How to Fold Clothes for Travel

If you travel a lot, learning the best ways to pack will help save you a lot of hassles. When storing clothes for travel, you first need to know how much space you have to pack in. It also helps to organize your bags or suitcases to determine where each type of garment will go--shirts at one end, pants at the other. More than anything, though, knowing the best methods of folding clothes is essential.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step 1

Decide if folding or rolling your clothes is better for your situation. Rolling your clothes makes them more compact for more packing space. Folded clothes take up more space but stay in their folded form easily--an advantage if you're keeping them in your bags for most of the trip.

Step 2

Fold shirts and blouses in half twice along the long (vertical) side. Fold it in half once, tuck in the sleeves and fold it in half again. You now have a long thin stretch of fabric that you can either roll up or repeatedly fold upward until you have a small rectangle.

Step 3

Lay pants flat sideways with the inseam running down the middle; this helps give you a wider but "flatter" fold that takes up less space from top to bottom. For a fold that takes less space from side to side, lay them with the complete front facing forward and fold them in half along the legs. In either case, fold them in half along the legs again and then twice in the other direction.

Step 4

For shorts, fold them upward so the cuffs touch the belt, then fold them along the inseam to make a rectangle. You may be able to make one more upward fold to make them even more compact. If the shorts are cotton instead of denim or khaki, you can roll them instead. This also works for skirts and bathing suits.

Step 5

Fold thicker sweaters in half along the vertical once, then fold the sleeves twice so they're completely atop the folded garment. Now fold the sweater horizontally twice so you have a folded square or rectangle.

Step 6

Prepare dresses by folding them in half along the waistline so the skirt folds over the bodice. Fold in half along the vertical line to make a rectangle. You can now give it another vertical fold and roll it up or continue folding it horizontally and vertically until it is compact enough.

Tips & Warnings

Try folding garments together, placing one on top of the other and folding them as one. This can prevent creasing on your clothes. This helps a lot for thin outer clothes like shirts, dresses and pants. Folding underwear isn't always needed, but you can fold them in the same way you fold shorts. Rolling is also an option here. Remember to set aside space in your bags for shoes so you don't have to place them on top of your folded clothes.

Folding underwear isn't always needed, but you can fold them in the same way you fold shorts. Rolling is also an option here.

Remember to set aside space in your bags for shoes so you don't have to place them on top of your folded clothes.

Article Written By Chris Moore

Chris Moore has been contributing to eHow since 2007 and is a member of the DFW Writers' Workshop. He received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Texas-Arlington.

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