How to Pack Clothes When Moving: Wrinkle-Free Methods

Clothes are usually forgotten in the midst of packing. Last on our mind is clothing and these are often hastily stuffed into bags while focusing on the big furniture and fragile items. But even with this, according to Realtor Magazine survey, 41% of people who is moving has reported spending between 15 and 40 hours packing their belongings.

When moving apartment you shouldn’t underestimate the amount of time packing clothes will take and while throwing everything into bags for sure will work, it might mean wasted space, wasted time unpacking and damaged clothes. Packing clothes for moving is a task that can definitely be streamlined to save yourself time, money and protect your wardrobe. To help you in the process we will share this article with professional advice.

Watch Our Video: 7 Easy Tips to Pack Clothes Like a Pro

How to Pack Clothes When Moving: Getting Ready

The disorderly packing of belongings into suitcases and boxes before moving can result in organisational confusion during the move. Planning ahead is the most effective method to pack clothes during moves. Before selecting budget-friendly moving services and starting your clothing organisation, you need tips for packing. Follow these guidelines to have an effective move:

Get Packing Materials

Several protective supplies must be gathered for proper clothing protection during relocation. These supplies are available for purchase at both home improvement and office supply establishments. Cheque with moving professionals before purchasing packing supplies as part of their service since they understand the best ways to pack clothes during relocation.

• Hangers: You should buy non-slip velvet hangers which will maintain the order of your clothes.
• Hanging wardrobe boxes: The tall boxes come equipped with a built in hanging rod for suits, dresses and formal wear.
• Garment bags: Use for a small number of hanging items, especially valuable or delicate pieces.
• Cardboard boxes: Serves as the best alternative for folded clothes like sweaters, t-shirts, and undergarments. If possible, use new boxes so as to avoid dirt and stains. If you are using used boxes, make sure they are cleaned and in the good shape and get at least one or two of each moving box size.
• Plastic storage containers: Clear plastic storage containers help to organise clothes by type, season or drawer.
• Suitcases and duffle bags: Suitcases and duffle bags are very good for carrying folded clothes.
• Vacuum seal bags: Vacuum seal bags serve as excellent storage tools that minimise space consumption particularly when dealing with large items such as winter jackets. These bags shield garments from water and dust.
• Trash bags: The use of trash bags as storage containers remains affordable yet durable ones should be selected to avoid tears. Each drawer should get its own trash bag as well as each shelf and each closet section.

Declutter Your Space

There are countless ways to fold, roll, and pack clothes, but the first step on how to pack clothes for moving is always the same: declutter.

Items that remain untouched for twelve months are good candidates for donation or disposal. The stress of moving becomes heavier when people try to bring items they will not need at their new location. Although this fact seems evident it becomes easy to ignore during the confused state of moving. The time you spend removing unneeded items results in reduced work during your move.

The first step to efficient clothing packing requires you to examine your wardrobe and discard any garments that you have not used for twelve months. Practice eco-friendly moving. You should donate and discard any clothing that you no longer need or have outgrown along with outdated fashion trends. A pre-move garage sale provides an easy method to collect additional money for moving expenses.

The relocation presents an opportunity to arrange your remaining clothing for an easy-to-manage wardrobe at your new residence.

Assess Belongings

After your clothes receive proper organisation establish a comprehensive list documenting all your possessions. The inventory will serve as a essential tool to monitor your possessions throughout the relocation as well as detect any items that get lost or damaged when you settle into your new house. 

The list creation requires you to analyse each item and note down its category alongside brand name and colour details and other specific characteristics. A spreadsheet together with a phone app or notebook serves as suitable tools for creating your inventory list.

Give Your Unwanted Items a New Life

You need to choose a solution for your unwanted clothing items. Online platforms Poshmark and thredUP offer opportunities to sell unwanted clothes which will generate additional income. You can give your gently used items to charities such as Goodwill or Salvation Army which provides benefits to people and environmental sustainability. You also can check this guide about where to donate furniture Melbourne.

Separate Clothes by Type

Clothes aren’t all the same. You can establish different grouping categories to organise your clothes including materials, seasons, categories or personal ownership. The most effective method for sorting clothes is by season to minimise post-move disarray. Clothes that share similar categories like pants or shirts become easier to unpack when properly grouped. 

Selecting the Ideal Packing Approach

After you complete clothing organisation and decluttering you need to determine the best method for packing your wardrobe. Your selection depends on the nature of your clothes and personal choice. You should use cardboard boxes for folded clothing items but wardrobe boxes are the best solution for hanged clothing pieces. Suitcases together with duffel bags enable users to fold their clothes and place their shoes inside. Jackets benefit from vacuum bags which decrease their bulk volume.

Compression bags serve as an effective space-saving solution for people who won’t require bulky winter clothing during relocation. Customers can purchase these compression bags from Amazon and similar retailers to reduce the size of their clothes and pillows together with comforters and other soft items.

Clean Clothes Before Packing

After discarding your unwanted clothes you need to concentrate on the items that will remain. Before packaging all items cheque to see if any need washing. The temptation to postpone laundry tasks should be avoided since dealing with soiled garments after moving across long distances is inconvenient. Unpacking becomes more pleasant when you begin with fresh clothing.

Combining unclean and fresh items results in unnecessary laundry work after your move. Your laundry time will decrease in your new residence while mould and mildew growth remains prevented.

Stack Boxes Heavy to Light

Smaller box sizes should be used to create packages that are neither too heavy nor cumbersome to handle. Start your packing with jeans and sweaters at the box base then add T-shirts and underwear on top for stability.

Choose the Right Hangers

Non-slip hangers are the best choice for preventing slipping and wrinkles on delicate dresses. Wooden hangers are the optimal choice to support heavy coats.

How to Pack Non-Hanging Clothes

Packing clothes for moving that are non-hanging involves several methods.

• Folding: You should use the classic method which creates squares or rectangles to protect delicate items such as dress shirts and sweaters.
• Rolling: The method of rolling clothes just like you would for trip packing both saves space and minimises wrinkles. T-shirts together with jeans can be successfully folded using this method for everyday casual wear.
• Compression: Vacuum-sealed or compression bags enable users to minimise the volume of bulky winter clothes like jackets.
• Suitcases and duffle bags: Duffle bags together with suitcases provide portability yet offer less protection compared to standard moving boxes.
• Dresser drawers: Moving entire dresser drawers saves time even though spills and damage should be watched out for.
• Protective wrapping: Delicate objects must receive protection through wrapping them with tissue or packing paper for enhanced security.

Select a method which matches clothing type and available space dimensions.

How to Fold Clothes for Packing

The process of packing non-hangable clothing items takes up most of the time during moving operations. The process of moving will be easier if you leave folded clothes in your dresser drawers and secure them with tape. 

Your clothing folding technique determines how much space your clothes occupy within a container. A correct folding technique helps minimise the amount of space taken up while simplifying the unpacking process. The flat fold works best for bulky clothes such as jeans while the military roll serves smaller delicate items.

Techniques on How to Fold Clothes for Packing

The majority of your clothing items are suitable for folding. These folding methods will help you make the most of your packing area:

• Flat folding: Flat folding works best for long garments including jeans and sweaters since it enables you to stack them easily.
• Rolling: Rolling your clothing items proves ideal when you need to maximise space in your travelling bags. You should roll thin items such as t-shirts and dresses to achieve maximum compactness.
• Combination: Flat folding techniques can be merged with rolling methods to establish a mixed folding method.
• KonMari method: The KonMari method enables users to fold items according to Japanese standards that create organised vertical stacks.

You should try different methods to discover which ones work best for your items. These methods represent the most effective approach to fold clothes when travelling.

How to Pack Hanging Clothes

People normally use at least one clothing hanger rack within their closet to store various items including dresses and blouses as well as collared shirts and dress pants. The following steps provide safe and easy techniques to pack your clothes during a move.

• Wardrobe boxes consist of sturdy cardboard boxes which include a built-in hanging bar. The protective items work well for clothing but take up space.
• Garment bags provide lightweight usage although they do not work well for fragile articles.
• Rolling racks provide easy clothing movement yet they limit the level of protection for garments.
• Portable closets combine features of rolling racks and wardrobe boxes, but can be bulky.

How to Pack Shoes

The normal practice of stuffing shoes into duffle bags does minimal protection of their shape and condition. The protective function of packing paper should surround your shoes. One typically requires a small or medium-sized box for packing purposes.

Original boxes make the most reliable protective solution for shoes and hats as well as jewellery. The original boxes provide optimal protection for items but you can use shoe boxes combined with hat boxes along with jewellery boxes as suitable substitutions.

Wardrobe boxes are effective for storage of shoes and accessories when used with careful wrapping methods to preserve space in the moving truck.

You should label every box and bag with its contents and the target room to simplify the unpacking process.

Moving Delicate Possessions

When moving vulnerable belongings ensure you follow the correct techniques for packing clothes.

• Use garment bags for suits, dresses, and coats.
• Wrap jewellery individually in tissue paper and pack in small boxes.
• Use acid-free tissue paper for hats and scarves.
• Pack delicate clothing together and label the box as “delicate” or “fragile.”
• Wrap shoes and purses with bubble wrap or soft fabric.

How to Pack Clothes When Moving: Additional Clothing Protection Hacks

The organisation and packing of your clothes forms a significant aspect that reduces move stress.

• These essential moving principles apply to your packing process for clothes in order to achieve the optimal clothing packaging results when moving:
• Always place heavy items at the bottom of the boxes and lighter items on top.
• A proper cleaning of clothes before moving helps eliminate odours which simplifies the unpacking tasks.
• Don’t overstuff the boxes as it can damage them and make them prone to tears.
• Carry valuable clothing items with you, such as those with sentimental or monetary value with you in your car.
• The storage process requires hanging clothing when available space allows it.
• Dresser drawers serve as proper storage for folded clothing items.
• The protection of clothes requires lining suitcases and cardboard boxes with packing paper.
• Use plastic storage containers to pack clothing items you won’t be using soon.
• Prepare a moving bag containing vital items which you will need during your moving period and in the days following the relocation.

We Recommend

The process of proper clothes packing demands solid preparation both for short and extended distance relocations. Pack your non-hanging garments either by folding them into compact bundling shapes or by rolling them to minimize wrinkles. The instructions for rolling clothes before packing appear at the beginning of this piece.

Keep your first few days essentials packed separately before moving into your new place.

At Removalists Melbourne CBD we offer professional moving assistance to all our clients. Remember, we are professional packers and movers! Contact us today!.