Not a lot of people enjoy packing. Stuffing clothes, toiletries and basically everything you need for a couple of weeks into a tiny bag can be very frustrating. And with things like airline baggage limits, things just get more complicated each step.
But it can be easy to pack, if you know a few tips and tricks. The things in this slideshow can help basically everybody because everyone needs to travel now and then!
So if you want to pack with ease, fit more stuff in your bags, then simply read the tips in this article. You won’t believe you used to pack in any other way!
Fold All Your Clothes Into A One Big Neat Bundle
If your clothes are always bursting out of the suitcase, that’s because you’re packing them wrong. The most efficient way is to fold them all together into a cube.
You Can Fit So Much Into A Pair Of Shoes
Shoes take up a lot of room in a suitcase, yet they’re an essential item. But you can use a pair of shoes to your advantage easily. Just fold up some of your stuff really tight (socks, pantyhose and bras for example) and stuff them inside.
Shirts and Underwear Can Be Rolled and Stuffed Into Socks
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One shirt and a pair of underwear folded together take up the space of a pair of socks. And if you fold a pair of socks over them, then they’ll stay packed like that throughout your journey.
Square Fold Your Shirt and Then Use A Belt To Keep It Firm
Traveling with button-up shirts can be annoying. They always get wrinkled, meaning that they have to be ironed when you get to your destination. But if you fold it like how shirts come in packages and line the collar with a belt, they stay smooth.
Put Foundation and Makeup Remover Into Contact Cases
The liquid size restrictions on planes are a real headache. Some stuff is hard to find in travel-friendly bottles! One easy way of getting around this is squirting a bit of your vital liquid beauty products into contact cases. They’ll keep it secure and plane friendly!
Source: Pixnio
Put Thin Plastic Sheets Between a Bottle and Its Cap
Some supposedly travel-friendly bottles still manage to leak like crazy. But a thin sheet of plastic placed over the opening of the bottle and underneath the screw on top stops this from happening!
Put Jewelry in a Pill Reminder
You won’t need to worry about your jewelry getting damaged when it’s in this.
Necklaces can be Kept in Straws
Just thread the chain into a straw and clasp it on the other side. It’ll stop the necklace from tangling!
Create Little Packets of Shampoo by Burning Straws
Simply put a lighter to one end of a straw until the two ends melt together. Let it cool. Pour some shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste in and then melt together the other end. You’ve got a one day dose of shampoo in the tiniest possible container!
Jeans can Seal Themselves up
Just fold out the waist of a pair of jeans, fold the legs over each other, roll up the legs over one end of the fold and unfold the other half.
Shirts can Also Seal Themselves up
Use the same theory as packing jeans. Fold the bottom of the shirt upwards slightly, fold in half, roll to over the first fold and then seal it up!
Underwear Can Also Seal Itself
Using the same method as the shirts and jeans folding, seal up underwear. Only this time you have to fold it from the waist opening over the leg holes without making that little first fold. Then fold the two ends in on the underwear and roll the crotch flap over the folds. You’ll see an opening from the waist hole. Hold that over the entire underwear, and it’ll be sealed up good!
Pack Stuff Into a Hat
Hats are other items that, depending on the design, take up too much space. But if you fill the hat with soft items, such as underwear or socks, then it will use more space, and the socks will protect its shape.
Get a Light Case
It’s obvious when you think about it. The less a case weighs, more stuff you can take with you! Weight restrictions on airlines are way too small, so a lighter case can make all the difference.
Put the Heavy Stuff Next to the Wheels
It’s a lesson in gravity that most packers forget, but your bag’s wheels will be on the ground when you’re walking. That means all your items will press down on that area. You don’t want delicate things there! Put them at the top of the bag.
Match Clothes to Your Itinerary
To save on bringing clothes that you won’t even wear, look at what you’ve got planned to do. Then you should only pack clothes that match those activities.
Fold Your Clothing Inside Out
The odds of getting a stain on your clothes is reduced if the clothes are inside out. It’s still a risk, but it’s much less likely to seep through to the front.
Use Shower Caps to Cover Your Shoes
Shoes are dirty by their nature. They stomp through so much dirt, that it’s gross to think of packing them with all your other stuff. A shower cap can help keep your other things clean however. Just put your shoes in one!
Place Clothes Inside Dry Cleaning Bags Before Folding
You can fold clothes after they’re in a dry cleaning bag. This allows you to keep the item from wrinkling.
Put Underwear in a Bra Cup
It saves space and will let the cups maintain their form.
Put Glass Bottles in a Sock/Panty Hose
It gives the item extra protection. And should the glass break, then it won’t get everywhere.
Put a Cotton Pad in Compacts
It stops the product from crumbling away.
Put a Rubber Band Over a Book to Stop It Getting Bent
Two rubberbands, one for length and one for width, do wonders.
Put Hair Straighteners/Curling Irons in an Oven Mitt
Not only will it protect the hair straightener, it will be a handy surface that the straighteners can rest on at the hotel.
Write Fragile in English and the Language of Where You’re Going to
It doesn’t hurt to remind airline workers and others that your items are precious!