A Guide On How To Pack Clothes For Moving

At first thought, clothing seems like one of the easier things to pack for a move, but when you consider just how many clothes you have and how much space they ultimately take up, the job will get bigger.

After all, how can you move clothes without damaging them or causing wrinkles? How do you keep them clean during transit and how can you best organize them? Like most things, knowing how to pack clothes for a move is something of a science. Here are some tips on how you can make your life as easy as possible for when the big day comes.

• Declutter Your Wardrobe
• Don’t pack it all (Leave some clothes out for moving day)
• Group, Sort and Categorise Your Clothing
• Put Your Sentimental Clothing Aside
• Pack Clean Clothes Only
• Keep Shoes Apart
• Packing Supplies For Clothes
• Clothing to Hang Or Fold
• Additional Tips

Things To Consider Before You Start Packing Your Clothes For A Move

Declutter Your Wardrobe

One of the easiest ways to pack clothes for a move is to reduce the volume.

Chances are that you have a bunch of apparel that you don’t need anymore. Take a look at your entire wardrobe to determine which clothes are too small, out of fashion, worn out or just abandoned.

By selling or donating the pieces that are in good condition, you can make a bit of money, help charity and make your move all that easier. For clothes which are too far gone, you can use them to wrap other objects for the move or recycle them.

Don’t Pack It All (Leave some clothes out for moving day)

You’re not likely to pack on the day of your move, so make sure you put aside some comfortable and practical clothes to wear in the time leading up to the move. It sounds obvious but many people forget to hold back a few of the little things such as pyjamas, underwear and waterproofs.

Group, Sort and Categorise Your Clothing

Being able to find specific clothing sets after a move will be a godsend. This is one tip that a lot of people wish they had taken more seriously, so we highly recommend you consider following it!

Sort your clothes. You can get really organised and sort your clothes by using the following categories:

Material – Such as cotton, polyester, silk and other fabrics. By putting the delicate items together, you’ll be able to move and pack them accordingly. 

Size – Grouping by size can help you optimize space in your boxes and bags. However, if you are grouping by size, you’ll be mixing types so make sure to label the box clearly.

Season – Separate by seasons, such as winter and summer. This will help you access different kinds of clothing when you need them and help with storage when they aren’t in use.

Put Your Sentimental Clothing Aside

There are bound to be a few clothing items that you regard highly. This can include old wedding outfits, old business suits right through to your favourite pair of shorts. If you believe some items of your clothing are too important to lose, throw away, donate or even sell, then you are going to want to pack them in their own special box if possible so they can be easily located once the moving process is complete. Another solution is to use a removal storage centre.

Pack Clean Clothes Only

Before you begin packing, seriously consider washing all your clothes. The last thing you want is to travel with dirty, smelly clothing. Worse, if your clothes are damp then this will only make the situation worse. For a successful move, ensure that all clothes are washed and dry before they are packed away – for wrinkle reduction consider ironing them too.

Keep Shoes Apart

It may be tempting to bundle in shoes with your clothing, but from our experience, it’s always best to keep them separate. Not only will this protect your clothes from getting dirty, but the hard materials in shoes could also cause damage to more delicate items.
When packing up shoes, stuff them with socks or paper to retain their shape during the move.

Pro Tip – Keep Some Of Your Old Clothes To Wrap Fragile Items With

While it’s very sensible to dispose of as many old clothes as possible, you may want to keep a few for when you are packing away fragile or breakable items such as glassware, dishes or porcelain. Old clothing can provide an additional layer of protection to prevent any damage from coming to them.

Packing Supplies For Clothes

We’ve given tips on how what to consider when packing your clothing, but what about what to pack them in?

The good news is that there are many different ways to store your clothing before your big move.

Here are some of the best ways to pack your clothes away for your big move.

Cardboard Boxes – The classic. One of the most advantageous things about using cardboard boxes is that they can be found almost anywhere. From your local supermarket to your local newsagent and you will even most likely have a few already up in your attic (if you have one). There is quite simply, no shortage of cardboard boxes. If you’re looking for quality packing boxes, if you move with ZOOM we offer free moving boxes for extra protection.

Wardrobe Boxes – Wardrobe boxes are also extra handy. These are tall boxes that include a hanging rack and are excellent at preventing your items from getting wrinkled. What’s more, they are super easy to transport clothes both in and out of your wardrobe.

Suitcases – Although they might make you feel like you are going on holiday, suitcases are another cost-effective solution. Most people have at least one or two suitcases lying around and as a result, offer a low-cost way to pack folded clothing away. Another advantage of using suitcases is that some offer straps to keep clothes in place and even allow you to wheel your clothes out of the house with ease.

Garbage Bags – Probably not everybody’s first choice, however, garbage bags can be utilised offering yet another cheap method to packing your clothing away for your big move. The best thing about garbage bags is that you can also make a hole in them from the bottom in order to pull a hanger through to hoist up your clothes.

Vacuum Bags – If you have expensive clothing that you wish to protect, then consider vacuum sealing. This protects your clothes against wrinkles, but bear in mind, that this is meant more for the short-term rather than the long-term, as keeping clothes vacuum-sealed bags for too long can damage them.

Other Materials To Pack Clothing: Other options include bin bags, plastic bins and even shoe boxes.  Another useful thing to remember is that keeping a few spare coat hangers could come useful too for when unpacking.

Which Clothes Should You Hang Or Fold?

While for simplicity, it’s best left folded clothes in their drawers, some types of clothing is probably left best hanging up on a coat hanger. These include some of the following :

Linen Clothing: This type of material is well known for becoming wrinkled very easily. For this reason, it’s best to try to hang any linen shirts up and rather than folding them up and putting them away into a drawer.

Jackets and Coats: Another type of clothing that is best left on a coat hanger. This is because folding up coats can take a lot of space in a box/drawer, but on top of that coats can also wrinkle quite easily.

Dresses and Blouses: For the most part, you should avoid folding up dresses and blouses if possible. This is because they can crease easily. For this reason, make a conscious effort to hang them up if possible.

As for clothing that you can fold away, these include the following :

Jeans: We recommend folding these as they are amongst the easiest type of clothing to deal with. Jeans are extremely versatile and no harm should come to them if they are folded.

Shorts: With shorts, there’s no real reason to hang them.

Gym and Activewear: These can be folded no problem, a lot of the material fold in modern gym-wear is stretchable and as a result is much more resilient.

T-Shirts: For the most part, these can be folded and stacked away but do bear in mind that they can some t-shirt’s can also crease quite easily.

Additional Tips When Packing Clothes

• Hats need to go in larger, spacious boxes so that they don’t get scuffed or bent.
• Heavier clothes should always go at the bottom of a box.
• Spray clothing with special repellent from moths and insects if they will be in storage for a long time.
• Don’t pack jewellery with clothing as the sharp edges may cause rips and tears.
• Make sure that clothes are clean and dry before packing to avoid the formation of mildew and bad odours.
• Use paper towels between delicate clothing for extra protection.

Need Assistance In Your Packing?

Why not use our expert team of professional packers using our removals packing service? You get many excellent advantages with this service

• Everything wrapped up safely and quickly (including your clothing)
• Professional labelling for easy unpacking
• Allows you to put your feet up while we coordinate your packing for you
• Peace of mind knowing you’ve got the pros on the job
• Take advantage of our free moving boxes