I roll on my way there, fold flat for back home. Gives me a little room for souvenirs

For a soft bag like packing cubes it’s it better to lay them flat however if it has solid sides rolling is better. It has to do with compression.

As a soldier. We use the roll method, it's NOT to fit more. Our bags are big enough as is. It's to be able to grab any ONE item, without having to go through the others. Preferably, sometimes required in the dark without a light. The idea is that you know exactly where in the bag everything is, and being rolled it's basically just a organized buffet of clothes and items for you to grab in a hurry without repacking. For packing for a repositioning or a field trip to another base, where I need to bring a lot of items in one travel bag, I pack flat. Or folded which I think is how most of us pack. Rolled isn't for space efficiency. I don't think there's much use for civilians, maybe backpacking. But that's if you don't have access to a light source. Which is rare

I think the roll (or marie kondo style) packing is practical if you are going to only take one piece at the time so everything else is easy to reach and it doesnt make a mess in you packing when you take stuff. I like it because thay ways i can see all my clothes at once and don't have to repack everything each time. However if you are going to take everything out anyways when you arrive at your destination, it does make a lot more sense to lay everything flat :)

I've always folded flat. I've been advised to do the rolling technique many times, but time and again I've gone on trips with friends I've always been able to fit in much more than my rolling style friends

No, the rolling technique was designed specifically to decrease wrinkles in your packed clothes, not make more room in your suitcase. Folding causes creases when the fabric is folded necessitating some ironing. Rolling the same item creates fewer folds thereby fewer creases and wrinkles; especially if you normally fold your shirt/tops department store style at home in your dresser (I do)

Years ago, I took a packing class that advocated laying clothes flat. It was a good method.

As a physicist I always go with the flat. Facts!

I had the exact opposite experience... For my whole life I packed everything flat... then for my last trip my carry on had trouble closing, so I rolled everything and suddenly there was so much space I looked I lost quarter of my things

Flat packing the clothes with the arms and legs hanging out until the suitcase is almost full and then folding everything in has been my go-to packing for a cruise or where you only unpack once. My dresses as well as his dress shirts come out with very very few wrinkles. I do use packing cubes for socks and undies. I never forget that shoe bags, LOL

Honestly, for quick travel like this (as I’m needing to repack and live out of a suitcase for extended periods of time) I go really minimal with packing cubes. I use luggage pockets for underwear, electronics, etc and only one packing cube for lighter tops, just fold everything else. I also either fold or lay my laundry flat in a packing cube 😅people often think it’s very psycho but I DONT have room for all my clothes to be bunched.

Amen! I lived out of a small carry-on-sized suitcase for 3 years. Flat folding takes less room. I carried 5 nice T-shirts (long and short), 2 cardigans, 2 pants, 1 skirt, undergarments, a coat, and a swimsuit. I had everyday shoes and ballet flats. My products were Vaseline, chapstick, deodorant, and a solid bar of Dr. Bronner's soap (to wash everything from clothing to my waist-length hair). I had enough room left for my computer, chargers, watercolor supplies, and a few books. I never wanted for anything. I'd like to get back to that simplicity.

I came to the same conclusion. As a kid I was taught to roll everything. Then I started flying budget airlines and did this once when I didn't have time to roll. I was amazed. Everything fit. It's easier, faster, and better.

Very helpful because I couldn’t get that much into the cube before I did it your way. Leaving tomorrow with nice and neat cubes. :)

As soon as you started talking about rolling the fabric I said to myself, "no, lay it flat or only folded once!!" How I make sure all my kid's clothes fit in his dresser 😂

I flat pack too. If I'm using a suitcase, I fill the indents of the bottom with socks and undies to make a flat bottom then flat pack everything else. My husband is always amazed how much I can fit into our bags and always asks me to do our packing, even when its just a backpack for a weekend stay.

I was just about to pack for my first overnight choir trip! Very helpful, thanks! ❤❤❤

Vacuum bags with a travel sized vacuum. Ordered it off of Amazon. Worked amazing.

Accordion style works the same as flat pack - fold to the height of the bag. However, if you have a soft bag, that isn't as efficient. Accordion style lets you find your clothes easily without digging through layers of clothes, disrupting the pile and having to repack the whole lot every day. Rolling works too but again you need to dig a bit to get some clothes out (but may fit better in a backpack).

I’m 15 months into a two year backpacking trip around Canada and I will vouch for the flat packing method for packing cubes forever!!!

It’s true! You just have to be careful not to overpack. If you do your back will let you know?😊. Happy Trails!

Exactly. When I recently went to hospital, I needed to for everything into a smaller suitcase. I could hardly pack only half of my stuff and also ended up packing everything flat.

Ive tried all three. Still think i get more with the rolling. What a great trip. Your family has a wonderful mom.

Rolling is to prevent wrinkles and so you can just reach in while grabbing and going. I used to fly cross country every 3 days on business.

I saw the advice about rolling clothing and so started doing this. When things became too full and could not fit because of my overpacking, I went back to flat packing my clothes and found what we all did previously is better than what we are told to do today.

Finnaaalllllyyyyy! Some one who has got this realisation about flat packing trick ! Finnaaalllllyyyyy. . You are the first I found on internet who is for flat packing trick!

Supposed to be packing right now, let me give this a try!

I learned that the hard way too lol. We did 3 weeks one pack in Peru. Flat folding for the win!

I also came across the same situation where I saw that my flat folding, transcends and is much more useful for reducing and more clothes went in this flat way.

Yup! I do the same, even when I use a suitcase! I can stuff a LOT in a suitcase

Flat’s where its at! I usually stack everything then fold as a unit to fit in the suitcase/bag. To get the very most clothing in there, put them it into vacuum bags (but it may get heavy!).

I made that discovery to, literally had relatives that would yell that I should be rolling and I’m like but it doesn’t work

Thats because you can't use the same strategy for everything. Flat is better for some pieces and rolled or folded is better for others. Happy Light Travels! 😊

I've been flat packing for years, personally I find it better than rolling. Especially when I'm packing different type clothes in one cube e.g. a dress and tshirts

Compression cubes best to get even more clothes in, versus regular packing cube.

My dad was a long haul truck driver. He was in the road 250+ days a year, so he lived out of a suitcase. Mom packed his clothes flat. She could put together a suitcase in a flash.

My daughter has been rolling everything having seen the advice on KZfaq and our drawers are always jamming and overflowing now.

when I pack a full-size suitcase, I do the same pack flat, I can take most of my closet and doesn't wrinkle!

SLEEPING BAG COMPRESSION SACK!!!!! Best travel item I've ever used to pack clothes

Lol as soon as she showed that they were only gonna have one backpack each and then showed that she rolled the clothes… I was like man you’d have so much more room if they were all flat. 😂😊

I've always wondered this, but I always pack last minute so I never had a chance to experiment. Lol.

You can also carry a small hand air pump with you (if your hotel rooms or where ever you stay doesn't have a hoover) and use space bags to suck out all the air from what you pack 😊

Have been packing clothes flat for years. Once I arrive, I make daily rolls tongrsb and go - usually t-shirt, undies, socks. I travel with the pants and shoes I'm wearing.

this is super helpful! i have school camp soon and we gonna pack a hell lot of stuff into knee hight bags 😅

Wow, thank you. I always wondered about rolling the clothes.

A trick that I use when I pack for stuff is to like fold the clothing in half then roll it as right as you can, that makes it really small and no wrinkles!

For packing shirts, if you want to pack more I heavily suggest the military method where they fold their shirts up to the size of a soda can, I have two drawers basically for all of my clothes bc they fit so I don't need much of anything else, and I fit maybe 9 pairs of pants/shorts, and literally maybe a bit over 12-15 shirts in my drawers that are probably a 2-3 by 4-5 in feet, do wtv it takes to make as much room and those are just for my pj's lol

I’m exhausted just watching your short! How the 🌋 do you get through a day! Sending you 💜

Finally! Thank you. Glad you had fun.

I always was wondering if rolling up is really better, because my mom taught me to pack flat and then film all the gabs with stuff

Agreed! when I pack for PCSing I don't pack military style like my husband does because it actually takes up more room.

My family went on a trip to Europe for a month with just 3 backpacks. It was insane and such a great experience

I used plastic bags from items I ordered and put each outfit in layingit flat, and it saved lots of space over rolling or folding

Thank you ❤

My dad was a marine, he would pack his clothes flat! He could fit everything he needed. It’s the flat way for me!

I've never got the rolling method and have always put clothes into my suitcase / bag flat.

Yup. When we did 3 months in Europe I ended up realizing the same thing. Plus our clothes were way less wrinkled.

That is the best way. If you hang shirts half way out of the bag, layer each shirt on the opposite side and pants and dress on the unused side ( there should be half a garment hanging on the long side- pants, and short side - shirts, like lasagna) and fold the excess onto each other, so you have an interlacing loaf of clothes, you will get SO MUCH into a bag. That's the only way I pack.

This is how I also use packing cubes

Accordian style helps you see everything without unpacking. That can be nice if you're moving around a lot so you don't have to constantly repack everything; you can just take out what you need without disturbing the rest. However, it's definitely NOT the most space-efficient, and if you're already packing this little, it probably doesn't really matter if you have to repack frequently. ...plus, most little kids are just going to dump everything out no matter how you pack it. 😆

Been doing this for years! Works great

I use packing cube and roll or fold for convenience not to take more. I don’t want to have to take a bunch of things out and put them back to grab one thing.

As someone who spent an entire year traveling with only one backpack, I used very similar, packing cubes and can say the best way is to roll very tightly I would even use my foot to stretch of the clothes as I rolled. I have tried quite a few methods, including the one you said, but I’ve always found that rolling extremely tightly is the best way to go.

This is Def the way. Spent a month traveling and flat was the only way to get everything to fit

We went to europe for six weeks this summer. I tried so hard to pack light and there was still stuff we didn’t use. Gotta get ruthless for next time 😅

Thats what my mom told me! I asked her once if smart rolls were really ‘smart’, and she said that folding it flat was better no wonder I was able to fit 15 pairs of thic jeans in my cube 😂

I usually flat pack our clothes and its easy to unpack in hotels or wherever we're staying I just pull them out as is and place them on their shelf and they're go to go and then pack them back up in the same way. I am actually pack for a week long trip where we won't have any washing machines so I am just packing around 6 outifts per kid and this way they fit fine in their backpacks. I am trying to figure out the best way to pack so their stuff takes the least amount of space possible, and so they have space to buy more stuff because we are gonna do some school/fall clothes shopping on our trip because the place we go has more options so I like to go shopping there, so its kinda tricky to make sure the car still will fit all of our stuff.

Ya baby awesome sauce thanks

I just shove everything, it is great for backpacks. I like to go backpacking and just trowing everything inside is so much better. Specially with my sleeping bag and down jacket. The clothes fill the space much better that way. Its not exactly organised but damn it works.

Depends because flat also means the edges are empty so it really depends on what you’re trying to fill

I recommend vacuum packs but the kind that is compressed by hand!

If you’re smaller bodied then there’s no reason to roll. Over a size 10, rolling will prob give you more space.

It's always funny playing spot the tourist

I've always layered my clothes in my suitcases. And I usually start with the heaviest or thickest items first and then layer the lighter items on top. I do it in this order so that the weight of the clothes will help to flatten the thickest or heaviest garments at the bottom. And with socks, I either leave them rolled into balls. Or, layer them on top of each other and then place them into a washing mesh bag. And then just roll it up into a burrito and stuff it into whatever sides of the suitcase that are empty.

When I took a trip to Europe at 17 I knew we would be in a rush to make the trains, subways, planes and just needed to have the least amount to carry and something easily transportable that I could run with. So I took 1 backpack and 1 duffel bag. As far as clothes go I only took one pair of sneakers and instead of underwear and braws I took 2 pairs of bikinis that came in handy because i was always ready for whatever water source I could legally go in and it actually was always the case and others i went with were not prepared. Plus since it was June I only brought 3 tank tops and 2 jean shorts, they were the only shorts I had but something that can dry faster would have been better but since it was so hot I did not care if I had to walk around in slightly damp shorts because they would still dry fully within 15 minutes of wearing them, and a small windbreaker jacket. Then i bought another bikini and a sweatshirt in France and a pair of slip on sneakers in Italy that i only wore one time there and since i had duffle bag room it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. In the end I really only needed the backpack and not the duffle bag but I brought it just in case I wanted to buy more items though in hindsight I could have just bought one while there if I needed it? It is always a learning experience just in how and what to pack. Making memories is the what really matters. 🩷

Child with the green backpack is not impressed LOL

the purple is SO pretty tho

Sure does. I use medium-sized luggage for all my trips and discovered that folding the pants in half and placing the tops flat like you are spreading them out not only gives you so much space but it keeps them wrinkle-free

I tried packing cubes for my trip to Banff and quickly dumped them. I can fit way more by shoving things into every remaining little oddly shaped space in my bag. The packing cube left so much wasted space between it and the walls of my bag. They also don't work well for oddly shaped items like hiking boots and my massage gun

compression packing cubes and bags you squeeze the air out of. pack a mini steamer. you'll be able to pack more, have less weight, and it's a game changer. I'm an avid traveler and thought I'd share.

Yeah, I've never thought that rolliing was very space efficient.

Thx a lot

I do this too. Rolling just wrinkles your clothes

I like to fold them in the Mary Kondo way because I just need to take the extra at the top off and my suitcase serves as a dresser as well

I used to be pro packing cubes until I started using only a backpack to fly then I got rid of the cubes and rolled everything I was able to pack everything I needed with room to spare.

How to pack more formal wear, like button ups and nice dresses? I don't usually wear tshirt during the trip, yet some trips I take should be more light or leaning towards backpacking trip.

what kind of backpack did you use? love the layout

Most of us have known this for decades. For even more room ditch the separate packing cubes too.

If you already have packing cube you no longer need to roll your clothes. And clothes that works with rolling method, it's the flowing fabrics not the stiff things like jeans

I put everything in gallon ziploc bags. Easy to see what everything is, no smells or spills, and much more room.

Thanks

Rolling helps to keep clothes from wrinkling, and makes them easier to find, but it definitely takes more space. Room for souveniers!

I always pack scivvy rolls! That way my socks and underwear don't take up extra space.

I use ziplock bags, quart size, holds a short, shirt, undies, and socks. Fold neatly stack and then press into the bag. Roll from the bottom to the top, to squeeze all of the air out and zip. Save the bag to catch dirty clothing for trip home. Make sure to remove from bag and launder promptly.

This is definitely the kid who put the square through the circle hole.

That’s what I always do and I get confused when people roll their clothes because after you unroll it, the clothes are crinkly and I just don’t like the way it looks and it takes up way more space and time

I lay flat and use vacuum bags to increase space.

I'm short, so most of my pants, shirts I can just fold in half and lay flat in a carry-on size suitcase. I've only ever taken a large suitcase when I went on a cruise. And I probably wouldn't do it again.

I lay clothes flat for packing too!

the best way is to fold everything flat like she said then roll it all together like a big roll cuz then u get like even more space