Do you Roll or Fold?

I hear the best way (if your suitcase is big enough) is to roll and stand straight up on its side

I roll except when I use one of those folders designed for shirts and pants -- those do better with stuff flat. Rolling does not work well on fabric shirts; it works much better in terms both of space and not wrinkling for knits and for the most part for pants as well.

Since my husband and I wear the same kinds of clothes e.g. lots of black t-shrts and solid color turtle necks in winter, I roll all mine and fold all his so they don't get mixed up.

I'm chiming in as a member of the forum and not as a moderator...

I always fold my clean clothes at the beginning of the trip. It keeps them looking nicer for when I actually wear them. Then, once they are worn or dirty, I roll them for the return trip home. This creates extra space to pack any mementos I may have picked up during my travels. Just watch out for baggage weight limits on your return flights.

I fold going and roll coming back.

I'm a roller. I went to a packing seminar once (not the RS one, but one given by a gal from AAA) and she rolled and said the key to keeping your things wrinkle free is to give the edges a tug as you go to straighten out the fabric, then another tug once you've got it rolled. I roll and use cubes and I like the way things stay organized. I also have a ziplock bag in each cube as a holding area for the dirty ones. That way you are still at the same volume you started with.

I'm a foldy-roller too

I'm a roller all the way, have been for years. Janet is right, it doesn't work as well for woven type fabrics but for knits and drapey type fabrics it works great. I do use packing cubes with the clothes rolled up and it keeps them nice and tight.

Thanks - you've convinced me to try it next trip! I'll probably be a roll & cube - love the way cubes keep things organized.

Wadding works just as well.

I roll for the trip over, and then squash on the trip back. I too am guilty of buying too many books on any given trip, and by the end I don't care if my clothes are wrinkled; I'm just concerned with fitting everything in the suitcase!

I must confess - dirty laundry goes in DH's bag!

I'm a roller over and back; my husband's a folder all the way. We're still married.

Oh, Ed, just stuff it.

I roll most stuff when I'm really concerned about space. If I'm just going for a weekend, I toss. On the way back, I shove.

A Samsonite adviser suggested 38 years ago that rolling reduced wrinkles, so clothes looked neater if rolled, rather than folded.

Another question, regarding suitcases (now that wheeled luggage is so prevalent, almost ubiquitous) is: do you roll or carry?

I roll on the way over. I try to continue to roll as I repack when I change locations. By the end, everything is squashed in however I can make it fit, or wrapped around things I bought. I use a backpack that doesn't have a rectangular shape, so rolling works best in it.

I fold on the way over and keeps most things neat in packing cubes about halfway through my trip. Then I become a mess...I am a stuffer, crammer, roller, whatever it takes to make it home in one bag... or two... if I bought a lot of stuff and a bag to put it in on the way home. If I roll3ed on the way over I would probably take more than I should. Most of my clothes don't wrinkle much so that is not an issue.

Roll. Learned this for business travel in the US. Starch helps too. Use shirts for wadding around bottles and jars on return.

I have always rolled. I think it's because my early experience was always with a back pack. And it's was a backpack that was "top loading" only! And, I've stuck with it. It's now a habit. When I fold clothes it just feels wrong. :)

Pam

Hybrid packer....various methods. Knits (T-shirts, turtlenecks, skirt, leggings, undies, socks, all rolled). Often a few socks, extra camera batteries, husband's battery-operated electric travel toothbrush, etc. are put in light plastic bags and crammed in shoes to max space in luggage. Scarves/shawl are folded and put in Rick Steves' brand packing mesh bags.
Now, here is the part many may find weird. Husband's long-sleeve cotton shirts (which look starched, but are actually BrooksBrothers no iron) are on hangers, as are his extra pair trousers, and (if cold weather) jacket, etc. All those are inserted in a light zipped garment bag (the kind that could serve as a carry-on bag....or for checked luggage...but very lightweight), then my husband folds the garment bag with two folds and inserts it into the second Rick Steve' rollaboard suitcase with the hangers hooked to the little bar within the suitcase (after securing all together with a rubberband or bread-bag type tie).
I've had people on just about all our trips ask if I have ironed my husband's shirts upon arrival.....NO WAY!!
If it's cold weather and I'm packing jeans or a third pair of shoes (for expedition type travel), then I'll put some of my turtlenecks on hangers and put those with his shirts. He insists on boarding planes in a sports coat, so we also take a jacket hanger, and his jacket can be stored with the shirts when we are in our general touring clothes, moving from place to place.
We can travel for three weeks out of the two rollaboards total, and he looks crisp the whole time.
Coming home, it's cram as cram can :) with clothing often cushioning a small painting or a bottle of wine!

I like those large, clear plastic bags with the zipper-like closure, resembling a giant ZipLock bag. Security can see and feel what's inside. I fold a couple of items together, for instance a pair of pants folded around two T-shirts or a sweater, then lay the bundle flat in the bag. Repeat once or twice. Then I gently fold the bag to force all the air out and zip it closed. It flattens back out for easy placement in the suitcase. The vacuum keeps the items from moving around, reducing (although not totally eliminating) wrinkling. Some luggage specialists sell these things but they are also found in the clothes storage section of stores. Just don't get the ones that need a vacuum cleaner, working in reverse, the exhaust the air.

Oh heck, why not chime in. I roll over and back. More importantly I bring lots of light weight synthetic fabrics. I can pack 3 pairs of my fishing trousers in the same space as one pair of jeans; and I can wash them the sink and hang them for a few hours to dry; and they are comfortable and have great pockets. Cold weather I pack long johns and a down coat which compresses into I skinny little vacuum bag and then explodes back to life when I open the bag and let the air in. 3 exceptions, one pair of lightweight dress trousers, one wrinkle resistant dress shirt and I wear a blue wrinkle resistant blazer on the plane. All doable with carry-on. More amazing is two sets of: waders, rods, vests, boots, nets, flies, wading staffs, hats, etc in one weight compliant and manageable checked bag.

I mix the methods. I roll everything that wrinkles easily, especially my favourite pair of linen pants. They look like freshly ironed when I arrive. Jeans definitely use up less space when rolled. Underwear and socks get stuffed, often inside shoes and such. On the way back everything get just stuffed around whatever I bought.

Roll on the way over, plus one small packing cube for toiletries, meds, electronics cords; another for underwear, socks. An inspector in Amsterdam selected my bag for a random check and said it was very well packed.

By mid-trip, the bag looks like a clown car exploded. I try to reorganize and sometimes ship a box home if I've bought the usual number of books.

On the way back, I use whatever method fits everything in, and leave behind what doesn't.

hmmm. Always folded and never rolled. We've used the double sided packing cubes, so clean clothes on one side, dirty on the other. Pants/sweatshirts in the larger cubes, t-shirts, underwear, shirts in the smaller cubes.

Although based on the previous votes for rolling, I'll try that on my business trip next week and let you know how it works.

For underwear, I use 2 separate gallon zip bags, and write "clean" on one and "dirty" on the other. Never have to guess.

I'm a roller and a folder. Shirts and underwear get rolled and pants get folded. I have also converted my wife to a roller. Now if i could only convince her to get rid of her HUGE suitcase.

Are plastic bags really comfortable as underwear? Do you have to cut out leg holes? ;-)

For sorting out laundry, though, that's a great idea :-)

I am a roller. My only struggle has been dirty clothes.
Now, packing cubes fascinate me. Never used them, but I think they may help with separating dirty from clean clothes? I do have an issue with that as I don't like them mixing in the bag. Any suggestions?

I do believe I'll try rolling on my upcoming trip, should be fine since I only wear t-shirts, knit tops and jeans. As for dirty undies and socks they go in a big plastic bag that usually fits in that big outside pocket of a suitcase.

(soapbox time)

I can't understand 'rolling takes up less space'!!! Of course, it takes up more !

Imagine a quart-sized Ziploc bag with round 3-oz bottles in it. See all of those unused spaces between the bottles? Now, use square (either equally-square or rectangular) 3-oz bottles; no unused airspace. AND you've now gained a bit of extra room for that (oh-so-dangerous) nail file-free nail clipper.

Or:

Rolled vs square, 1

Rolled vs square, 2

And for those who can read ;-)

Now...if you've rolled your clothing but have now smushed them by placing other objects on top, now you've got clothing rolled into a square :-(

Just fold them flat and bring a tiny spray bottle to fill with water and spritz the fold lines (if you have any). No biggie.

I'm correct, you're wrong ;-)

LOL!

(picking up soapbox and walking away...)

FWIW, it's sorta frightening, and yet comforting at the same time, to read posts from certain peeps and know who they are without looking...Thanks, Ed and Karen 8^D

Yes, Cyn, sorting the undies! Although the idea of creating leg holes in zip bags, and then using the zip to, well, access parts... Kind of like the old long johns with the trap door.

You ONLY need to roll pack if you take too much. Roll packing probably saves space because you can roll it tighter than you can press it flat, but you can't do anything about the weight. You don't need to take that many clothes. Roll packing just facilitates overpacking.

If you REALLY pack light, you don't have enough stuff to roll pack. All the stuff I take for three weeks in Germany weighs about ten pounds. I pack three or four shirts in a flat Tide mesh wash bag, a couple of pairs of slacks, laid flat on the bottom of my suitcase, and two spare sets of underwear in a small mesh bag.

I have thought of rolling my slacks individually, but lying them flat also works.

The picture in my head of Karen with her ziplock bag undies makes me giggle. Add in the fact that one says "clean" and the other says "dirty" just makes me giggle even more.

Thank you Karen, for making my Friday night complete.

Thanks for the chuckle, Karen, Cyn and Ms. Jo! I was wondering though if the 1 gallon ziplocs are a tight fit or if I should get the 2 gallon size?

. . . and should one use the Freezer bags, or will the regular ones work? Maybe depends on whether you're visiting Fiji or Antarctica.

Heading back north of the equator...

I roll, fold or stuff depending on the garment and its buddies in the packing cube. Smaller things seem to pack better if I roll them. Larger ones need to be folded. Scarves or sox (individually) often go around the edges. I have never found rolling to be better at controlling wrinkles.

I have never reached 10 pound nirvana including all the other stuff that goes in my spinner, but I do keep the weight down to 14 pounds or less. We usually travel for a month or so.

I'm a roller and love those packing cubes!

Gallon or two gallon ziplock bags? Depends on whether you like bikini or granny panties. Use the quart size if you prefer thongs.

I roll my clothes. The advantages for me:
- Rolled clothes have a little stiffness that helps make my convertible carry-on more rigid (rather than just a sack of potatoes).
- It's easier to pull a rolled clothing item out of my bag individually without messing up the clothes around it.

I use a two-gallon zip-lock as my portable washing machine when doing laundry in my room. I use one gallon or quart size bags for other uses. Generally the clothes aren't going inside bags, except dirty socks and underwear (they go in my washing machine until I wash them in my room). The rest of my clothes are used more than once then everything gets washed at a laundromat stop every couple of weeks.

Just found a little video showing a unique way to roll your clothing:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152522797065661&set=vb.575590660&type=2&theater

I don't roll or fold, I'm a bundle packer. Keeps all my pants and shirts neat and wrinkle free. Only drawback if you have to unbundle everyhting to get something out. I don't mind an extra 2 min to do that each day.

My girlfriend rolls her clothes

Hmm . . . does packing one way or the other get one thru security or customs any faster or more smoothly?

Ms. Jo,

i do both.

for my shirts and pants i fold them such that the size will match the back part of my back pack as much as possible. I think it provides more cushion to the part against my back.

the rest i will roll or just shove into place. Most of the time i can get by without rolling, but if i bring my riding clothes along with my riding helmet it adds bulk and weight so i my trim my clothes back.

i will also stuff things in my shoes since they will take up space.

happy trails.

I roll most of the time and place in packing cubes. Jo when you say riding gear do you mean for bicycles or horseback riding?

I roll my clothes, and travel with a messenger bag. Two nice T-shirts, one long sleeve, one short sleeve. Two pair pants; one knit long black pair (stylish; think Anne Taylor, Ralph Lauren or LLBean; not grandma's sweat pants), and one pair of capris. One nice scarf. Several pair of undies and socks plus toiletries. Roll this stuff, and a messenger bag isn't even full. Roll coming home. If I buy a book, a T-shirt is wrapped around it to protect the corners, placed spine down in the bag with the rolls around it. I wash things in the hotel sink every other night and hang dry in the shower.

fold and hang out, stuff back.

Except when only taking backpack - stuff out, stuff back.

always roll. learned from when i was in the military and needed to get everything in a duffle bag.

Both, the pants are either rolled or folded, to take up up less space. The starched shirts are carefully folded, slipped into plastic bags, and flattened. Underclothes are rolled, stuffed, or flattened. All in all with everything else, the roller suitcase stays ca 28-30 lbs., max. be it a 10 day or 10 week trip.