Packing - Do You Roll Up Your Clothes?

[jimslady15]

Wish I had thought of rolling, always worked well when we use to camp. But we are close to packed already and I am not starting over LOL

[LBS15]

too all who tried the packing light method (not the rolling) how did it go? interesting style to try. we can only fit 2 of largest suitcases and the 2 next size down in the car. we need to get clothes to fit. and how do you get all the dirty home? refold them?

 

This last time when we cruised for 7 days we brought with us 2 rolling carry on and one larger suitcase. These are the Swiss brand from target so you can get an idea of the size of these suitcases. We packed ONLY the stuff we were going to truley wear. I even packed my husband suit in the suitcase instead of having a garment bag. I figure that paying 10 bucks to get it pressed is worth the not bringing extra luggage. Not to mention cut down on fees for bags.

 

What we did to make sure we could carry more stuff - I carried a large beach purse with me on the plane. I put some items in there that would take up space in my bags. My hubby carried a backpack where we put some of the shoes. He had 3 pairs and so did I (athetic shoe, dress shoe - i made sure my dress shoes went with EVERYTHING - and flipflops/crocs). Tolietries, I made sure to bring mostly travel size stuff. Carnival has shampoo and bodywash, so I didn't bring any. If you bring travel sized tolietires, you can also carry those on (as long as you have 1 quart size bag per person).

 

As for dirty clothes... I figure everything is dirty, so I stuff it back into my bags. I don't completely refold since I'm not so worried about wrinkles. What was the most challenging part is making sure I repacked to include my soveniors. I don't usually bring back a lot of stuff, so it wasn't difficult.

 

My rule of thumb lately has been if I HAVE to think of when I'll wear I won't take it. Shorts, tanks, swim suit, elegant night dress (simple little black dress works great with nice accessories), 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of nice pants for dinner, couple nice blouses to wear to dinner, a light caridigan for when it's a little chilly, under garments. If something gets dirty you can do laundry or have them do it for you.

 

I hope this helps a little. Sorry about all my ramblings! :eek:

[CruzinFamilyof5]

I use the bags (that you suck the air out of) but the ones that i use (from target in the luggage department) are like huge zip lock baggies, you just push the air out, i usually have my husband sit on them that really gets all the air out and zip shut. they are great at the end of the cruise, I put all of the dirty laundry in the bag, roll out the air, put it in the suitcase and have more room than we started with. they are a have to have now on every vacation.

 

I wondered about these bags. If it allows you to pack more, don't you go over the weight limit for carryons and check-in luggage? I just bought the family pak at wal mart, 4 for $13, but i'm going to return it. I found out Hefty has the 2.5 gallon Jumbo onezips, 12 bags for about $3. It won't hurt as much if they don't come back with us. I'll try it and weigh my luggage again to see if helps shedding 7 pounds that I'm over. :confused:

[Wags67]

Last year I rolled all my clothes and when we made it onboard the Destiny I unpacked all my clothes and they were fine...This year...I decided to roll all my clothes again since I didn't have problems last time...we stayed at South Beach pre cruise and when I opened my suitcase...OMG...my clothes were a wrinkled mess!! They looked so nice and neat when I left home... I don't know what I did different but I spent 2 hours ironing everything in my suitcase...I'm just glad we stayed in a hotel precruise or I would NOT of had fun ironing all my clothes in the ships laundry room! I did notice also that when I rolled my clothes it made alot more room in the luggage and my bag was 63 pounds! So...in the middle of the airport I was shifting my clothes around into my other suitcases...ridiculous...but yes...I did wear everything I brought along..

[Wags67]

Addition to my previous post....I did have most of my clothes packed for two weeks prior to leaving on the last cruise...a lil' excited :o..maybe that had something to do with it...but now I'm nervous to try rolling for next years cruise..

[BroncosFan2010]

You can get so much more into your suitcase if you roll your clothes. My DH suggested this on our first cruise, and I thought he was crazy! But it really worked. If you roll very carefully, the clothes will not wrinkle too bad. Bring a travel size bottle of Downy Wrinkle Release just in case. Or... better yet... just hang up whatever is wrinkled in the bathroom when you take a shower! The steam will loosen them right up!

[radtek2112]

Yes, I always roll. I actually learned this trick from backpacking when in the Boy Scouts. You can really fit a lot more in suitcases.

[AnyTime Cruiser]

I learned "the roll" from my son who is in the army. I have used this method for regular vacations and used the bag method for crusing. This is only because I just learned the roll and we haven't cruised again yet!

[crusinpsychRN]

I used to do this when my kids were small. Pick out undies, shirt, shorts, socks for an outfit and fold it up together. All you have to do was put away 7 sets of rolled complete outfits, taking very little room. When it was time for them to get dressed there was no need to hunt and match. Worked very well. And no wrinkles.

[mistergq]

we didn't roll on the last cruise and that was a mistake. We were in a rush and didn't have time. Next time, we are going to have to plan ahead better.

 

I find rolling does save space. I may look into the ecubes. I also want to get a travel scale for the bags as well, since airlines are getting crankier and crankier. we didn't top 50 pounds, or atleast the two bags combined did not.

[Happy_Me]

I am a long time clothes roller but a few days ago I picked up a book that's all about how to pack for trips. It is called the packing book by Judith Gilford. It's $10 at Amazon or $3 at Goodwill :D

In it they go into great detail about how to place clothing into a rolling carry-on type cuitcase. You basically lay a piece of clothing into the case with the shirt arms or pant leg or whatever laying outside the sides of your suitcase. when all clothing items are laying on top of the suitcase you place your socks, undergarments, etc on top of that. At this point you start folding each individial item starting with what's on top until everything is folded and neat. In this book it mentioned that using plastic bags or dry cleaner's bags make items shift=wrinkles. I am going to try packing my things this way when I cruise 2 weeks from now.

 

I think I'll go with this one. Thanks!

[beachpeach1]

We, too, roll our clothes and then place each outfit in large ziploc bags. If the airline goes through your bags, it is easier for them to see what is in your bag by just lifting ziploc bags, and when they replace the items, they will still be folded! I hang my evening outfits on hangers, cover then with plastic bags from cleaners and fold them on top of suitcase. My clothes are rarely wrinkled.

[SuitCaseBears]

For those who still doubt rolling, the first time I rolled I filled up our large suitcase and then was surprised I had a lot of room left over in the second suitcase. This was for a trip to family and we pretty much take the same amount of stuff each time. Clearly I had fit more in the large suitcase by rolling.

 

So we went off to the airport. WOW. We were so over weight on our large suitcase. We had never been before.

 

You do have to be careful when you roll to weigh your suitcases if they are large.

 

What I do is I don't roll on the way out. That way I know that when we come home, and I do roll (and you don't have to roll so carefully going home) I will have extra space for whatever we bought on the trip.

[gelo7]

We absolutely roll our clothing, it saves a ton of space.

[ScubaNPcruiser]

I have been rolling my clothes for years. When I cruise or go on long trips I use the 5 gallon Ziplock bags from Target. I put a days outfit in each bag. If I'm indecisive I just back an extra bag with a couple shirts. Great for dirty clothes. Very easy to unpack. Just put bags in drawers or hang up the few items, like evening wear.

[Room Service!]

I'm a roller from waaay back. Things always come out great. Even bought a steamer (don't know why) have never used it...on a cruise. I will NOT be packing it again.

Dizzyfun - I saw a demo of what you're taliking about. Guess it works, but I'm happy with what I've been doing.

We're 201 days from our next cruise!!! :(

[BroncosFan2010]

I roll most things, but not all.

[griffy116]

I'm packing "challenged." Even after years of travel in business, I continue to be unable to pack without wrinkles when I arrive. I tried all the methods, including that one with the sleeves and stuff being folded in after laying the clothing into the suitcase. They all seem to make sense, but when I apply the method to my packing the results are always the same. I steam them in the bathroom after arriving and spray the crap out of them with Downey Wrinkle Release. I'm hopeless :(.

[bellybutton530]

Nope. I still lay everything in the suitcase flat. But I do utilize dry cleaning and store hanging bags to prevent wrinkling.

 

And I always lay my suitcases on their sides when driving from Texas to Florida to prevent settling.

 

Works very well for me....

[UlvaZell]

I've read somewhere that there are two advantages if you roll up your clothes before you put them into your suitcase.

 

1.) It packs better.

2.) The clothes are less wrinkled.

 

Has anyone done this? I just don't want to be surprised when I open up the suitcase and have to say to my wife, "Oh well, I guess that didn't work. Time for you to start ironing.":o

 

And if you do roll up the clothes, how do you do it. Do you fold it first then roll it or do you lay it flat and then roll?

 

I pack my clothes flat. I lay each item in flat and stack them on on top of the other. The only thing I fold are pants because they do not make luggage that big. They get folded once at the knee...

[MargoK]

Try eaglecreek.com. http://www.eaglecreek.com/40153.html

 

 

Thanks tangerinebunny.

 

I checked out this website, found they had a New Zealand retailer, so called into one today, and they had some stock. Not alot, but bought one of the 18" folders and a pack with a 15" folder, a cube and a toilet bag. At the check out the 3 pack was 45% off!!!

 

Will be brilliant for Dh and I as we usually only travel with one large suitcase between us, as we have a powerchair and walking frame as added luggage, as well as carry-ons. This way we will be able to pack even more efficiently. ;)