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A very common travel question when packing for a trip is, "Should I roll or fold my clothing?"
Often the genesis of this question is a desire to reduce wrinkling, and mostly to maximize your space when filling up a suitcase or bag for an upcoming adventure.
So, what are the pros and cons of both methods?
From an initial birds eye view, there appears to be little advantage to rolling vs. folding in terms of additional space.
{As an FYI, these are six of our Chrysalis Cardis folded / rolled in the suitcase}
However, upon a closer inspection, you can notice a subtle space difference between the two.
Firstly, the folded is stacked higher, which means they might get squished (and thus more wrinkled) when the suitcase is closed.
Both the rolled and folded piles of Chrysalis Cardis are almost taking up the same width, but not quite. There is a slight space advantage to the rolled side.
As you can already tell, we're not huge fans of folding clothing.
When traveling, clothing tends to get super compressed, and even slightly damp from the changes in moisture when flying. It's best to pack to minimize this wrinkling, and we feeling rolling does the best job on that aspect.
However, folding is more 'stackable', and does feel more intuitive.
We fold clothing in drawers, and in our closets. At Encircled, we fold our inventory because it is easier to stack.
Just feels natural. Nothing is weirder than trying to roll t-shirts, and underwear.
Though, we should mention that certain types of clothing just fold better than roll. For our designs, which are stretch jersey, rolling is a definite must do.
However, rolling your clothing is generally preferred by most frequent fliers.
Why? Well, the aforementioned wrinkling advantage is key.
However, rolling your clothing when packing also makes it easier to stuff and store within the suitcase, therefore saving MORE space. For example, you can roll socks, and stuff them into pairs of shoes, or roll something and squeeze it into an awkward space where a folded top would not fit.
It's easier to see what you're packing also when you roll your clothes. They do look more distinct and separate. Lastly, as mentioned above, there is a slight space advantage with rolling.
So, for us at Encircled, we're fans of rolling.
Watch this fun video below for how to pack for weeks in a carry-on. They use a super-advanced traveller technique of the multi-layer roll.
Leave us a comment below. We'd love to hear your tips and tricks for traveling lighter.
With wanderlust,
Founder/CEO, Encircled (Former 100k/year traveller!) / Instagram
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All photos are copyright Encircled. Contact us for permissions/rights to re-use or repost images.
Hilary Taylor
November 16, 2019
I have just returned from three weeks in the uk. I rolled everything. I packed the rolls close together. Result, no wrinkles. I was surprised. I even had room to add items for the return. I say roll away! It worked well for me.