Declutter your wardrobe in a weekend: a simple plan from Friday to Sunday

Friday evening: get ready

Half an hour now saves time tomorrow.

• Clear a space, such as the bed or a patch of floor, to sort on.
• Gather five bags or boxes and label them: keep, sell, donate, repair and recycle.
• Find your tools: a full-length mirror, a lint roller, a tape measure, and your phone charged for photos.
• Decide your rules. For example: anything not worn in a year goes unless there is a good reason, and anything that does not fit now goes.

Saturday morning: sort by category

Do not try to tackle the whole wardrobe at once. Work through one category at a time, in this order, from easiest to hardest:

1. coats and jackets
2. knitwear
3. tops and shirts
4. trousers, jeans and skirts
5. dresses and occasion wear
6. shoes and bags
7. accessories

Take everything in the category out, put it on the bed and decide on each piece before you move on.

The questions to ask

For each piece, ask yourself:

• Have I worn it in the last year? If not, why not?
• Does it fit me now? Not one day, now.
• Do I like how I feel in it?
• Does it go with other things I own?
• Would I buy it again today?
• Is it in good condition, or does it need work?

If you hesitate on most of these, it probably belongs in another pile.

Saturday afternoon: try on the maybes

You will have a small heap of pieces you are unsure about. Try them on in front of the mirror with shoes you would wear them with. Most decisions become obvious within a few seconds of seeing yourself in them.

Keep a strict limit on the maybe pile. If something is still a maybe after trying it on, give it a date: put it in a bag, write the date on it, and if you have not gone looking for it in three months, it goes.

What goes in each pile

• Keep: pieces you wear and love. Put them back neatly, with the ones you wear most where you can reach them.
• Sell: pieces in good condition that someone else would be pleased to receive. Our guide to clearing your wardrobe this autumn covers what tends to sell.
• Donate: clean, wearable pieces that would not be worth the time to list.
• Repair: a missing button, a dropped hem, a split seam. Be honest about whether you will really do it. Our guide to simple repairs before you sell covers the quick ones.
• Recycle: anything worn out, stained or torn beyond use. Many councils and textile banks take these. Check what your local service accepts.

Sunday morning: get the sell pile ready

• Check each piece in daylight for marks, holes and bobbling.
• Wash or air anything that needs it, following the care label.
• De-bobble knitwear and lint-roll dark fabrics.
• Take the measurements in cm while you have the tape measure out. Our guide on how to measure clothes shows which ones to take.

Sunday afternoon: photograph and list

Batch the photos while the light is good. Set up once near a window, with a plain background, and work through the pile: front, back, label, fabric and any flaws for each piece. Our guide to photographing clothes to sell has the details.

Then list them. If you are not sure what to charge, start from the condition and look at what similar pieces are listed for. On Rewear, listing is free and there is no selling fee, so the price you agree is the price you are paid. Buyers pay postage and a buyer protection fee of 30p + 3%.

If you have lots of pieces in the same size, set a bundle discount in your profile so buyers save by taking several at once.

Sunday evening: finish the job

• Put the donate bag in the car or by the door, so it actually leaves.
• Put the repair pile somewhere you will see it, with a deadline.
• Look at the wardrobe you are keeping and enjoy the space.

Keeping it clear

A big clear-out is easier to keep up with small habits. Try "one in, one out" when you buy something new, and do a quick check at the start of each season. Our guide to building a capsule wardrobe is a good next step if you want a smaller wardrobe that works harder.

The short version

Friday: get bags and space ready. Saturday: sort one category at a time into keep, sell, donate, repair and recycle, and try on the maybes. Sunday: clean and measure the sell pile, photograph it in daylight and list it. Then get the donations out of the door.