how to pack clothes for moving

Think outside the box. If you've moved around a lot then you may already know this trick. Packing clothes in boxes for moving is not the most practical way. Clothes tend to buch up and even if you fold them, you will find that the boxes seem under utilized. Here we will cover the very basic idea of moving clothes in a bag instead of a box.

Step 1: The mess

so we're standing in front of the closet, the last battlefront of the moving expedition. You have a few spare boxes left but somehow you think you may have more clothes than there is room in the boxes. I?ve tried the route of ?jam-as-many-in-there-as-i-can?, this works, but have you ever lifted the box up afterwards and been ?this is incredibly light.. I wonder if it?s full?.

It?s time to think outside the box. As silly as it seems you will have more satisfaction packing clothes like this than in boxes, there is only one downfall which we will cover at the end. So let?s go! Here we have a closet full of clothes.

Comments

[mikeasaurus]

best answer on Yahoo! Answers.

[broadjade]

What a great idea.I was worried about how i can pack so much of clothes while moving because we have very tight budget and opting for a big box is not an good deal for us.I will try this idea and london removal are the best movers around london.

[michaelbresnan]

Hi, Its a nice tips on how to pack your clothes on a move. I am moving to Portland in coming few days and i hope this will work great out for me. Thanks for sharing these tips with us.

[levitts]

if you cut a hole in the bottom of the bag, you could slide the bag down over the clothes. It would make them easier to get into the bag, and you would be able to carry more than one bag at once, but you would probably need help getting them in

[uncle frogy]

very funny I used that idea just last week never thought of it befor. I added one improvement. I used blue painters masking tape to hold the hangers together and to secure the bag to the bundel. blue painters tape is low tack and does not leave any glue on anything but is strong enough to hold the whole thing together.

[Verity Vale]

Rubber bands work well for that too ;)

[erichxsv1]

as do garbage ties_,

[yurika975]

Thanks! I am getting ready to move in short time...couple days..but need a cheap and easy way to get the clothes...easy and doable...THanks again

[monkeyweather]

If you are packing clothes that aren't on hangers, you can put them into a plastic bag (not too enormous of a bag is easier/lighter). Squish all the air out of the bag (like the Space Bag idea except you just sit on them to get the air out). Tie the bag off so that it stays deflated. Put the squished bag of clothes into a box and keep adding squished bags til box is full. If you have to move yourself, either go with a small to medium box or you can skip the box - thing is though, stacking boxes at a new location is tidier and more space efficient than stacking a heap of floppy ole bags. If you have a mover doing the lifting, you can use bigger bags and big boxes, but to spare your own back I'd recommend keeping the box size manageable - squished bags of clothes are quite heavy.

[weeta]

thank you for posting this! simple idea, but my brain just wasn't working to figure out how to move my clothes cheaply. I'm moving myself & am reluctant to shell out $30-40 for a couple of stupid wardrobe boxes, so this (or any of the other ideas posted) should work out much better!

[aropeofsand]

You can pack everything that isn't attached to a clothes hanger even tighter by shoving it in a garbage bag and using a vacuum cleaner to suck all the air out of the bag. Try it with clothing, bedding, you'd be amazed how small some of that stuff can shrink. If you are worried about air coming back into the bag you can just jam a bunch of them into a box before that happens.

[bowakowa]

may I recommend cable ties? cheap and readily available at radio shack, lowe's etc. will get really tight around neck of hangers and will not come loose without a sharp tool.

[bowakowa]

Just tried this and it worked great. Daisy chained about 30 garments together and then fashioned a handle from the ties as well. Went together fast and made my move(s) easier.

[sallysings]

My bf taught me this trick when we moved last month. To keep the hangers together and the clothes from moving off the racks, he tied the hooks together with twine.

[mmcwhi2]

i just throw my clothes into a trash bag, throw it over my shoulder, along with my other stuff, and then ride my bike to the next couch that i will sleep on.

[markryder1988]

well i usually get a black sack put clothes inside then get a hoover and suck out all the air its proper funny the clothes turn rock solid and really compact!

[ronin.ca]

This is fine if you're moving yourself. But most moving companies won't take clothing like this. Ever. (A note, I worked 3 summers as a mover) They offer you wardrobe boxes. These are good for suits and coats and other bigger items. If you're packing them yourself make sure all the buttons are done up on the hanging items, so that they don't fall off the hangers and wind up in a bunch at the bottom. Next, take a rubber band and use it to lock the hanger to the bar that goes across the box. Basically these boxes are super light and movers hate them; if you're going long distance the mover is paid by the weight and the more he/she can pack into a smaller area the happier they are. Movers typically turtle these boxes (IE carry them on their back) and they go as fast as they can with them, since they represent a waste of time (think of moviing as a balance between trips up the stairs versus weight). So your stuff is going to shift around a lot. The more it's attached to the rod, the better. If you use those cheap metal hangers, consider folding them around the rod and then putting elastics or tape to hold them to it.

[actionsport]

i've done it another way- this isn't reliable if you have a lot of slippery clothes that can fall off hangers, though- anyway, instead of putting bottom half of stuff in bag, use the hangers to poke a hole thru the closed end of the bag- that way you can carry the clothes by the hanger handles- you can even tie the handles together w/ a rubber band- only limitation is that you can't have more than ten hangers- other than that, it works really well

[tallerdollar]

supercool!!!