How to fold a shirt for travel

Travelling often comes with the challenge of trying to pack as efficiently as possible to make room for everything you need, while also trying to keep your clothes wrinkle-free and ready to wear. Among the essentials in any suitcase, shirts and blouses are particularly prone to creasing and taking up more space than necessary.

Whether you’re preparing for a business trip or a holiday, knowing how to fold a shirt for travel is a skill that can save you time, space and frustration when packing. In this article, we’ll outline and compare the two best techniques for packing shirts for travel purposes to keep them looking crisp and neat throughout the journey.

How to fold a shirt for packing

Most people tend to fold their shirts when packing luggage, but that doesn’t mean they’re folding them in the most efficient way to save space and keep shirts ready to wear. Here are our recommended steps for folding a shirt.

1. Lay out your shirt

Lay your shirt front-down on a clean, smooth surface. Fasten all the buttons – this helps to maintain the shirt’s natural shape and prevent wrinkles. Use your hands to smooth out any creases so you can start the fold with the shirt as unwrinkled as possible.

2. Fold the arms diagonally

Put your index finger on the neckline of the shirt on the right-hand side of the collar. Then fold everything further right than your finger towards the centre of the shirt. The arm of the shirt should sit in a diagonal line across the back of the shirt.

Next, take that diagonal arm and fold it back on itself so that it now runs parallel to the right-hand edge of the shirt. Repeat this process with the left side of the shirt. This should create a neat, rectangular shape with the shirt sleeves forming two lines down the rectangle. It should be about the width of your shirt’s collar.

Take the bottom of the rectangle and fold it upwards to effectively fold your rectangle in half. If it’s still quite long because you’re folding a longer shirt, make two folds instead, thereby folding the shirt into thirds.

Lastly, flip your folded shirt over so that the buttons and collar fronts are facing upwards. Smooth out any last wrinkles or creases and put the folded shirt into your suitcase or luggage.

How to roll shirts for packing

Folding your shirts is certainly one way of going about things, but did you know that you can also roll your shirts? Although it might seem unorthodox, it’s actually a great way of saving space without having to deal with wrinkled shirts.

Just like when you’re folding a shirt, lay it out flat on its front with all the buttons fastened. Use a clean, dry surface and take a moment to smooth out any obvious creases.

Imagine a mirror line going down the spine of the shirt. Fold it along that line so you can see half of the front of the shirt, with the two sleeves resting flat on top of one another.

Fold the sleeves to run parallel to the body of the shirt, aligning the edge of the sleeve with the edge of the shirt. You should now have a tall, thin rectangular shape that’s just a few inches wide.

Taking the shirt and sleeves in hand, begin to roll the shirt into a tight cylinder from the bottom hem, all the way up to the collar. You should end up with a compact cylindrical bundle of shirt to pack into your luggage. It may be helpful to use an elastic band or hairband to keep the shirt rolled up.

The fold method vs the roll method

Now that you know how to fold a shirt and how to roll a shirt, which is the best method to choose? The answer is that it depends on the circumstances and what your priorities are.

If your main priority is for your shirts to be as wrinkle-free as possible when you get them out of your suitcase, then the fold method may be best for you. This method makes it easier to stack shirts in your luggage with as few creases as possible and will help to preserve the structure of parts such as the collar and cuffs.

On the other hand, if you don’t mind your shirts coming out a little wrinkled, the roll method is an excellent way to save space and ensure you maximise the amount of clothes you can bring with you. It’s also true that rolling shirts makes it easier to identify them in your luggage – you can see more shirts at once and therefore you’re less likely to have to dig through them all to find the one you’re looking for.

Which method you choose is completely up to you, but by now you should be able to either fold or roll your shirts ahead of your next business trip or holiday. Safe travels!