Clothes are an expression of who we are as individuals. They represent our character, individuality, and personality. Through clothes, we are able to not only share but also express our creativity, culture, ideas, and preferences.
Each one of us has our own style expressed through our fashion sense.
Our personalities, culture, experiences, and beliefs often dictate our choice of clothes. This explains why we’re not short of designers and fashion brands across the world, each unique from the next.
In short, clothes form an integral part of who we are as individuals.
Therefore, when it comes to moving house, utmost care and diligence should then be exercised when packing our clothes. Clean your closet and pack only the clothes you need. Everything else can either be sold off donated to charity or stored in a self-storage unit.
You can sort out your clothes by color, occasion, season, or other criteria that work for you. As moving day approaches, set aside the clothes you’ll need before and immediately after the move. These should be packed separately from the rest.
Look, packing for a move is not a job for the left hand. If time is not your best friend or you’d rather delegate the task to someone else, consider hiring professional movers to do it for you.
Otherwise, if you prefer to go it alone, there are a number of ways you can go about neatly packing your clothes.
Tips on How to Neatly Pack Your Clothes for Moving
Suitcases & duffel bags
There are few better (and cost-effective) ways to pack clothes than using a suitcase or duffel bag – which we all have lying around someplace.
Instead of rolling clothes like we do when packing for a vacation, experts advise that it’s better to fold clothes or use packing cubes instead. However, you can opt for the rolling technique when packing socks, tights, and underwear to maximize the available space.
Clothes, hats, and shoes should each go into separate suitcases, making sure not to overstuff the bag lest it gets too heavy, more so for suitcases and duffel bags that don’t have wheels.
Use regular cardboard boxes
Cardboard boxes are another low-cost and ideal way of packing folded clothing.
Plus, these boxes are readily available. In fact, we can bet you already have a couple lying around the house – which should save you some funds if that’s the case.
As with other packing options, we highly recommend that you pack your clothes according to size, clothing type, season, who they belong to, and what room they will be going to in the new house.
Whichever packing criteria you decide to go with, just make sure your boxes are properly labeled.
Cardboard boxes – as with suitcases and duffel bags – work best with folded clothes. They’re therefore ideal for all clothes that can be transported without hangers. All you just need to do is fold them nicely.
There are several folding techniques you can employ. For best results, opt for either military rolling, the flat-fold technique, or the KonMari approach.
As their names suggest, the flat fold method involves folding the clothes while military rolling is all about, well, rolling the clothes. The KonMari technique, for its part, is more specialized. By using the rule-of-thirds principle, however, with practice, it can be easily mastered.
The flat fold method is the simplest, while the military rolling method is the most commonly used. The KonMari folding technique is relatively new but very much practical.
Hang clothes in wardrobe boxes
Wardrobe or garment boxes are ideal for packing clothes that wrinkle easily or come with wooden hangers.
Wardrobe boxes have a sturdy build and come complete with hanging rods. This functionality makes it easier and faster for you to transfer your clothes from the wardrobe.
If your budget is flexible, consider using more of them. While they may be a bit costlier, wardrobe boxes have few equals when it comes to keeping clothes in mint condition during a move.
What’s more, they have extra space at the bottom where you can stack shoes, linens, and towels.
Opt for compression bags
A cost-effective way of packing clothes, compression bags are reusable and help insulate against moisture, dust, and other elements.
Additionally, they use up minimal space when air is sucked out, but take care not to suck out too much air as this will crease your clothes.
Compression bags are readily available and one of the best options if you want to preserve some of your most cherished pieces.
The standard practice is to always pack smaller items last such that they are on top of the larger ones. This makes perfect sense as it simplifies the work for you when it comes down to unpacking.
These bags give you an ideal window of about 20 weeks, following which you should remove your clothes from the bags. Any longer and you risk damaging the clothing.
Garbage bags are an option
Garbage bags present another option to pack your clothes, especially if you happen to run out of boxes or have none.
Basically, bunch your clothes together without taking off the hangers, place a garbage bag over them, and voila! Make sure to use heavy-duty garbage bags, though, as the lightweight kind tears off easily and that’s something you definitely don’t want happening during the move.
White garbage bags in particular tend to be lighter and tear more easily. If these are what you’re working with, you should consider reinforcing the garbage bags using masking tape for added sturdiness.
Alternatively, you can consider using hard cardboard to prop up the garbage bag. In addition to offering support, they will serve to ensure the clothes don’t crease.
Conclusion
Many Americans on average take 1 week to settle into their new home. During this settlement period, you still need to dress and go about your daily business.
To make the move more seamless, we recommend packing the clothes you will wear for the week ahead after settling in your new home. This should include everything from work clothes, to gym clothes, toiletries, and all the essential items you’ll need for the week.
Pack as if you were going for a week’s vacation. This will ensure you have everything you need to go about your business normally.
If you feel this process will overwhelm you or just don’t feel up to it, consider hiring a moving company that offers clothes packing as part of their service. While many movers offer packing as a service, keep in mind that it comes with additional charges.
You can, however, take comfort in knowing that your clothes will be packed by experts well-versed in the craft, saving you all the time and hassle associated with this integral part of moving.
If you’re willing to pay for it, it’s a convenience well worth every penny.
