The Best Closet Tools I Think Everyone Needs

With fashion being fast, disposable and cheaply made for so long, I feel like as a culture we’ve fallen into a pattern of giving up easily at the first signs of wear and tear on our clothing. Gone are the days of having mending piles and sewing rooms. We have tailors for that now and if we only paid $10 for a shirt that now has a hole, might as well throw it away and buy another. But something I’ve learned and have started to practice in my closet journey to being a more mindful consumer and shopper, is to start caring for my clothes the way we used to - to stick it out when something I love gets a snag or stain.

I believe that getting back to taking care of our clothes is in step with building and maintaining a wardrobe you love, one that will stand the test of time and serve you in every chapter.

But since that takes having the right tools for the task, here are my favorite closet tools for mending, tailoring and fixing your clothes that I think everyone should have on hand.

Snag-Nab-It

The best name for a tool but also one of the MOST useful. Who doesn’t get snags on their clothes?! I’ve used this on furniture, knit sweaters and Lululemon leggings, it works really well.

It’s slightly larger than the size of a sewing needle.

You poke the sharp end through the fabric and on its way out the other side, the textured end grabs loose fibers and pulls them through leaving no trace of the snag.

I bought this $4.99 one on Amazon.

Fabric Shaver

Probably my #1 closet tool and easily most used, this Conair fabric shaver is a must-have! I’ve used this tool both on furniture and clothing but usually I use it on my sweaters or athleisure.

Wherever pilling builds up is where you have the most friction occurring - usually in the underarm and crotch areas of an item but some pieces made of cheaper fabrics have a tendency to pill all over which lends to aging it.

A fabric shaver is the perfect tool to refresh your closet each season and keep your hard earned items looking brand new!

This Conair fabric shaver is $13.99 on Amazon.

Denim Patches

Much more of a specific tool but still helpful when it comes to wearing your denim as long as possible.

Usually coming in a pack of different shades and blue washes, denim patches are applied the same way as hemming adhesive and is a heavy duty solution to covering holes and reinforcing worn areas.

Good denim should last for years, but when the day comes for some careful surgery, you don’t want to be caught without a solution!

Support your local fabric store or snag this $7 patch set on Amazon.

Hemming Adhesive

SUCH a game changer - hemming adhesive acts like glue when heated, it’s fool-proof and the perfect solution for a quick hemming fix. No need to mess with a needle and thread - all you need is a hot iron and ironing board.

If you’re petite, most likely you’ve had to have a lot of clothing altered to be the right length for you, whether you’ve paid someone to do it or taught yourself - but even if you’re not petite I’m sure you, like me, found yourself in this position before. Enter hemming adhesive.

After using a ruler to make sure you’ve shortened your item the same length all the way around, tuck the hemming adhesive under the lip of the new hem and press down with the iron for the allotted time. Violà!

This hemming adhesive is $2 on Amazon.

Water Mister Bottle

As I continue to add more linen pieces to my closet the only upkeep is removing the harsh wrinkles it has after being folded or washed. Water mister to the rescue!! Just a quick spritz of water resets the fibers and removes wrinkles in seconds, just make sure its totally dry before wearing!

This method also works on other natural fabrics such as cotton, sometimes I’ll mist my husbands work shirts instead of ironing to save time. It won’t give you as crisp of a finish as ironing but it’s perfect in a pinch.

I usually bring this bottle on vacation but it also comes in a mini version for travel (linked below)

This $12 mister bottle is from Amazon, I like the really fine mist it creates which allows me to have more control. I’ll link it here.

Fray Check

Fray check is ideal for halting fraying/rips/tears/ distressing when you don’t want it to grow.

I have a pair of jeans that started with a small hole on the front and minor distressing which grew very quickly with wear and I had to use fray check to make sure nothing spread to the point of making the jeans unwearable. It worked perfectly!

Tip: apply the glue as close to the edge as possible as it will slightly darken the fabric where applied.

This two pack on Amazon is $11.

In My Cart

Currently in my cart is a leather hole punch, useful for adding holes to belts of any kind!

I’m eyeing this $12 version.