How To Pack Clothes For Moving: The Core Guide

Introduction to Moving

Planning for an upcoming move? Dreading the process of packing your closet? If so, you're not alone. Packing your clothes for a move usually takes the longest of all your belongings because there are so many individual pieces, especially if you're a neat freak. The effort to go through your closet, purge, do laundry, bag, and box everything left over can be daunting. However, a few tips will make packing your wardrobe quick and painless!

Choosing the Right Boxes and Supplies

Having the right supplies makes packing clothes easy. To estimate what you'll need, measure the closet width in feet and divide by two (e.g., an 8-foot-wide closet would equate to roughly four boxes required). The need is also dependent on the number of clothes in that closet. If you're planning on using wardrobe boxes, a general rule is one wardrobe box for each 2 feet of closet railing.

While trying to figure out how much the supplies will cost and how much you need may vary, there are calculators available to help you determine needs and costs for items such as:

• Wardrobe Boxes for the "must-hang" suits and outfits

• Small/Medium Size Boxes for folded shirts, pants, shoes, socks, and undergarments

• Plastic Bins for storing out-of-season apparel and shoes

• Vacuum bags for storing bulky coats, sweaters, robes, and fleece

• Storage bags for jewelry and accessories

• Trash Bags for donations, and if you're in a time crunch

• Packing Tape for constructing and sealing both boxes and bins for transport

• Labels/Markers for ease of staging, moving, and unpacking at your new place

TOP TIP: Use a calculator and estimate your needs up front to save time on trips to Walmart or home improvement stores for boxes.

Packing Strategies

Any plan of attack for packing clothes requires planning and time. Rushing to complete a pack typically results in poorly labeled boxes, missing items, and wrinkles.

Plan and Start Early

Calculating your supply needs, buying and gathering those supplies, and getting a quick start on your closet are paramount to a successful closet pack. The following tips will lead to less stress during moving time.

Purge Your Closet

The first thing you should do is get rid of all the clothing that you can. If you haven't worn it in over a year, take a hint from Frozen and let it go! Donate or sell everything. Unused clothes will take up too much space, both on the truck and in your new place.

Go through and look for all the time, seldom-used, sentimental value items. Create piles for the following:

• Keep—These clothes still fit, are used all the time, and/or have sentimental value, so keep and pack them.

• Sell Shoes, tops, bottoms, and accessories that have never been used, don't fit, and are still trendy. Suppose you have time, list on FB Marketplace, Poshmark, or other consignment shops. Another way is to make your clothes part of a larger moving sale.

• Donate—Find any pants, tops, shoes, bags, or other accessories that are never worn and/or out of style and donate them to local charities. Use large garbage bags to haul them off. Donating old clothes helps the community and gives you a nice tax write-off.

Do Laundry Before Packing

Don't pack dirty clothes, as most charities will not accept soiled items. If you're currently in an apartment, make time to hit the laundry facilities before packing so you have as many clean clothes packed as possible before your move. Soiled clothes, such as painting shirts that can't be cleaned or saved, should just be tossed.

Suppose you mix dirty clothes with clean clothes. In that case, you'll spend additional time at your new place, not only figuring out what's clean or not, but you'll make the clean stuff smell bad. It's just easier to wash everything up front.

Organize Clothes By Season and Type

Once you have purged your closet and gathered all of the clean clothes, it's time to start packing them by season. What gets packed first will determine when you move, so organize by spring/summer/fall/winter. You should also pay attention to organizing by type (shoes, formal, everyday wear) and pack lesser-used types with the out-of-season clothes.

Start By Packing Offseason Clothes First

• Start at least 3 weeks before your move date and begin packing clothes out of season.

• Use Vacuum bags to squeeze air out of bulky items like parkas, coats, heavy sweaters, and sweatshirts. This will take up less space to pack and protect.

• Use plastic bins for storing out-of-season clothing, and label each bin according to its use.

• Use wardrobe boxes to hang clothes such as formal wear and store dress shoes as a bottom layer. Do so with what you know you will not need before moving day.

• Label each box, plastic bin, or packing cube with its seasonal clothes.

• Even clean clothes can pick up musty odors during a move. To combat this, place dryer sheets in your bins and wardrobe boxes.

• Perform the same exercise for jewelry and accessories that you will not need before moving. Pack those items into a bag and place them in a suitcase that will stay with you during your move.

Packing Clothes for the Move

Once you've gone through the out-of-season clothes and packed those, it's time to pack your everyday apparel items. Depending on how close your move date is, you'll want to make sure that you set aside your suitcases for the t-shirts, underwear, socks, and work clothes you'll need up until your move. Keep those items in the closet with your suitcase close by. Now you're ready for the bulk of the pack.

Even though it's tedious, do yourself a favor and fold the remaining clothes neatly. Throwing all of your clothes into trash bags may seem appealing. Still, you'll save space, keep your clothing protected through moving, and cut down on wrinkles by doing things the right way. In addition, if you're hiring movers, many will not take giant bags of loose clothes because they don't stack well and can be damaged. So take time, pack clothes neatly following the tips below:

• Use wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes. This will prevent wrinkles and save money on having suits and formal wear professionally cleaned and pressed.

• Use a military roll for folding lighter t-shirts to save space and get greater use from each box.

• Fold jeans, sweatpants, and sweaters neatly. Since most of these articles of clothing are heavier, place them at the bottom of boxes for stability. Don't overload.

• Use vacuum bags for bulky items to save space. These bags work well on bedding, too. They can be found on Amazon.com or Home Depot. Here is a comparison of the best bags.

• Pack heavy items like shoes and jeans at the bottom of boxes, using medium boxes to prevent overloading. Then, pack lighter items like T-shirts and underwear on top.

• Label each box by type of clothes, season, and which bedroom it goes to.

• Use suitcases for needed clothes before, during, and right after your move. Then, on moving day, carry this suitcase with you in your car.

Tips for Efficient Packing and Unpacking

Saving Space

• Military rolls will squeeze air out of shirts and underwear, creating more space.

• Use suitcases to pack clothes, saving boxes and transporting full cases versus empty.

• Stuff your shoes with socks to prevent them from crushing down, as well as saving space. When you unpack, toss the socks back in a drawer.

• Place shoes at the bottom of wardrobe boxes to use space effectively, or store them in plastic bins. Shoes are heavy, and plastic bins hold up to weight better than moving boxes.

Packing and Unpacking

• Leave hanging clothes on their hangers and place them in plastic bins. Doing so will make unpacking quick and easy.

• Garment boxes are a little more expensive, but hanging clothes can be packed and unpacked quicker using them.

• Pack all smaller items and jewelry separately, using storage bags to group and organize them. Keep them with you in suitcases, as doing so will prevent loss and possible damage.

• Labeling each box correctly will make staging them at your new place close to their new space quick and easy.

Packing Clothes in a Hurry

If you're one of the many people who procrastinate, are on a tight budget, or are moving at the last minute, you may have to shortcut the process for packing clothes. Some tips to speed up your process:

Hanging clothes

• Leave hanging clothes on their hangers and place them in plastic bins. Doing so will make unpacking quick and easy

• Use garment boxes for the most essential clothes that have to hang, and box the rest

Other Short Cuts

• Donate anything and everything unwanted. It's quicker than trying to sell, and it only requires garbage bags to transport.

• Speaking of garbage bags, you can always put all of your clothes in them and transport that way. You'll pay for the trade of time with wrinkled clothes, but it's quick. Pull everything off of hangers, box the hangers, and bag the clothes.

• Use luggage to move clothes, saving space in boxes for other things.

• WORD OF CAUTION: Many, if not most, movers will not transport bags of clothes, as bags do not stack well like boxes. You may be better off transporting the bags in your own vehicle.

For other tips on how to move quickly, check out our article on how to move in 2 weeks.

Hiring Professional Packers

The ultimate hack for packing a closet full of clothes is to hire a professional packing crew. Most movers either have dedicated packing crews or are trained to properly pack clothes and other items for moving. In essence, you trade:

• Time for money. Packing crews do the job for a living, so their skill and ability to pack clothes for you are far greater and quicker than you possess, but you pay for the service. Whether or not the packers are doing the whole house or just particular rooms varies, but typically averages 3 to 5 hours to pack skillfully and label boxes.

• Headache for relaxation. These crews cannot only pack everything for you but also bring the supplies with them. If they pack for you, they can also unpack for you, and based on knowing where items were packed from, they can unpack them in even less time.

If you want to learn more about saving time and effort, check out our packing services page or call your 3 Men Movers office.

In Conclusion

Packing your clothes for a move doesn't need to cause stress and heartache. Just be sure to purge your closet before you begin packing, start the process three weeks out with your off-season clothes, use wardrobe boxes, pack your clothes neatly and carefully, and label them for easy staging at your new location.