How to Roll Clothes for a Suitcase?

Rolling clothes in a suitcase or backpack is one of the popular packing tricks. It allows you to fit more items, which is especially useful for budget trips with carry-on luggage, but not only. When and how is it worth rolling clothes, and when is it better to fold them? It turns out that packing a suitcase and folding clothes is simple when you know how to do it efficiently.

When is it worth choosing to roll clothes?

Packing clothes into a suitcase, bag, or backpack is not enjoyable. It's just a pre-trip chore. However, it’s good to know how to pack clothes to fit as many as possible. Folding clothes is an important part of the whole process. It turns out that, contrary to appearances, it affects the amount of space taken up in the luggage. How is that possible? By tightly rolling clothes into rolls, we fold them much more compactly than with traditional folding. That’s the whole secret of rolling. If we know how to optimally roll each item, we can save a lot of space. When is this useful? Whenever we travel with carry-on luggage. Such luggage is quite limiting during popular city breaks, but rolling clothes is a great way to maximize luggage space. This technique can also be used when packing a suitcase, which offers much more space.

Advantages of rolling clothes

The biggest benefit of rolling clothes is gaining more space in your luggage. By tightly compressing t-shirts, pants, or jackets, you can pack significantly more clothes. Packing a suitcase also becomes easier. So if you want to fit optimally into small luggage, rolling clothes is better than folding them. Many people also believe that rolling clothes reduces wrinkles, so clothes don’t require ironing after unpacking. This packing technique is a great way to travel light. Rolling is not complicated either. You can roll clothes into a suitcase intuitively or learn proven rolling methods.

How to do it, or rolling without secrets?

So how do you pack clothes to gain the most space in a backpack, bag, or suitcase? You can roll or fold clothes as you like, but it’s worth learning techniques for different types of clothing. This way, packed clothes will take up even less space in the suitcase. How to fold clothes when rolling them? First of all, roll on a flat surface.

How to roll a T-shirt?

Folding t-shirts is one of the most useful techniques. After all, we usually take the most t-shirts. How to do it? Fold a small part of the bottom of the t-shirt inside out, then fold it lengthwise, bending it to 1/3 of its width. You can also fold it in half. Start rolling from the neck opening and roll tightly. At the end of the roll, there will be a pocket to tuck the whole roll into. This way, the t-shirt won’t unroll.

Rolling a jacket

Of course, rolling a thick winter jacket can be problematic, but a rain jacket or windbreaker rolls up well. Here, the process is similar to t-shirts. Fasten the jacket and fold the bottom part inside out a few centimeters. Then fold the sleeves along with the jacket body inward by 1/3 of the width on both sides. Start rolling from the hood, remembering to roll very tightly. At the end, tuck the whole roll into the pocket created by the initial bottom fold.

How to roll pants?

Whether long or short shorts, they should always be fastened. Start by folding the waistband inside out a few centimeters. Then fold the pants in half lengthwise along the legs and start rolling from the legs. At the end, tuck the pants into the pocket created at the beginning by folding the waistband.

How to roll a towel?

When traveling, we take the most necessary items, which certainly include a towel. However, it’s worth checking before the trip whether your destination provides one. Maybe you don’t need to bring it. And if you do? Then start rolling. Fold the shorter side of the towel outward a few centimeters. Then fold the longer edges inward, joining them together. Turn the towel over and roll it, finishing by tucking it into the pocket formed.

Are rolled clothes less wrinkled?

Sometimes rolled clothes are less wrinkled than folded ones. They have fewer visible creases, but that doesn’t mean they are perfectly smooth. If you’re not very demanding, most of them are perfectly wearable without needing to be ironed again. Unfortunately, this does not apply to formal clothes like shirts, which require perfect smoothness. These will always need ironing, regardless of the folding technique used. Casual clothes, which are most often taken on trips, will be fine if you’re not a perfectionist.

What about shirts? Can wrinkles be avoided?

Shirts are one of the more difficult types of clothing to transport without wrinkles. Unfortunately, rolling clothes does not protect this part of the wardrobe from creasing. However, when improving the packing process, it’s worth paying attention to how you fold shirts, which helps not only reduce their number but also save space in the suitcase. You can roll a shirt, but a good method is also folding it like it’s done in stores. How? First, button all the shirt buttons and lay it flat with the buttons facing down. Then fold the shirt edges inward a few centimeters from the collar. Fold the sleeves gently inward, avoiding creasing them. Fold the bottom of the shirt up twice so that it ultimately resembles the way it’s folded when bought in a store. Shirts can also be rolled using a technique similar to folding t-shirts.

An alternative to rolling: vacuum packing – advantages and disadvantages

One proven way to pack clothes for a trip is vacuum packing. This way, you can pack a lot of items by reducing their volume by sucking out the air. It seems like all advantages! You can fit a ton of things—much more than with traditional packing. Unfortunately, this solution has one major drawback. It doesn’t solve the problem of packing on the way back. And it’s hard to imagine vacuum packing clothes when leaving. Usually, you don’t have the necessary devices and accessories at hand. It may turn out that on the return trip, clothes won’t fit into the suitcase. So rolling clothes is a much more effective and practical way to save space. It also doesn’t require any additional accessories.

How to pack a suitcase or backpack to fit everything? You won’t fit everything, but you will certainly fit more if you pack clothes by rolling them. This is the best technique to save a significant amount of space.