Last Updated on September 10, 2022
Key Takeaways
- Rolling clothes can save space because the force of friction prevents rolled and compressed clothes from returning to their original size
- The amount of space saved by rolling clothes depends on the fabric. For some types of clothing the effect is negligible
- It’s not always worthwhile rolling every item of clothing
- The most efficient way to pack luggage involves selectively rolling clothes, folding clothes, and using packing cubes to aggressively compress clothing where wrinkles are less of a concern
- Whether you use the rolling method or folding method you will save the most space by not packing unnecessary items of clothing in your bag in the first place
The volume of space that any fabric clothing takes up is determined by two things.
First, there is the actually stuff that the clothing is made from. The atoms and molecules that make up the fabric.
Second, the way fabric is woven means that air pockets exist between the threads and fibers.
When we are packing a bag we want to pack more clothes and less air, but we also want to do that while keeping wrinkles to a minimum.
Folding clothes does little to reduce the space that clothes occupy. Rolling your clothes can help you to maximize space in your luggage, but it’s not always the best way to pack a bag.
It’s All About Compression
If you apply a force to an item of clothing via compression, the air is forced out meaning that the item takes up less space. When you stop applying that force the clothing re-inflates and returns to its previous size.
Some items of clothing like a wooly sweater have a lot of air and can potentially can be compressed to a much smaller space.
Other items of clothing with a tightly woven thread don’t have so much air inside the fabric and can’t be made much smaller.
The Rolling Method
Rolling clothes is one method to compress clothing that expels air from the fabric thus saving space.
The force that keeps clothes compressed when you roll clothes for packing is friction. The friction of a tightly rolled item of clothing, fabric against fabric, stops the motion of it unfurling and resuming a larger volume.
Rolling clothes can also reduce wrinkles because there are no folds that can become creases.
How much space can be saved depends on the fabric that the clothing is made from. A tight roll prevents the fabric from expanding back to its natural size and shape. You can also use a rubber band to stop clothes from unrolling and apply additional compression.
Of course, if you pack a suitcase with folded clothes you can apply compression to the clothes when you close the lid and zip up the suitcase.
When you do this you are attempting to compress all the air out of all your clothes at the same time. It is inefficient and cumbersome.
If you’ve ever had to sit on a suitcase to squash it down so it can be closed you’ll know it’s not easy. You are trying to apply a force to compress the all the clothes simultaneously, at the same time all the uncompressed clothes are pushing back making it difficult to zip the luggage closed.
Using only the folding method you cannot choose which items of clothing are squashed.
If you compress folded clothes by sitting on the luggage and closing the zip you will end up with wrinkles and creases in your clothes where the folds where.
It’s much smarter to compress your clothing one item at a time rather than compress your entire suitcase full of clothes all at once. Rolling clothes one item at a time applies a little compression piecemeal, step by step, instead of all at once. This is why rolling clothes can save space.
Rolling certain items of clothing allows you to apply selective compression. You choose when and how much to squash something rather than squashing the entire bag when closing it.
This video provides excellent examples of how to rolling clothes to save space with in combination with folding techniques to prevent the roll from unfurling:
The Best Way To Pack To Save Space
Rolling clothes takes time and is not always worth the effort.
The best way to pack a suitcase uses a mixture of compression packing techniques and other methods.
The most efficient way to pack your luggage is not just a simple choice of roll or fold.
Fold clothes that will not be much smaller if compressed. If rolling up a particular item of clothing will not reduce its size significantly there is little point in doing it.
Where wrinkles are not a concern use stuff sacks, compression sacks, or packing cubes.
Compression sacks are a great way to pack underwear and socks in a compact way that takes up less space. Rolling up socks is not the best use of your time!
Packing Cubes help a lot with organization. Compression packing cubes can squash down clothes so they take up less room.
It is compression that causes wrinkles in clothing. Selective compression using packing cubes is better than compressing all you clothing.
Aggressively compress clothing where you don’t need to avoid wrinkles. Don’t compress clothing that you want to keep wrinkle free.
For the return journey dirty clothes can be packed in packing cubes or stuff sacks since you no longer need to prevent wrinkles. This can help to make room for souvenirs.
The Best Way To Save Space In Your Luggage
The best way to save luggage space is to critically examine your packing list. Packing light is better than packing heavy but compressed.
Many people pack more clothes that they actually need for their trip.
Choosing lightweight quick drying clothing like merino wool will mean you need to pack fewer clothes.
I always pack merino wool t-shirts. They are lightweight and wrinkles fall out easily. I can wash them easily in a hotel room sink and they will be dry in the morning. This means I don’t need to pack as many items of clothing.
There are many competing packing methods like rolling clothes, folding clothes, or the bundle method.
Traveling light and packing light is ultimately the best way to save luggage space and much more effective that any compression packing method.