The first properly cold morning of the year has a way of exposing the state of your closet. Sandals are still by the door, the good wool coat is wedged behind three linen dresses, and the plan for the weekend is to move summer out and fall in before Monday. The quick version of that swap goes like this: whatever is on the floor gets pushed into a bin, the lid snaps shut, and the bin slides under the bed. It feels efficient right up until May, when the bin gives up its contents with yellowed underarms, a musty smell and, if any wool was in the mix, the occasional hole. None of that is bad luck. It follows from what went into the bin rather than from the bin itself, and the fix is mostly laundry, done before the packing instead of after.
Empty the whole closet first, not just the summer half
Taking everything out is the step people skip, and it is the one that makes every later step cheaper. Ann Lightfoot, a professional organizer at Done & Done Home, offers a test that Wirecutter published: if you try something on and hesitate to leave the house for a coffee in it, let it go. Sort the rest into keep, repair and sell or donate, and be honest about the repair pile: a loose button you postpone until May is a loose button you will postpone again.
Goodwill, The Salvation Army, Poshmark and Depop are the usual exits, and a local Buy Nothing group takes whatever is left. For the maybe pile, Lightfoot suggests recruiting a "lighthearted cheerleader," and Wirecutter's write-up recommends a friend or a sibling over a romantic partner.
Wash everything, including the pieces that look clean
Sweat, body oils and food splashes are invisible when you fold a shirt, which is exactly why they cause trouble later. Wirecutter's reporting on seasonal storage notes that invisible stains can turn into dark spots over the months, and the University of California's Integrated Pest Management program says clothes moth larvae are more likely to damage fabrics with food, perspiration or urine stains. The larvae feed mainly on wool, fur and feathers, but they will also go after synthetics and cotton blends when wool is part of the fiber content, so a cotton-wool cardigan is not exempt just because it looks like cotton. Silk deserves the same caution, since Wirecutter lists it next to wool as a fiber to clean before storing. Plain cotton and linen tees tempt moths far less, but a yellowed collar after months in a closed bin is reason enough to run the wash.
What about the dress you wore for one evening and hung straight back up? Wash it or have it cleaned. Wirecutter's advice is blunt: if you are not sure whether you have worn something since it was last washed, washing it again will not hurt.
Follow the care label for each piece. Machine-washable cottons and synthetics go through a normal cycle and must be completely dry before they go anywhere near a lid, because trapped dampness is how a storage bin turns into a mildew problem. Sweaters and delicates marked hand-wash can soak in a no-rinse wash such as Soak, which Wirecutter recommends for the job, and anything labeled dry-clean-only should make the trip to the cleaner before storage, not after. The hot-water route does kill moths in washable items (UC IPM says 20 to 30 minutes in water of at least 120°F deals with every life stage), but many wools shrink or felt at that temperature. For wool sweaters and jackets, Wirecutter's sources say dry cleaning is the most effective method and worth the expense.
Before anything goes into a box, hold the underarms and collars up to a window. A stain you spot now can be pretreated, while one you find in May has had all winter to set.
Fold the knits, hang the structured pieces, ditch the plastic
Anything knitted stretches on a hanger, so T-shirts, cardigans and sweaters get folded, in storage or out of it. Wirecutter and the Woolmark Company agree on that, although The Container Store's seasonal storage guide suggests hanging delicate cashmere and wool. Fold them anyway; a heavy knit hanging by its shoulders for months is the one that stretches.
Structured pieces are the opposite case. A lined sundress, a jumpsuit or a tailored linen blazer does better on a wooden hanger that supports the shoulders than folded in a bin, and thin plastic or wire hangers are the wrong tool for the job. The dry cleaner's plastic sleeve should come off first. Jolie Kerr, the cleaning writer behind the Ask a Clean Person newsletter, told Wirecutter that plastic keeps fabric from breathing and can lead to yellowing, and a cotton garment bag does the same job without the downside. Woolmark adds a habit for delicate pieces: wrap them in tissue paper, which helps prevent yellowing and keeps them from snagging on zippers. For a wedding-guest dress or anything sentimental, use acid-free tissue and an archival box, the kind The Container Store sells for keepsake garments, and check the manufacturer's storage advice if the piece was expensive or heavy.
Jeans, shorts and cotton tees are the easy ones. Fold them, stack them, move on.
Pick the box, then pick where it lives
A bin with a tight lid is the best protection against pests, and the one Wirecutter recommends, the Iris WeatherPro storage box, is listed at roughly $18 to $29 in its 41-quart size depending on the retailer. The catch is moisture. The Container Store warns that plastic totes can trap moisture and cause mildew, and Woolmark suggests silica gel sachets inside storage bins to keep mold from developing. A sealed lid does not fix damp laundry; it only keeps the dampness company until May. Wipe the inside of the bin dry before you pack it.
Vacuum bags are the one product the sources do not agree on. Wirecutter lists compression bags as a good barrier against moths, but Woolmark notes that they do not let clothing breathe, can trap moisture and are not ideal for delicate pieces, and The Container Store calls them unsuitable for delicate fabrics and leather. The practical split: fine for sturdy, freshly washed cotton basics, wrong for silk, leather or anything that creases badly. If you do use them, do not overstuff them, and re-inflate them from time to time to prevent creases, as The Container Store advises.
Location matters as much as the container. Wirecutter warns against overly humid basements and attics and against direct sun, which can make fabric deteriorate or fade; The Container Store's rule is a cool, dry, dark place. A closet shelf or the space under the bed beats a damp basement.
Cedar is where the advice splits. Woolmark recommends cedar blocks over mothballs and says they work as well, if not better. UC IPM is more cautious: oil from eastern red cedar can kill small larvae but not large ones, and the effect fades after several years. Jason Dombroskie, manager of the Cornell University Insect Collection, told Wirecutter that cedar chests are effective mainly because they seal tightly. Buy the blocks if you like the scent, but trust the lid, not the wood.
Skip mothballs. The 1,4-dichlorobenzene in many of them is toxic, the smell lingers on fabric, and UC IPM warns that contact can soften plastic buttons, hangers and garment bags into the cloth.
The other half of the swap: checking what comes out
Everything above applies to the summer clothes going in. The wool coming out needs a different kind of attention, because it has spent months in a closet that clothes moths may have visited. The larvae do the damage, and they hide: UC IPM says it tends to show up under collars and cuffs, and by the time you notice, the moths have already done the work. Inspect each coat and sweater in daylight before you wear it.
- Silken tubes or flat patches of webbing under collars and cuffs, often with fibers and droppings mixed in
- Grazed, thinned spots on the surface of the fabric, even where there is no full hole yet
- Holes, which tend to start in hidden spots rather than on the front of the garment
- Small cigar-shaped silk cases, about 3/8 inch long, stuck to the fabric (the casemaking species carries these around, and there are other signs besides)
If a piece is clean, hang it in the sun if you can and brush it along the seams and inside the pockets. UC IPM says brushing destroys eggs and exposes larvae, and the larvae dislike bright light and drop from clothing when they cannot find cover. The adults are easy to misread: UC IPM puts clothes moths at about a quarter inch at rest, roughly half the size of most pantry moths, and says they are weak flyers that are not drawn to lights. So the moth circling your bedside lamp is almost certainly not the one eating your sweater.
Fall is not a safe harbor, either. UC IPM notes that heated buildings let clothes moths keep developing through the winter, that the cycle from egg to egg usually takes four to six months, and that a female lays an average of 40 to 50 eggs. A pheromone trap from a hardware store, set on a closet shelf, will tell you whether you have clothes moths at all. It catches males of the webbing species, so treat it as an early warning rather than a cure, as Wirecutter does.
If you do find damage, wash what the label allows at 120°F or above, dry-clean the wool, or seal the piece in a plastic bag and freeze it. UC IPM says to leave it in the freezer for several days below 18°F, while Dombroskie told Wirecutter the drop should be abrupt and the items need at least 72 hours once they reach freezing, and that even then the freezer may not settle an infestation. Vacuum the closet, take the vacuum bag outside and throw it away at once, and bring in a pest control operator if the moths keep coming back.
Label the lid
Write the season and contents on every bin, as The Container Store suggests, and add the month you washed what is inside. Next May the label will tell you at a glance whether the box can go straight into the closet or needs one more cycle first.