic containers – Clothes need space to breathe. If you ram everything into a box, the outfits will end up misshapen. Pack the boxes loosely to help retain the shapes of your clothes.
- Put heavier items at the bottom of the box. Stick the lighter stuff on the top.
- Store similar materials together.
- Add some silica gel packs to manage moisture in plastic containers.
- Seal the lid on a container shut with tape if you need to make the container extra airtight.
- Ensure vacuum bags are sealed properly.
Step 6: Make a List of the Containers’ Contents
As you pack your vacuum bags/containers with garments, list what you put in them. Believe it or not, this ‘contents list’ will come in handy when looking for clothes later in the year!
The list doesn’t have to be extensive. Just give a brief description of the items you’re storing. Then, when you’re looking for a particular outfit, you can scan each list to find what you’re looking for – it’ll save you so much time.
Step 7: Pop Your Clothes in the Loft
When you’ve covered the above, stick your clothes in the attic.
Be careful not to injure yourself when moving large quantities of clothes!
Is It Safe to Store Clothes in the Loft?
It’s okay to store clothes in a loft as long as you’ve taken the right precautions beforehand. This includes securing and maintaining the loft space and cleaning and storing your items of clothing properly in sealed containers/vacuum bags. See the steps above.
If you just throw your outfits into an attic space, they will be subjected to various types of dirt, humidity levels, and perhaps pests. In this case, your clothes will likely end up ruined.
You should keep in mind that while it’s possible to store clothes in a loft space. Not all materials will fare well in this type of environment.
Delicate and natural fibred garments, for example, may find the climate inhospitable and may be a target for pests.
It would, therefore, be worth storing such items in other areas of the house where you have more control, like in a container under the bed.
Will Clothes Get Damp in the Loft?
There is a chance that your clothes will get damp when stored in a loft. However, you can mitigate this issue by storing your outfits correctly. See the steps above.
If you think your clothes will get damp in the loft and are worried about the extent of the damage, store your outfits somewhere else.
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
