Packing clothes for your family vacation is always a struggle. How do you fit everything? What if the weather decides to act up? And what will you do when your toddler drops ice cream on his favorite shirt and you don’t have a backup?
We’ve pulled together a list of our favorite clothing hacks that will make your life easier before, during, and after your next family vacation.
Roll Your Clothes
Folding your clothes and then shoving them into a suitcase is bound to leave wrinkles. Folded clothes also take up more space, leaving lots of air between the layers.
That’s why seasoned family travel pros have switched to rolling their clothes! Rolling your clothes tightly eliminates the possibility of fold lines, and squeezes out the excess air, helping you maximize suitcase space.
As a bonus – kids think this is WAY more fun than regular folding.
Pack by Outfit
While anyone can use this hack, it’s especially useful when packing clothes for your kids.
Packing by outfit means that instead of having separate stacks of shirts, pants, and other items, you pre-plan each outfit and pack them together! Simply lay out the complete outfit, including the top, bottom, underwear, and even socks, place them on top of each other, then use the roll method.
This removes the work of outfit planning every day on your vacation – simply pull out an outfit roll and you’re good to go.
Use Packing Cubes to Stay Organized
Your suitcase might START as the world’s most organized collection, but after a day or two of digging through it and pulling things out, it may end up a messy heap of clothes.
Packing Cubes help break your items into different categories and keep them that way. Whether you pack by item type, by outfit, or just break off toiletries and pajamas into their own cubes, every little bit will help your family stay organized on vacation.
Combine the Kids into 1 suitcase
Not every kid needs their own suitcase. Utilizing the packing cubes mentioned in the previous hack and the space saving roll technique, you can aim to reduce space in your trunk or the cost of checking bags at the airport.
Crosspack
Crosspacking may save you a lot of heartache if an airline loses your luggage.
The hack is simple – make sure that you have 1 outfit in a suitcase other than your own. That way, if your bag goes missing, but your spouse’s bag makes it to your destination, you’ve built in a cushion with an extra day of clothes until the issue is resolved.
If you’re bringing an extra carry-on or backpack on the plane with you instead of checking it, you can also choose to crosspack a backup outfit into that as well.
Bring a Dirty Clothes Bag
This often overlooked bag is the key to still having a fresh smelling suitcase throughout your family vacation.
Kean’s provides free VIP bags that you can easily stuff into your suitcase. As clothes get dirty, throw them in, keeping them from dirtying up anything else.Then, at the end of your trip, you have all of your dirty laundry in one convenient place, already bagged up and ready to be dealt with.
Use a Wash and Fold Service
Everyone knows the worst part of a family vacation is coming back to reality. The fun is over, and now you have to play catch up on life – and the laundry!
That’s why our favorite travel hack is using a Wash and Fold service after your trip. Instead of spending a day washing seemingly every t-shirt and pair of underwear that your family owns, outsource! And as a bonus – it’s surprisingly budget friendly.
How Does Wash and Fold Work?
It’s exactly what it sounds like – pay someone else to wash and fold your clothes! At Kean’s, we charge a flat fee, regardless of how dirty your clothes are. So you won’t pay extra for us to clean the shirt that your toddler splashed through the mud in.
We start by sorting everything by material and color, making sure that everything is washed at the right temperatures and with the proper detergents.
Your clothes are always washed on their own – never mixed with other customers.
Once your clothes are clean and back in pristine condition, our team folds them, and they’re ready for pickup or delivery!
Trust Kean’s to Make Travel Easier
Let our dedicated Wash & Fold team be the key to your next stress-free family vacation. Contact us today to pick up a complimentary dirty clothes bag!
