Guide
How to pack clothes for moving
Clothes are what gets damaged least in a move and what takes up the most space. The best way to pack them is the one that saves you work at both ends — taking them out of the closet and putting them back.
Updated October 1, 2026
What you'll need
- Large, heavy-duty trash bags, for the clothes that stay on hangers
- Whatever suitcases you have
- Medium boxes for folded clothes, and small ones for shoes
- Rubber bands or tape, to hold the hangers together in bunches
- A marker
Step by step
Set aside the clothes you'll keep out
The clothes for moving week go in a suitcase, as if you were going on a trip. Everything else can be packed days ahead.
Clothes on hangers stay on hangers
Group five to ten hangers, hold the hooks together with a rubber band and pull a large bag up over them from the bottom. Tie it closed around the hooks. In the new home, you hang them up and take the bag off.
Folded clothes go in suitcases and boxes
Folded the way they are in the drawer, by person and by type. Your suitcases are the best boxes for clothes you have in the house.
Shoes go separately
Keep each pair together, sole to sole, in small boxes. Put paper inside boots and any shoes that crush easily.
Label by person
In a house with several people, whose clothes they are is worth more than “Bedroom”. Write the box number, the name and the room.
How to pack clothes on hangers for moving
This is the part most people overcomplicate. Dresses, shirts, coats and suits don’t need to come off their hangers: they travel hanging together, inside a bag that keeps the dust off. A large, sturdy trash bag does the job.
There are also wardrobe boxes — tall boxes with a hanging rod — that do the same with more protection. They’re worth it for suits and dresses that mustn’t wrinkle; for everything else, a bag is enough.
If a dresser’s drawers are light, the clothes can stay inside: take the drawers out, cover them with plastic wrap or a cloth, and carry them as if they were boxes.
Coats, comforters and bedding
What’s bulky but light goes in the large boxes — that’s what they’re for. Comforters and pillows can go in vacuum bags, which shrink them a lot; just don’t leave them compressed longer than you need to.
Set aside one set of sheets and one towel per person. They go in the first-night box, not with the rest of the bedding.
Out-of-season clothes: when to pack them
They’re among the first things to pack, weeks ahead, and among the last to unpack — they can even stay stored in their box until the weather changes. That’s why it pays to write carefully what each box holds: “winter coats”, not “clothes”.
Clothes as padding
Towels, T-shirts and socks protect dishes and fragile pieces as well as paper does. If you use them that way, the box belongs to the kitchen, not the bedroom — and it’s worth noting that the towels are in there.
Mistakes to avoid
- Taking all your clothes off their hangers to fold them. It's double the work, and you do it twice.
- Filling big boxes with nothing but folded clothes. They weigh more than they look, and whatever is at the bottom arrives wrinkled.
- Packing shoes in with light-colored clothes.
- Sealing damp or unwashed clothes in bags. They arrive smelling musty.