I've probably asked myself this question every time I've traveled: Is it better to fold or roll clothes when packing? First off, we all know how important attire is when traveling, so making sure my clothes are pristine, wrinkle-free, and can fit into one piece of luggage is a must before boarding a plane or getting in a car.
But what is, in fact, better? This is the question we all want answered. Personally, I tend to fold my clothes whenever I pack. I'm pretty much set on making sure that my clothes are stacked and in order. It just seems logical to me at least. I mean, I don't roll my clothes when they're organized in my closet, so why would I roll them in my luggage? That's when I realized that rolling might actually save me some space.
It all occurred to me when I went traveling with a friend and I complained that I wasn't able to fit more of my shoes into my luggage. She glanced at my pile and noticed that I had folded all of my clothes and said, "Well, duh, you're supposed to roll your clothes."
Now that summer is in full force, road trips and beach vacations are inevitably going to occur. This time, I'm going to get to the bottom of this question and experiment with both folding and rolling my clothes in an attempt to settle this debate once and for all.
Folding
Folding, as you can see, just looks better and makes it easy to identify where your solids and patterns are. What's more, if you fold your clothes thin enough, you should be able to stack them up pretty high.
Rolling
If it isn't already obvious, rolling your clothes takes the cake when your main concern is space. If you want to pack more clothes and leave room for an extra pair of heels, you might want to consider rolling your clothes. Also, the wrinkles aren't as bad as I expected.
Conclusion
In the end, I've come to find that both ways work, but if you're really looking to save some space, rolling your clothes is the way to go. Personally, I prefer folding my clothes based on the fact that my items just look better to me. I'm pretty obsessive over the way my clothes are organized, so I'll only use the rolling technique if I really need to pack a lot of stuff in a smaller bag.
So basically, rolling your clothes is better for space and efficiency, while folding clothes is better for organization and looks. All in all, It really depends on you! In the end, just make sure you're able to fit in your favorite pair of jeans and shoes. That's really all that matters, right?
Images: @kristensellers/Instagram; Author's Own
