What kinds of clothes are suitable to be packed in ziploc bags?

Question

I am putting my clothes into ziploc bags for moving, and then use vacuum to shrink the bags to save space.

1. I wonder what kinds of clothes are suitable to be used in ziploc bags, so that

   • space can be reduced greatly
   • the clothes will not or less suffer from wrinkles or damages due to shrinking by vacuum.

   For example, I think sweaters are suitable for ziploc bags, because space can be reduced greatly and wrinkles don't seem a problem with them. But I am not sure about

   • underwears including thermo ones
   • casual pants (jeans, khakis, chinos), casual shirts, T shirts, casual short pants (khakis, sports),
   • dress pants, dress shirts, suits,
   • winter coat (with down or fur inside), jacket, ....
2. After I arrive at destination and finish moving, should I remove the clothes from the ziploc bags for the good of the clothes, or can I keep clothes not immediately used inside the bags to save storage space?

Thanks.

Answer 1

From my experience, most clothes work fine in vacuum ziplock bags. The only ones you should avoid are clothes with heavy embellishments (especially sequins) as the sealing can damage/bend/break them. Anything else should survive the trip just fine. They will, however, come out creased.

An easy way to fix this (especially if you're moving all your clothes!) is to hang them up in the bathroom right after you unpack them, and then blast the shower/bath on hot for a few minutes. the steam will relax the fabric and reduce the creasing. Dress shirts and other stiffer fabrics may need a little more work, but this will make cotton and most synthetics presentable again very quickly.

Answer 2

In general, you can put anything you like in a ziploc vacuum bag, but in my experience, if the air is completely vacuumed out, almost everything will be creased when taken out if the items are left in that condition for any length of time. So for actually moving house, use the bags, then remove and hang up or fold away as soon as you can. Many people use the bags to store winter clothing in summer and vice versa, but with the caveat that they may need either to rewash the clothing after 6 months, or press it, although some thicker items like fur coats lose the creasing after hanging up for a few days. That's if the vacuum bags retain integrity over time, of course, because it's also been my experience that many of them don't, so when you go the cupboard where you've stored the vacuum packed spare duvets, they've pushed the door open and are making a bid for freedom. Or worse, escaped over the hatch entrance up into the loft, meaning it's next to impossible to push it open from the outside.