How to pack a man's long sleeve shirt?

It's an expense but my husband gets his pressed at the dry cleaners. They come back in very small, flat plastic packaging and stay very nice throughout our trips.

He only has 2, so I'm going to take those today and see how small it is pressed and in a plastic bag from dry cleaners. I was watching an eagle creek demo and it said you can get 12 items in one of those flat things. I guess it never hurts to try.

1. Treat it the same as a short sleeve and roll it.
2. It is a vacation, no worries.
3. Most of the places i stayed had irons to take out any wrinkles if needed.
4. Hang the shirt in the bathroom during your hot steamy showers.
5. It's his shirt why are you worried about it?

Compression bags, like giant Ziplocks, are a great boon to travellers. Fold the shirts flat, like in a store display, insert in the bag, press all the air out and zip tight. You can add several more items, such as sweaters. Pants can be folded around the bundle of clothes. Even if you need to roll the bag to expel the air, once closed it will flatten out. Saves space and prevents (some) wrinkling. These bags are available from luggage stores such as eBags, or possibly in the storage section of a department store. Be careful not to pick storage bags that need a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air.

When I pack shirts for travel, I get them starched at cleaners. Rolling or folding either way they will get smashed up in my bag, but the starch will help in keeping their shape. But I don't worry about the wrinkles on vacation. If its that important, borrow an iron from the hotel, or send them out for laundry.

Here's how I pack my husband's long sleeved dress shirts:

1. Connect all buttons and place the shirt face-down. Smooth out the wrinkles and fold in the sleeves until the shoulders are almost touching.

2. Fold up the bottom third of the shirt, then fold down the top of the shirt so that it overlaps the first fold.

3. Flip the shirt over and smooth it out.

I have found that there seemed to be less wrinkles than when I rolled them; and when layering them in the suitcase, I alternate how the collars face so they lay pretty much in an even layer. Also, everyplace we've stayed overseas (as well as in the US) had an iron if some wrinkles didn't fall out when hanging overnight.

My husband packs his long-sleeved dress shirts by folding them more or less in the manner described by Mary. They don't get terribly wrinkled. Most of his shirts are the Nordstrom house brand easy-care material and these wear well and don't wrinkle overmuch in general. Having said that, he has other brands of dress shirts and while some wrinkle a lot and others don't, it seems to depend more on the fabric than the brand. Also, the darker colored, patterned ones show wrinkles (and stains) less than the lighter colors.

If you're talking about long sleeved t-shirts, those get wrinkled and he wears them anyway.

I hope you have a great trip and that wrinkles are the worst problem with which you will need to contend!

The same way I pack short sleeve shirts....roll and place in packing cubes. Synthetic or synthetic blend fabrics are my choice and work well with no or limited wrinkles.

We are folders, not rollers (although I do roll a few items like pj's, rain jacket, and swimsuit to pad the bottom of the bag and tuck in around the edges of packing cubes). But I checked a few websites and videos which demonstrate rolling and all say it is for t-shirts (or all knit shirts) and pants. They describe a layer of rolled clothes in the bottom of the bag, with a layer of folded items (woven shirts, blazers, etc.) on top. I think that is your answer. And I would use a packing envelope (like the eagle creek shirt-size one) to keep them wrinkle-free.

My husband takes a good wool suit and two dress shirts for opera, etc. he packs these in the large size packing envelope and that goes on the bottom (after padding the space on either side of the handle track with socks and other small items to make a level surface.) I do the same with a large packing envelope containing my dresses (2) and slacks. Then other clothes go into a packing cube ( 2 for me). It all fits easily in a 22" bag and stays nicely organized.

Hi,

I bring long sleeve shirts both blend and all cotton. I fold them the same way as they were when I bought them. First, they are starched at the cleaners.

The medium size Eagle Creek Garment Folder is perfect for a carry-on backpack or roller bag.

I was skeptical when I purchased one, thinking it was more of a gimmick than useful. But I had heard enough good things about it I thought I would buy one and try it out. I'm glad I did. The medium size is perfect for 5 to 6 long sleeve shirts. They pack very flat and unpack without wrinkles.

http://shop.eaglecreek.com/packit-garment-folder-medium/d/1325_cl_-1

Here's my technique.
1. hold the shirt by the middle of the collar
2. grab the shirt halfway down
3. let go of the collar and allow the shirt to fold in half

1. suff it in the suitcase wherever it fits.

I always travel with long sleeved, travel shirts from REI, ex-official, Duluth Trading, etc. and they come out without looking more wrinkled than normal.

I find that wrinkle free or synthetic blended cotton that I wash at home and don't have to starch works best for travel if I take long sleeves. I roll everything possible. My shirts usually look pretty bad when I take them out of the suit case, but hanging in the hotel room overnight usually gets them mostly straight and a quick touch with an iron makes them good enough.

You cannot defeat the laws of physics. A shirt occupies exactly the same volume whether it is rolled or folded or wadded in a ball. I know there is almost a religious fever around rolling so I seldom argue with the zealots. We are big fans of the packing envelope or whatever it is called. Certainly not bulky. We fold all of our shirts and pants using the folding guide provide. The shirts are wrinkle free but will have creases where the folds are much like a new shirt in a package or from the cleaners. We like this system since it is very easy to get a single item out without disturbing any of the other packed items. I generally put four shirts and two pants in one package and sometimes a sweater. Long and short sleeve makes no difference.

The medium size is perfect for most carryon size bags. We use one each. If I need a suit or sports coat I use the larger size and it still fits our carry on bags..

Most of the advice above is good.

Here's what I do for button down shirts:

If you take the shirt to the laundry and have them returned folded, there will be a piece of cardboard inside the folded shirt. Keep it. In fact, ask for a couple extra.

When I travel, I fold the shirt around the cardboard which acts like the folding board in the packing folders. Then either put the shirt in a ziploc bag (look at the 2 gallon size), a packing cube or get a packing folder. (I go back and forth between the cube and the folder. ) Eagle Creek has a new item called the Pack It Sport Garment Folder. It is designed for one shirt and one pair of pants but you could easily pack two shirts in it.

With the cube, I put the folded shirts in first and then add rolled items on top to fill the cube. A filled cube prevents things from moving thus preventing wrinkles.

If you use the ziploc, push as much air out as possible and fold it to conform to the size of the shirts. If you wash the shirt along the way, keep the cardboards to fold the shirt again.

This method has helped me to prevent wrinkles. Although I will admit I got some strange looks when I went into the dry cleaner and asked to buy some shirt cardboards. They charged me about 25 cents a piece for half a dozen.

Lulu,
We do something entirely different:

We travel with one RS rollaboard each and then one small totebag (into which goes my travel purse, our liquids in the baggies, camera, etc.)

My rollaboard has all the folded clothes (t-shirts, socks, undies, back-up shoes, non-liquid toiletries). My spouse's rollaboard contains the hanging clothes and then some folded clothes, too. He loves to wear long-sleeve shirts when he travels, even in the summer, for sun protection.....or flannels for cool weather travel. So, several of his shirts on hangers, an extra pair of trousers, and then whatever of my clothes are needed to put in there in order to have room in the first rollaboard. Then, he puts a light-weight garment bag around all the clothes that are on hangers (think the kind we used to take on board when there was not a one-limit carry on...way back when), then he folds the garment bag into three within the rollaboard. If there is still room in the rollaboard (and there usually is) hats, my skinny jeans, maybe the umbrella, etc. would get stuffed in the bottom or between the layers of the garment bag.

I know it sounds like all that would not fit, but it does. And, it's funny because when people notice my husband is wearing a crisp (appears to be starched shirt) each day, I've had people ask me if I stayed up all night ironing. No, just the ole trusty Brooks Brothers non-iron shirts.

If we have short stays at a hotel of just one or two nights, sometimes the garment bag just gets hung in whole, and I'll just fish out what I need and then hang up the previous day's shirt (he'll the recycle the shirt later in the week...luckily he doesn't sweat much).

But, Lulu, if it is just a couple of shirts that your husband would otherwise hang up, I don't know that it would be worth the whole garment bag thing within the suit case. I'd probably just follow the other posters' suggestions for folding the shirts.

Everyone seems to have a system that works, and you'll come up with what works for you. You've gotten some great suggestions from the others.

No recommendations on folding but I do pack a small (empty) spray bottle so if things are more wrinkled than I like I can lightly spray with water, shake the shirt and hang to dry. It is fine in the AM.

LuLu,
We use the Eagle Creek packing folders - medium. I use the RS convertible carry on, i.e. the large backpack and my wife uses the newer version of the RS rolling bag. I can fit 2 pr pants(not jeans), 4-5 dress shirts, and a few golf shirts in the folder. Folding instructions ore on the hard plastic folding thingy. Shirts look great. I keep everything in the folder for the trip and pick a shirt when I need one. Works for us.
Gene

Whoops,
Lulu,
Forgot to mention the rest of the contents. 1 small RS packing cube with underwear, 1 small RS packing cube for other loose stuff. 1 pr. shoes in the bottom of the bag. Small day pack for 1 change of clothes and guidebooks, etc. 1 RS voles guide bag for iPad as my "man bag" for the trip. We've worked on different packing scenarios over the past few years. This works for us. Much less stress once you figure it out.
Good Luck and Enjoy your vacation,
Gene

Thanks...do your golf shirts wrinkle in the packing folder? He will be taking 4 golf shirts, 2 regular short sleeve shirts, 2 long sleeve casual shirts. It seems if you fold the shirts, there would be the two creases going down the sides. How do you prevent that?

You don't or at least I don't. The crease falls out fairly easily and it is on the side of the shirt. I think it does a great job of keeping the shirts wrinkle free. And eight shirts is double the amount of shirts I would consider taking.

I went and bought the Eagle Creek packing folder. I've gone ahead and put 6 shirts in it, and it says I can put 6 more pieces, but I'll stop here to experiment. I just want to see what they look like after a few days. The Eagle Creek carryon he has includes that compartment where you can zip it in. I rolled his 4 shorts and one pair of pants, and one pair of huge shoes. He has so much room left its unbelievable. I do think this packing folder is the way to go for him. he's also taking his backpack....I think he needs to lend his wife some of his empty space. He has a 22 inch, I just have the 20 inch.

He gets the guide books and maps!

And he gets to carry home all the souvenirs :-)

Lulu, aren't you going for just 10 days? And he is taking 8 shirts? You sure are taking a lot of stuff.

No, not 8 shirts, 10 shirts! I had to talk him into that! 4 golf shirts, 2 cotton short sleeve and 4 long sleeve. I know, I KNOW! Anyway...I had the 4 golf shirts and 2 cotton in the pack it folder. Not a wrinkle on the golf shirts, but 2 creases down the sides of the cottons...but not bad at all. I'm sold on this pack it folder.

Lulu,
I'm intrigued. Were the cotton shirts the long-sleeve ones? If so, assume the sleeves were not all wrinkled?

I just did a Google search for the Eagle Creek folder, and I'm amazed. If your trial run didn't include the long-sleeves, I'd be curious, if you later report results on those. Were the shirts really "compressed"? Were they the typical button-down collar type or a bit more casual?

(I'd love to be able to squeeze 8 or so (button-down style long-sleeve men's XL) into something that compact.)
This could be life changing.......LOL :)

How many shirts total do you think would fit in the folder? I think the product site said UP TO 12 items?

When you get back, I'd love to hear how they did throughout the trip, as you pulled items and out put them back in.

For cold-weather travel, I'd guess it would be super easy with flannel shirts and turtlenecks....those shake out so wrinkle free.

Follow-up question for Frank (or Lulu):

I went back and re-read the thread. You mention the system makes it easy to take out one item without disturbing the others. Are there separators for placing between each item?

Margaret,
Concerning the Eagle Creek packing folder - medium. It can hold 12 items, maybe more or less depending on the persons size. I'm a 38. I can neatly fold the following stuff & put it in the folder: 2 maybe even three pairs of sorta dress pants, and as stated above, no jeans. For me they're to heavy, don't dry, and are bulky. 4 - 5 dress shirts, mixture of short and long sleeves; maybe 4 golf shirts. You put them on the plastic folder thingy ( it probably has an official name) fold each shirt and carefully place it on / in the folder. I fold the pants without the plastic thing. When I want a shirt or pants from somewhere in the pile I carefully lift the pile up and place it on the plastic thing, remove my shirt, pick up the pile with the plastic thing underneath and place the whole shebang back in the folder until I need something else. Carefully slide out the plastic thing and close the folder. Back in the backpack for travel.
Sometimes the dress shirts may get a crease soooooo, just hang it up for a couple of hours and the crease is gone. Never a problem with golf shirts or pants. As to the number of items I take...depends on whether I'm going on a cruise or a trip to Italy. Usually take a bit more on cruises.
Do some people here think I'm taking too much. Who cares. It;s in my backpack and I'm carrying it.
You may also try the Eagle Creek website as I think there is a video of the folder being packed.
Enjoy,
Gene

The plastic folding guide is used as the top for the purpose of compressing the pile. If you want to take one item out, you use the folding guide to slide through the pile on top of the item you want to remove. Left up the pile, remove the items and gently place the pile back on the reminding items and slide out the folding guide.

Lulu, thanks for your positive review) of the packing board -- I went to the REI website and bought one on sale. Then since I was already there and there WAS a sale going on, some extra packing half-cubes (I have used them on other trips and like how they keep my stuff organized -- t-shirts rolled and compressed, and easy to grab the cubes out of the suitcase. And really pretty colors!)

Thanks all. Will check it out and likely give it a try.

Regarding the packing folders....I used to use the Eagle Creek regular packing folders but have switched to the ones in their Specter line. That saves nearly half a pound in weight and they work just as well. Either type are fine.

I didn't do any long sleeved for the trial run over the Labor Day weekend. Before I decided to get the folder, I had his 2 nice dress shirts drycleaned and put in bags. I plan on putting that in the folder, too. The other long sleeved are really the type you fold up the sleeves and their is a button/strap that holds it up..so I'm not concerned. What I love about this is the hard pladtic piece that you use to fold the shirts. There are diagrams on it showing you how to do it...so easy.

Each shirt is the identical size when folded. When you want a shirt, as someone said, you just use that plastic piece to slide it where your shirt is. You pkace it on top when you are done folding, and wrap the folder holder over that..its Velcro. It really hold all your shirts nice and snug so they are not moving around and wrinkling.

He has 2 dress pants...I'm assuming if he puts those in there, where you have to fold it will crease? I wonder if a piece of dry cleaning pladtic would stop that?