It’s holiday season and many of us are planning an escape to the sun. The more reliable weather in far reaching places is a great reason to get away from it all and have some well-deserved time off.
But getting ready to go on holiday can be a stressful time. Aside from deciding what you need to take with you and how many shirts, dresses, and shoes you’ll need, packing it all can be an art form.
Not all hotels, villas, or holiday homes have an iron. And let’s face it you don’t want to be planning on doing a lot of ironingwhile you’re on a warm summer holiday, do you?
Is it possible to pack your suitcases without creasing your beautifully ironed and laundered clothes?
We investigate…
Rolling, not folding
One of the alternative ways to pack your clothes in a suitcase to save space is to roll them, not fold them. This will actually save them from being too creased and is far better than folding.
Folding your clothes will give a firm crease on the fold once they’ve been crushed in a suitcase. Rolling them gives a far better chance of looking ‘wearable’ at the other end of the flight.
It’s not perfect though and even if you fold them really tight, you’re still going to get the odd crease.
When you arrive at the other end, hang up your clothes to help the minor creases to drop out. (Or hang them in the bathroom while you have a shower and let the damp air help.)
Folding and rolling best avoided
Folding and rolling will really save you on space. Folding your clothes just as you would to pop them in your drawers and then rolling them into a clothing sausage roll will save you even more space than just rolling alone.
But you’ll get worse creases so if you can avoid it, then just roll instead.
Add some tissue paper and plastic?
This might not be something you want/need to do for all your clothes but the technique of adding tissue paper between every fold and then engulfing the item in a plastic cover is something you’ll recognise from the high street. This can dramatically decrease creases and in her short and interesting travel vlog, Sonia Gil shares the evidence for us all to see.
It’s a big task, but if you focus on the items that really need to arrive creaseless then you’re on to a winner with the tissue and plastic combo! Perhaps focus on jackets or dresses that are harder to iron when you’re there.
Pack wrinkle-free clothes
This is hitting the problem right at the root cause. If you don’t take clothes that wrinkle easily, you’ll have less of a problem. In their great round-up of travelling wrinkle-free, Packsmith shared the idea of choosing nylon, lycra, and polyester clothes as they’re less prone to gaining lines in your packing.
They also suggested:
- Jersey
- Wool
- Lyocell
- Cashmere
- Knits
- Spandex, lycra or elastane.
Or you could try a non-wrinkle top although we’ve found that these do tend to wrinkle given half the chance.
Take fewer clothes
We know this isn’t always an option but how many times have you been on holiday and not worn half the outfits that you packed?
Packing the essentials not only allows you to travel lighter, it also gives your clothes more room in the case and that can lead to fewer creases.
Fodors Travel suggest that giving your clothes more room to breathe in your case can give you a better chance of non-creased clothes at the other end. Combined with the tip above, we’re inclined to agree.
Check out the expert tips
There are some fabulous ideas on YouTube and we like these hacks which include a mixture of folding and rolling. We’ve never seen a T-Shirt look so small and flat!
Get a cover bag
If you’ve ever hired an outfit or picked up your dry cleaning, then you’ll know all about the cover bag and the plastic bag inside. This is designed to help the garment inside ‘float’ and thus gain fewer creases.
Did you know you can get one for your suits and dresses for travelling?
In their interesting post, Mel Magazine share a tip from an author’s father about ‘The Suiter’. The Suiter is a travel cover bag that folds inside your suitcase and still offers the floating technology for your garments. You’ll still need to hang the clothes at the other end, but the suiter will protect your black tie suit or ballgown dress if you’re travelling to a posh do or wedding abroad.
Priorities and prefer to iron
Whatever you do, this might create you more work and there’s no rule that gives you no creases at all. The best advice is to combine the above tips and take clothes that are less likely to crease. Treat them like the shops do and wrap them up in tissue and protective packaging.
Of course, when you return home from a relaxing break the last thing you want is to have to sort, wash, dry and iron all that washing from your whole family. Whatever you need to be laundered and ironed, just pickup the phone to us and we’ll collect and deliver your laundry in Reading.
Enjoy your holiday and do let us know how you get on with the tips above.
