We all know someone who has mastered the art of packing clothes. They seem to fit a month’s worth of outfits in a suitcase, while most of us are wrestling with zippers as we try to stuff enough to wear for a week into the same size bag. Packing your clothes for a holiday can be hard enough, but what if you’re going for the whole summer or a school year? What if you are relocating? That’s when you really need some good tips about international shipping for clothing.
How to Ship Clothing
The first thing to know about packing clothing is that how you pack an item depends on the material it’s made of and how bulky it is. Is it better to roll or fold your clothes? It depends. It’s better to roll t-shirts, trousers and leggings, but a bulky jumper won’t roll up neatly. Rolling clothes tightly reduces wrinkling, which is another bonus.
International shipping for clothes isn’t the same as packing a suitcase for a holiday. But using your suitcases for shipping clothes overseas makes sense. It saves you the cost of buying boxes, and it is always best for the environment to use what you already have. If you have a lot of delicate or bulky items, you might consider a garment box. This is basically a very lightweight, portable wardrobe. You hang your clothing on a rail and seal it shut. It does take up a lot of space, so it doesn’t make sense for most clothing. If you only have a couple of items that need extra protection, you can use garment bags for them.
Vacuum seal clothing bags are a great option for saving space, especially for bulky clothing such as coats and jumpers. You can also stuff socks into your shoes to save a bit more space.
Shipping Clothes Overseas
When you are using personal shipping for a combination of clothing and other household items, you can be strategic about how you pack your boxes. Most of the standard clothes packing tips apply, but you can use a few other tricks too.
For example, you can put a vacuum-sealed plastic bag of clothes on the bottom of a box, then add carefully wrapped fragile items and top it with more clothes. Just be sure to protect clothing being packed in the same box as other items that could snag, stain or otherwise damage the fabric.
