How to organise your underwear drawer in six steps

Functionality and order in your home can help declutter your mind, and a well organised underwear drawer can make your mornings so much easier. But let’s face it, when life gets busy our household chores can take a hit and underwear drawers can become a hotbed of disorganisation.

So, where do you start? We spoke with cleaning expert Laura Mountford for her top tips and advice. With over half a million followers on her successful cleaning Instagram account @lauracleanaholic, Laura knows a thing or two about making a home work for you. And she insists that getting on top of your underwear drawer is simple if you follow these quick and easy steps.

Combine her expert advice with the tried-and-tested wisdom of our Mumsnet users themselves, we’ve created the ultimate guide to organising your underwear drawer to help you out. 

Organisation often comes with clearing out old items, especially underwear. So, if you’re in need of anything new, don’t miss our guides to the best shapewear, best tights and even the best swimsuits.

1. Do a regular refresh

Your underwear drawer can become full to the brim with solo socks, laddered tights or knickers with zero elasticity. It’s important to be consistent and do regular checks through your underwear drawer to make sure you still get use out of everything.

As Laura explains: “Do a refresh every six months and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself if you ever wear that item or if it still fits you? Is it serving a purpose for you? Then make sure any damaged items are tossed.

“Don’t fall into the trap of just chucking them back in the drawer. There’s nothing worse than going to put on a pair of tights and realising you’ve already laddered them.

“Hopefully. regular refreshes will clear space and create a little more order.”

2. Invest in drawer dividers

If you’re short on space and can only afford to give one drawer for your underwear, try to separate things with drawer dividers. There’s so many amazing storage solutions available online, and Amazon has a great range at an affordable price point. IKEA is also a good place to shop for dividers. 

Making separate space for your knickers, socks, tights and bras means you don’t have to nearly fold everything as it’s already organised within its designated area. 

What Mumsnet users say

"I got some years ago, plastic flexible honeycomb shape... Still going strong." 70isaLimitNotaTarget

3. Organise by style 

If you have a little more space, try and sort things by style and use. Make sure your everyday items have a front row seat and are easy to find. Delicate items can be sectioned off and get in soft tissue or garment bags if you want to preserve the delicate fabric. 

"Try and keep your everyday bras and expensive bras apart as the hooks can get tangled and cause damage", adds Laura. 

What Mumsnet users say

"I have IKEA drawer storage things, so one cube for knickers, one for socks, one for trainer socks, and it leaves about 2 inches at the front that I stuff my bras in all along the front…" flummingbird

4. Separate by colour

Sometimes you need to match your outfit to your underwear. If you’re wearing a white or pale colour, you’ll want white or nude underwear to match. So make sure you establish some kind of colour organisation that makes things easier to find.

"It really stresses me out when I need a black bra and can’t instantly find it." Laura says. 

"Or I need a red bra to match the dress I’m wearing. It’s quite easy to organise things by shade or colour if you have the space and it just makes everyday dressing so much simpler."

5. Keep a caddy for single socks

One of the big mysteries in life is where do all the pairs of socks go? Seriously, we cannot understand how we end up with so many singles. It’s as if our washing machine drum swallows them whole. But don’t toss those poor singles or stuff them in with your matching pairs, as Laura shares some great advice:

"Get a small caddy and either keep it in the underwear drawer, your laundry room or by your washing machine and use it for solo socks. 

"Whenever a new one turns up, check the caddy. You may be surprised by how many pairs you end up finding."

6. Use a scent booster

Our clothes can smell a tad musty when they’re sitting in the drawer. So if you want to achieve that freshly washed scent, you could try some boosters or liners.

Laura explains: "Dryer sheets are such a multi-functional product and I often use them to line my underwear drawer. They give your underwear that newly-washed scent. I also buy organza bags and put scent booster beads in them and tuck them into corners of my underwear drawer. The smell is gorgeous."

About the expert

Laura Mountford aka @lauracleanaholic shares her cleaning and laundry motivation, tips and tricks, favourite products and where to buy them. Laura knows from first-hand experience that taking care of a home can be overwhelming but using products she loves and knows work well (and smell divine) motivates her to clean. Most of all, she finds that cleaning helps her to relax - it is an essential part of her self-care routine. Laura's belief is that everyone can care for themselves and care for their home at the same time.

About the author

Kat Romero is a writer and journalist hailing from London. Here at Mumsnet she writes our Swears By content which is designed to offer mums a round-up of the best products on the market. Whilst she has always been a lover of writing, Kat feels becoming a mother has made her more passionate delivering quality content for parents that is helpful and relatable. So, you know you can trust her product roundups.

When she's not at her desk, Kat loves to soak up the sights of London with her fiancé and son - exploring museum exhibitions and the many open spaces and parks. Or you'll find her consuming far too much caffeine from some of her beloved coffee shops in her local area of South East London.