Question for those who like to pack WAY early???

[pampaul]

For those of you who like to pack your suitcases way before you're ready to leave (I'm talking like a week or more) do you pack a certain way to cut down on wrinkles?

We leave a week from Friday (22nd) and I'm ready to pack most of my stuff!!! I wanna GO!!! LOL

I took out all of the clothes that we won't be wearing before the cruise and ironed everything and hung it all up on a laundry rack that I have. So I would say 75% of the clothes that we're packing is ready to go but I'm not sure if I want to wait to pack them until the day/day before we leave or just get it over with now.

We're going with hubby's sister & her family and she told me the other day that she's all packed, they could leave today, she said.

How early do you pack? And how do you combat the wrinkles?

[deladypilot]

Im an early packer. A week or more. My work schedule is so crazy that it is possible that the day before my trip I wont have time to pack. So usually get started a week prior and then just double check it the day before.

 

The best way to keep clothes from wrinkling is to roll them. This keeps pants and shirts from having creases. There are actually a few you tube videos out there about packing luggage.

 

Best of luck and have fun

[sparky-elpaso]

I don't actually pack until the day before but I do have everything organized waaay before. Our hall closet is the cruise closet. I tend to pack our carry-ons earlier - because things like jewelry, medications, etc. don't wrinkle. :) I have a shoe organizer that's hung on the door for all those little items I don't want to forget. And I'm one of those people who makes a packing list to go by - or else I'd forget something.

[Worm61]

My suitcases stand in my bedroom all the time now with anything that can scrunch up in them ready..we have a list & do it all the night before & start from scratch with some of mine in his suitcase & some of his in mine ,with some things we roll them ...as soon as we get our suitcases in our room we have a sauna with our clothes :D

[chipq]

I learned the 'roll' packing technique when I was single (when I cared more about wrinkles). Now I take my vacation more serious and don't worry about the wrinkles. The suitcase does not get packed untill the night before but set the clothes out the week before.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[PennyAgain]

I put my 'good' clothes on a hanging rack and pack those about 24 hours ahead of time. Never the last minute.

 

I use packing cubes for underwear, sports clothing and electronics (color coded cubes) and do those in advance. I travel so much that I generally wash and repack the underwear cubes when a trip is over, so they are always ready to go into my bag.

 

Husband packs last minute and forgets things.

[cb at sea]

While I do get my clothes together, I NEVER put them in the suitcase until the night before we leave....I have them ready to go, but it only takes a sec. to stick them in the suitcase!

[aohkay]

While I do get my clothes together, I NEVER put them in the suitcase until the night before we leave....I have them ready to go, but it only takes a sec. to stick them in the suitcase!

 

Same.

[Kartgv]

We generally have lists and lay everything that gets packed out in a spare bedroom - sometimes starting about a week or more ahead of the trip. The actual packing starts 1-2 days ahead of leaving. We carefully fold or roll things and, over the years, have built up a travel wardrobe that doesn't wrinkle too much. Don't think that it makes much difference whether things are in a suitcase for 1 day or 5 days - wrinkles are wrinkles! We unpack as soon as possible on the ship and hang as much as we can to let wrinkles fall out. If necessary we send a few things out to be pressed or use the old "hang it in the bathroom while showering" trick. Downey Wrinkle Release or similar products work on some fabrics, but not all. Best tip of all - don't worry about it, no one else is going to notice or care about your wrinkles!

[Dayenu]

I am an early packer. Really, I need help :p

 

We start with pre-packing. I print a list, take a bag and toss meds, cosmetics, make-up in it marking it off.

 

We also put a "tree" rack in our large bedroom and hang clothes on it - on hangers, don't get wrinkled, easy to see for color coordination.

 

We pack the suitcase(s) 2-3 days before the trip.

[Greselda]

Hi Kartgv....we were neighbors;) We retired from Bonsall 7 years ago but come back to see the kids and grandkids all the time!

 

We also pack about 24 hours before we leave for the cruise, but have things layed out in the spare bedroom.

 

We pack in two 22" carry-on's, as we like to keep everything with us when we fly or drive.

 

We layer everything half in and half out until we have everything we need. We then simply start folding each pair of pants/capris over each shirt/blouse. We can pack enough for 14 days without doing laundry and everything comes out with very few wrinkles if any.

 

I can also include a couple of sundresses without any problems:p Here is a video that shows this method: PackingLightDotCom

[Keith1010]

For those of you who like to pack your suitcases way before you're ready to leave (I'm talking like a week or more) do you pack a certain way to cut down on wrinkles?

We leave a week from Friday (22nd) and I'm ready to pack most of my stuff!!! I wanna GO!!! LOL

I took out all of the clothes that we won't be wearing before the cruise and ironed everything and hung it all up on a laundry rack that I have. So I would say 75% of the clothes that we're packing is ready to go but I'm not sure if I want to wait to pack them until the day/day before we leave or just get it over with now.

We're going with hubby's sister & her family and she told me the other day that she's all packed, they could leave today, she said.

How early do you pack? And how do you combat the wrinkles?

 

We sometimes have had to pack three weeks in advance because we go on some very long cruises.

 

We use a good deal of dry cleaning plastic covers.

 

It really help a lot.

 

We also have suiters which are 28" bags but each has a suiter so we can hang items up and we leave that part open so everything is flat until we are ready to close up the bags the night before.

 

Keith

[cntrydncr1]

I also use the dry cleaners bags on my dress clothes.

 

When I unpack on the ship I hang everything up and spray with wrinkle spray. then they are wrinkle free when I'm ready to wear them.

[circuitrider]

I don't worry about packing until the day or two before. And like magic, most of it is already done for me by the time I get around to it :)

 

I don't like ironing, so I don't keep shirts and pants that are prone to wrinkling. And if something does end up a bit too wrinkled, I too use the old "hang it up in the bathroom while we shower" trick. Lastly...I just don't care that much. I'll wear halfway decent clothes, but if you're really bothered by some wrinkles in my clothes...sorry.

 

Years past, we would dress up for formal nights (i.e. suit/tux, dresses, even made our toddler son dress up in a suit onesie kinda thing). Had a garment bag, everything was hung up in it, when it was time to go we just folded it in half and there you go. Didn't have any big wrinkle emergencies that I can remember.

[sngleme121]

My SIL is packed a month or more before our trips...yeah she's crazy...LOL!

 

I am a late packer...hate it actually...but to combat this I make lists for everything I need or else I would forget something AND totally stress myself out.

 

My SIL usually packs things that are wrinkle free materials so she won't have to worry. She also pre packs to see how all will fit and if something will be wrinkled or not....yeah crazy I know. I would never pre pack...I don't want to do it for real...LOL!

[Kilnwood]

I also use the dry cleaners bags on my dress clothes.

 

When I unpack on the ship I hang everything up and spray with wrinkle spray. then they are wrinkle free when I'm ready to wear them.

 

BBM

 

Same here, and it always seems to work well!

[mszpolaris]

I pack about 3 days before, as I always buy things last minute. I'm pretty much a failure at the roll technique, so I pack downy wrinkle release which helps combat minor wrinkles. Works better if you hang it in the bathroom while you shower (the steam will combat wrinkles).

[pampaul]

I also use the dry cleaners bags on my dress clothes.

 

When I unpack on the ship I hang everything up and spray with wrinkle spray. then they are wrinkle free when I'm ready to wear them.

 

I usually bring the wrinkle spray and always sprayed it just before I was going to use it. Never thought of spraying it when I hung things up. Good idea.

[flamomo]

I have a very detailed packing list that I keep in my computer, and print it out about a month before I will be leaving. At about the same point, I start laying things on the bed in the guest bedroom as I think of them.

About a week before leaving, I start putting non-wrinklable items in the suitcases, such as undies, sleepwear, shoes, etc. As I launder and iron clothes, they are hung on over-the-door hooks in the "packing room".

A few days befor departure, knit tops, blouses, and shorts get folded carefully and are slid into 2 1/2 gallon Zip Lock bags, which are then "burped" to remove the air, which prevents wrinkles by not allowing things to slide around in the suitcases during travel.

Slacks, capri pants, skirts, and clothes for formal nights are not added to the suitcases till the day before I am leaving home.

I rarely have to iron anything after boarding due to packing wrinkles. As soon as I receive my luggage, I hang up the clothes that require hanging. Things in the zip lock bags go right on the closet shelves in the bags.

For me, learning to use the big Zip Lock bags has been the best trick I have gained for packing, and I use it any time I travel, not just for cruising.

[compozer]

I also have been using the ziplock bags for what seems like forever. It saved our clothes on one flight from New York. They left our luggage out on the tarmac uring a lightening storm (wouldn't let us off the plane). When we finally received the luggage, it was soaking wet but everything inside the ziplock bags were as dry as could be. It also keeps the suitcase organized. We've gone thru some customs where they aren't very careful with pulling things out.

 

We start several weeks early by putting stuff in the spare bedroom. I also have two large dresser drawers where I keep stuff we only use for traveling. Works great - use to spend days looking for something and would have to go buy it and of course we'd find it the day we were leaving. I also have lists for different travel locations and update them after we return.

Sometimes I don't iron some items and send them down to be pressed when we unpack.