How to pack sweaters: Tips and tricks for your bulky clothing

Struggling to fit sweaters, coats, or boots into your carry-on? You’re not alone. But with a few smart tricks, even bulky winter gear can fit in a single bag — no checked luggage (or fees) required. Mastering smart carry-on packing tips for sweaters and other bulky clothing is essential if you want to maximize space and avoid airline fees. After all, who wants to waste vacation money on ridiculous airline fees for checking in luggage?

Can you fit everything into your 9-by-14-by-22-inch carry-on luggage? We’ve gathered the best space-saving packing hacks to help you fit more into your bag. We figured it out — and now we’ll show you how, using techniques that comply with the official TSA carry-on size restrictions.

Quick packing tips for bulky clothes

• Roll soft sweaters with thinner layers

• Wear your heaviest items on the plane

• Use compression cubes or vacuum bags

• Fill shoes with socks and toiletries

• Choose layers over a single heavy coat

Take only what you need

Consider your itinerary, the predicted weather for your destination, and the clothing you will need. Avoid packing uni-task clothing, and opt instead for those items that work for a variety of settings. Shoot for no more than three tops and three bottoms that you can mix and match, and plan on washing a load of laundry if needed. How many coats do you need? Choose just one that goes with everything. Better yet, it’s easier to pack multiple thin layers than a single heavy coat. Pare the list to bare bones, then add things back in if you still have space available.

Stack, fold, and roll

Rolling works for many items, but when you travel with bulky clothes like sweaters and coats, a more strategic approach is needed. This is especially true when you are trying to figure out how to pack sweaters, coats, and boots. Big, bulky items may fit more efficiently if they are paired and stacked with thinner or smaller items.

• Lay out a bulky sweater together with a shirt and roll them together. Other large items may fit better when folded. Sometimes you need to experiment.

   

• Bundle daily socks, underwear, and T-shirts together for space savings and grab-and-go convenience. 

   

• After rolling clothes into bundles, secure them with rubber bands.

   

• Pack the biggest items first, then work the rest around them. Put smaller things in the voids between the bulky items.

   

• Use the insides of shoes or boots to pack items like socks, underwear, and toiletries. 

Compartmentalize with packing cubes

Packing cubes — nylon zipper bags used to organize and compartmentalize the items within a suitcase — come in different sizes that can be mixed and matched for maximum packing efficiency.

• Use them to keep small items from moving around or to isolate different categories like toiletries, makeup, clothes, and underwear.
• They help decrease wrinkles and creases in clothing and can help to increase the total amount of stuff that fits in the suitcase.
• They’re also great if you need to hit the ground running because they keep all of your stuff organized for quick access. 

Compression packing cubes are a great choice for minimizing the loft of clothing. They use a two-zipper system to compress clothing, reducing the volume by half or more. 

Maximize space with vacuum bags

Vacuum bags let you remove the air from lofty clothing like formalwear or big coats until they are flat like tortillas. There are two kinds: One works with compression, and the other works with suction. Compression bags are packed flat, then roll up from the bottom, forcing the air out through a one-way valve in the top.

In the other style, the air is sucked out with a vacuum cleaner or air pump. These bags can save an immense amount of space and improve the organization of the suitcase. They’re especially useful when you need to travel with bulky clothes for cold-weather destinations or formal events. They’re also waterproof, which can be helpful.

Cons of vacuum bags

These bags may not be for all users or all packing situations, but they do increase wrinkles in certain clothing. The thin plastic bags are easily punctured or otherwise damaged. They may require a vacuum for repacking.

Wear the big stuff

Walk onto the plane wearing that big coat and boots instead of forcing them into your bag. This is one of the easiest ways to pack for winter travel without overloading your suitcase. You won’t want to wear all of your bulky clothes at once, but this method is a good way to eliminate some of the bulk from your bag.

Traveling light comes more naturally to some, but it’s an acquired skill for many more people.

• Keep your itinerary in mind, and pack only what you need.
• If you don’t use or wear something regularly at home, chances are you won’t need it when you travel.
• Reduce volume by choosing multi-wear items that you can mix and match.
• Get creative to pack efficiently.
• And when all else fails, wear it.

Checked bag hacks: How to avoid airline baggage fees

Now, even with our expert packing tips, we realize there will be times when you simply can’t avoid having to check a bag at the airport. Maybe you have things like lotions, a special sunscreen, or your favorite shampoo that can’t be in a carry-on, and you can’t live without them. If checking a bag is unavoidable, here are a few proven tips on how to avoid checked bag fees.

1. Look for airlines that don’t charge baggage fees. 
2. Use an airline-branded credit card. Many airlines waive the fee for the first checked bag for holders of their credit cards; this often extends to everyone in the traveling party, even if they do not all hold the credit card.
3. Get elite status on an airline frequent flyer program. Most airlines waive baggage fees for their elite members. And you can get this status even if you don’t travel all that much. Those airline credit cards are great ways to build up points in the frequent flyer programs to get you to elite.
4. Don’t fly basic economy. The tickets might be cheaper, but they don’t come with anything, including seat selection. Most basic economy fares don’t even include a carry-on bag, much less a checked bag. You’ll pay extra for anything larger than a backpack, and those fees can bring the cost to a point where the ticket isn’t that much cheaper at all.

Bonus tip: Ship it

This last tip is a little outside the box (pun intended), but you can always ship your luggage to your destination. Granted, this option is not for everyone, and it might not be the most cost-effective option, as the cost can range between $100 to over $200, but it can be a convenient option, especially if you’re traveling for a longer period of time and you have a lot of bulky clothes and/or sports equipment that you want to bring. Airlines generally charge heavy fees for things overweight items or sports equipment, so in that case, the shipping option might be worth it.

There are many services out there that will handle your luggage shipping needs, but if you want to cut out the middle man, UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Post Office will all ship your luggage, and sometimes, you don’t even need to put your bag into a box; some will ship the bag as-is. Before you commit to shipping your luggage, you should make sure of a few things:

1. Make sure your destination address accepts shipments.
2. How long will it take for the luggage to arrive? You don’t want to spend your vacation waiting for a package, or even worse, having it never arrive.
3. The cost. Make sure the shipping option is worth it compared to what you’ll pay in airline fees.
4. How will you get the luggage home? Chances are, if you ship your luggage to your destination, you’re going to want to ship it home. Make sure that it is possible, and even arrange for pickup in advance if you can.

With these space-saving packing hacks, you can finally travel with bulky clothes — no checked bags required.