Pack A Wrinkle-Free Suitcase By Stuffing Your Folds
Packing a wrinkle-free suitcase can be quite a challenge, but the real key to keeping your clothes smooth across all your bumpy miles of travel is in the way you fold them.
At the web site The Art of Manliness they’ve put together a guide to packing a travel bag. Among the gems they share is a step-by-step guide to packing your clothing so that it unpacks without wrinkles.
The magic comes from artfully nesting folded clothing within other clothing so that the most likely to wrinkle items are on the outer most layer of the bundle. The goal is to minimise the severity of the curve in the fabric so wrinkles are less likely to form and the creasing in the fabric isn’t prominent.
Check out the full writeup below to see a step by step photo tutorial. If you have a trick or two for keeping clothes packed smoothly, sound off in the comments to share them. If packing speed is something you’re more interested in, check out this classic video covering how to fold a t-shirt in two seconds.
How to Pack a Bag [The Art of Manliness]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Chirish: So I take it you're a girly man?
Ugh, but this link requires you to go to the Art of Manliness? No thanks.
That site can be worse than living in a dorm room on a floor full of wrestlers from an incredibly red, state college (and this is speaking from personal experience). It reinforces stupid notions of what it "means to be a man", whatever that is.
Chirish
I generally roll my clothes because it takes up a lot less space than folding. I roll 3-4 shirts or pants together into a big clothing burrito. Avoiding wrinkles is easy (though maybe a tad less effective?) with this method, as well, so long as I make sure there are no folds or creases in the garments running parallel to the direction in which they'll be rolled. I also avoid putting the item I want to stay wrinkle free towards the inside of the roll where wrinkles are more likely to occur.
@Chirish: If you prefer the more feminine approach, I suppose a site about being a gentlemen wouldn't make a lot of sense to you.
mahumphrey
@Chirish: I respectfully disagree. Art of Manliness is not Howard Stern. It's not AM radio. A quick look finds some interesting, male-oriented but non-sexist stuff:
-- Self-Made Men by Frederick Douglass
-- How to Give Praise Like a Man
-- Adventure Books
-- Write a Love Letter
jeffk
@Claytons: One word: "Rollin'"
jeffk
I have tried the stack-and-fold method, but the stack-and-roll has always given me much better results. For pants, lay three or four on top of one another in alternating directions (pant bottoms to pant tops), pull strainght and roll in a tight "jelly roll." For T-shirts, do the same thing, fold in the arms and roll tight. Dress shirts are a problem, so use an iron at the hotel, or bring a steamer. Put cosmetics (mouth wash, toothpaste and brush, deoderant, etc.)in plastic bags, put them in the centre of the suitcase and pack all the clothes around them. This system has worked for me forever, even for flights lasting longer than fifteen hours.
2commit
@MajorDad1984: I went on a marching band trip to florida this year and over 10 people were missing parts of their instruments from the TSA searches. One person's whole instrument was missing.
Okay...how many other people open their suitcases after a day of flying to find the TSA clowns have rummaged through EVERYTHING you own?
I feel thanked for 29 years of service with the Army every time...
I've never really had a problem with the casual wear stuff I don't put in a hanging bag, but for my suits and dress shirts in the hanging bag I almost always end up ironing or stopping at a dry cleaners when I get to my destination. Unless I'm driving, in which case I just hang the bag up and don't have to worry about it. But maybe I'll have to look in to this.
I use a modified "bundle" technique as shown here: http://www.packinglight.net/plight/text_1.asp?tx_id=77 The goal is to avoid tight folds in unexpected locations. As you pack, half the length of your pants, shirts, and other long items are hanging out the suite case being layered by more clothes and other items to make the "fold in" non-sharp. The center of the clothing inside the suite case is for underwear and t-shirts that were set on top of the shirts, coats, and pants.
Obviously, the bottom and any nooks are filled with shoes, socks, books, and a drier sheet to keep things smelling fresh.
TheFu
When I travel it's almost always for business and I'm almost always going to need casual and dress clothes for each day that I'm on the road. I have been able to pack somewhat wrinkle-free but I usually do have to spend a few minutes ironing each day.