I Stopped Doing Laundry, and It Was the Most Brilliant Decluttering Trick I’ve Ever Tried

Some decluttering methods are easier to get behind than others. Seeing everything you can declutter in 25 minutes or choosing just 10 items to get rid of? I’m in. So when I heard about a decluttering trick that requires you to literally stop doing laundry altogether — I was obviously all-in. 

If you’re confused about how ceasing such an important chore could help you declutter, you’re not alone. I had the same gut reaction. But it’s actually brilliant, incredibly clarifying, and one of the few decluttering methods that’s actually worked for me. 

The premise is simple. First, commit to not washing any clothing for at least a week or two, or until you essentially run out of clothes. Go about your life as normal, wearing garments out of your closet and dresser as you would, then tossing them into the hamper. Over time, you’ll have worn all of your go-to favorites, the garments you repeatedly wear. Eventually, you’ll end up with whatever’s left in your closet, and this is precisely where the eye-opening decluttering magic happens. 

Undoubtedly, you’re going to have clean items still hanging or folded that, even when left with no other options, you simply don’t want to wear because they either don’t fit, are dated, or just don’t feel like “you” anymore. These leftover garments? They’re the ones that have to go. Because if you can’t even bring yourself to wear them with joy when they’re the only option, you’ve officially outgrown them. 

Going through this exercise illuminated how much I was holding onto that I didn’t need anymore, and it made parting with them easier because I actually went through the motions of thinking about wearing them — when they were the only option — and realized that even then, I’d prefer to wear something else. 

I’d say there were about a quarter of my clothes still clean that I just didn’t want to wear. (And if I’m being honest, some of which I hadn’t worn in literal years.) In total, I donated two full trash bags worth of clothing.  

Of course, there are exceptions to this decluttering trick. I did this when it was warm, so I didn’t get a chance to go through my cold-season attire, but I plan to repeat the exercise once fall comes around. There are also some “special occasion” garments that this doesn’t work for, but I did use the momentum to go through those garments as well. Finally, I ran into a few sentimental items I just wouldn’t wear anymore. For those, I put them in a clear bin and stored them on a top shelf. That way, I could see the clothes but they weren’t impacting closet function. 

Overall, this is a highly effective decluttering method that helps cut through a lot of the emotion of saying goodbye to garments with minimal effort. And the fact that it gives you a break from doing laundry for a while is a nice perk, too.