Want to know how to fold a suit in a carry on so that it stays wrinkle and crease free?
Traveling can be stressful enough, especially if it is a business trip where results and time count. Opening your suitcase to find a wrinkled suit can be a disaster. You may be short of time to have it ironed or the hotel may not have those facilities, either way, we need to avoid that scenario.
In this post, I will show you how to fold a suit in a carry on so that it stays wrinkle free. It really works and it is the best way of packing a suit in a suitcase.
What you will learn
The post will guide you through the process, step by step.
It is really easy so you have nothing to worry about. Follow the pictures with instructions or watch the video.
On arriving at your accommodation
Once you arrive at your destination, remove the suit from your carry on and hang it up. If there are any creases, simply hang the suit up in your bathroom and run a hot shower. The steam in the bathroom should remove any wrinkles.
You can also use the hotel iron to steam out the wrinkles. Never place a hot iron over your suit, I always recommend placing a towel over the item you are ironing and iron the towel using the steam setting.
Step by step – How to fold a suit in a carry on
Watch the video
Step 1 – Fold the jacket
Step 2 – Lay the jacket face down, then fold over one shoulder
Step 3 – Turn the other shoulder inside out
Step 4 – Fold the jacket in half length ways
Step 5 – Fold the jacket in half again from top to bottom
Step 6 – Fold the trousers length ways then place the folded suit jacket on top in the center
Step 7 – Fold the trousers over the top so they are wrapped around the jacket
Step 8 – In the suitcase, keeping the suit flat, place it carefully in your case
Step 9 – Other items like dress shirts
If you’re packing other items, lay them flat over the folded jacket and lay the ends of the trousers over the top. This helps to prevent creasing and saves space.
Why use a carry on suitcase instead of a garment bag?
Back in the day, the garment bag was king. All business people had one and it worked…it did the job. Your suit could travel in safety and come out unscathed the other end. Simply hang it up at your hotel…job done.
Efficiency is the key these days. Having a garment bag involves check in luggage. This may mean extra cost but the biggest cost is time the other end. You have to wait in baggage reclaim for it to eventually turn up…with the condition it arriving in a complete gamble.
At least with carry on luggage, you are in complete control. You bypass the annoying baggage reclaim area and head straight out of the airport…potentially an hour saved.
It therefore makes sense to carry your suit in a carry on if you have the space. If it is a short business trip, then you have the luggage space no doubt. It is worth it …especially if you can almost guarantee the condition of your suit at the other end.
Tips to reduce suit wrinkles and creases
There are a number of things you can do to reduce the wrinkles that a suit attracts. You know the story, no matter what you do…somehow the creases appear. This happens when pressure is placed on the material when it is rubbing together.
So, what can you do to limit the amount of creasing and wrinkling?
1 – Wear your suit if you can
Wearing your suit when traveling is sometimes the best solution. This will obviously save you packing it. If you prefer to keep your trousers fresh, then consider wearing your suit jacket while traveling.
2 – Select your suit carefully
If you know that a particular suit of yours is prone to creasing, then pick another one. Obviously linen suits do not handle luggage very well at all so rule them out. Selecting a more robust suit can be the difference between looking good or wrinkled.
3 – Be gentle with you packing
It really pays to do things properly and be gentle with your folds. Harsh folds will introduce wrinkles. It also pays to take your time and do it properly. It is a false economy to rush things as you will end up having to deal with the aftermath.
4 – Let it breath
As soon as you arrive at your hotel, take your suit out and hang it up. This allows the material to ‘breathe’ properly. I always hang it up in the bathroom. The reason for this is the steam helps to take out any wrinkles. If I hang it up as soon as I arrive, that means that I will have at least two showers before I put it on the next day. That means two steam sessions for the suit.
Do you have any other insider tips?
One tip that I would highly recommend involves using a bag your dry cleaning gets returned in. You can use these bags to stop the fabric rubbing against each other. It is this rubbing motion that causes the wrinkles.
By stopping that rubbing motion, you can stop the wrinkles.
Simply follow the process above when folding the jacket. Once you have folded it properly, place the suit jacket inside the dry-cleaning bag. You then proceed as normal folding the jacket using the trouser legs.
If you have another dry-cleaning bag spare, you can place this over the shirt too. This will also help stop the shirt creasing.
What do I do with my shirts, belts and tie’s?
If you follow the process above, you are placing the shirt on the suit jacket, then wrapping the trouser legs over this.
If you have more than one shirt, I would recommend that you place at least a couple of shirts using this method. Any other method will not protect them as well as this method.
If you have more dress shirts, place the on top of your other items in your luggage…the last items. I would highly recommend that you place a dry cleaning bag over them. They do a great job in stopping wrinkles.
For your tie’s, I would recommend that you roll them up in your luggage. This prevents creases forming in a tie which can ruin it…and they are very difficult to remove too. Prevention is always better here.
For belts, the best way is not to fold them into your luggage. The best way is to lay them around the inside of the carry on suitcase. This stops it from bending and ruining the shape. If you bend them, you are stretching the leather which will damage it. For canvas belts, this is not really relevant.
Related article
How to pack a suit in a backpack like a pro
Best way to pack a suitcase to maximize space
What about my dress shoes?
Your shoes should always be placed first in your luggage. They should be placed toe to heel thus optimizing space. You should always look to use the space inside the shoe as extra space as otherwise it is wasted space. Use the space around the shoes to fill the gaps using socks and underwear.
I would always recommend that you place each shoe in a plastic bag. This keeps the rest of your luggage from smelling and getting dirty.
Verdict
Traveling with a suit need not be the headache that it once was and i have shown you how to fold a suit in a carry on…the right way.
Those in the know have been using this method for decades. They religiously apply this method to minimize the wrinkles on their suits.
Remember, it is worth taking your time to do this properly. It is a false economy to rush this process…you will spend way more time dealing with the aftermath the next day. Something you may not have the time to deal with.
This method applies whether you are using carry on or check in luggage, back packs, duffel and holdall bags. In fact, if you need to transport a suit, this is one of the safest ways to do so short of hanging it up.
If you are an experienced traveler, what method do you use? What results have you had and do you have any tips you would like to share? Leave a comment below.
If you have a moment, we would really appreciate it if you could share this content on your social media. It really means a lot to us and it helps us to help YOU by writing more great content…thank you, we really mean it 😊