I love packing cubes. For me, it makes packing/unpacking easier and I can definitely fit a lot more in my suitcase. I am a huge overpacker, so it's helpful!

I pack different types of clothing in each cube - dressy/dinner outfits in one, casual/day in another, bathing suits and cover ups in one, undergarments in another.

For clothing I don't hang when I get there, I open and put the packing cubes right in the drawer. Makes packing to leave so much easier.

I put dirty clothes in a laundry bag.

If I can wear something again, I just put it back in the cube in the drawer.

I love my packing “folders” and basically use them the way jsk does.

I take a smaller cube for laundry, and as it fills up I can substitute one of the bigger cubes that’s been emptied. I do a cube for all tops and one for bottoms, one for sweaters and one for pjs and undergarments. Hair care (hot air brush, com, brush, clips for sectioning and smoothing product) is now in a heat resistant mat that rolls up and snaps into a long triangular shape. They used to be in a cylindrical packing cube but this is better and I use the cylinder for socks and hoisery. Scarves are separate.

JSK….you have mail.

Having just come back from a 3.5wk trip, I still don't see the need. I travel with two suitcases and a large totebag. The totebag ("my personal item") has a purse in it, and that purse sometimes has a small clutch nested in it if I plan to go anywhere dressy. I wear a blazer and a raincoat.

I had a stack of pants, a stack of tops, a stack of sweaters and 3 shoe bags. Everything else is organized in the various zipper compartments in the luggage. When we get to the hotel, I take out the stacks and shoe bags, but I keep the other stuff in the luggage, on luggage racks.

If we are in an Airbnb, I do laundry every day--if not, I send it out. I generally come home with all clean clothes. If not, I have a travel laundry bag, I fold dirty laundry so it does not take up too much room.

The packing cubes have so many supporters here, but I don't see what it would get me.

I love my packing cubes, and without my saying anything, after some time of kidding me about them,mDH simply observed my method, and now he uses them, too. I haven’t paid attention to how he uses them throughout a trip, though.

I do a variety. If I have a special occasion, I will pack those items in a cube. Then others are by type: dainties and hosiery, tops, bottoms, sleep. My hair stuff actually just goes in a plastic grocery bag, in the zippered part of the suitcase lid. Shoes, in flannel shoe bags (I have a bunch from my parents’ closets, they have so many uses!)

If I am staying somewhere for a few days, I just put the cubes in the drawer (and of course hang up anything that should be hung or de-wrinkled). If I’m there for just a night, the cubes stay in the bag. This makes it so easy if it’s a ”traveling trip”.

If something won’t be worn again, well, it depends. I judge whether it needs to go in the ”laundry bag”, or maybe hung up in fresh air and back into the cube later.

When I go home, I’m usually out of clean clothes, and I will repack the cubes from the laundry bag. When I get home, it is so easy to do laundry!

JSK….you have mail.

Hi @Kswl, can you send again please. I had an old defunct email setup here. I just updated to current email. Thank you!

I frequently use packing or sometimes compression cubes. I’ve tried packing cubes a couple of different ways and would say it depends on your trip and your preferences.

For a long car trip out west, i packed 2 small bags. One was for the first several days mostly on the road and the other was for later when we were at our destinations. I packed the cubes with a daily change of clothing, including underwear. Same with the second bag. I also had a couple of cubes that included our hiking clothes. Another cube had the rest of my underwear and socks. We had our hiking boots and socks in a separate bag in the truck that stayed there until needed. When we stopped jist for an overnight stay all I needed to take inside was the one bag and my personal bag with my ipad, chargers, etc that weren’t in the carry-on size bag.

When I ran out of the clothing in those cubes, I just switched them with the clean clothes in the second bag. We did laundry when possible and it all worked out. Normally I will just put shirta in one, pants in another and fill them up. Underwear almost always goes in a separate cube except as noted previously when I put outfits together. I always have a medium size laundry bag (about twice the size of a shoe bag).

For our trip to Italy I only took a couple of cubes. One held underwear and the other was for specific undergrments and items for the pre-wedding party. i had one compression bag i used for some rolled tshirts. You have to be careful with careful with compression bags as they can add weight quickly. The rest was either folded or ranger-rolled (t-shirts mostly and some pants). I think it really saved some space. DD and I shared one checked bag and we both had rain jackets we rolled tightly and fastened with wide bands. They never left the bag. we purposely left room inside for things we bought but shipped stuff home too.

Maybe I’ll have my husband use them as the test case. 😆

I could imagine packing a daily outfit but 1) I don’t have that many cubes, and 2) I mix and match and rewear things so it hardly seems worthwhile to pack that way.

I might be too old a dog to learn this new packing trick. I usually keep everything in my suitcase, except items that really need to hang, like stacked with like, and work out of that.

Thanks for explaining your uses.

I like packing cubes. They keep me organized. I rarely pack pants in them, however. I can pack pants with fewer folds if I just interleave them in the suitcase.

I never roll clothes. I know a lot of people love it, but I’ve never been able to do it without wrinkling things horribly. I’d rather have straight fold lines on my tops, than random wrinkles.

I’ve just bought a New Year’s Eve cruise (12 days in the Caribbean). Going with friends who do this every year. They take cocktail attire for NYE. I’m currently auditioning dresses. Auditioning = folding them up and putting them in a packing cube to see how wrinkled they are after a couple of days in a suitcase. I think the heavy lace from Tuckernuck is going to win. The lace covers a world of sin.

I'm another who does not use packing cubes. We usually take either one large suitcase, a small make-up/toiletry bag and a hanging bag. For an extended trip we add a smaller suitcase. I do roll some items, such as undies, nighties, tees, etc. For us, it does make better use of the space. I've not had a problem with wrinkling, but I do have a travel steamer, if needed. I prefer to leave our clothing in the suitcase and hang certain items. We use a travel laundry bag. This method works well for us.

Auditioning = folding them up and putting them in a packing cube to see how wrinkled they are after a couple of days in a suitcase. LOL good idea!

I think the heavy lace from Tuckernuck is going to win

Oh I love that one! : )

I mix and match and rewear things so it hardly seems worthwhile to pack that way.

This. I never know what I will end up wearing a lot or not at all. I didn't plan on bike rides, but we did three. So that meant pants, but ones that cannot get caught in chains, and a top that covers me when I am leaning forward on a bike. Then there is the question of temperature and conditions.

Most of my packing cubes have mesh tops. On a smallish sheet of paper, I list the contents of each cube then put it where I can read through the mesh. I try to put like with like but that doesn’t always work.

The packing cube I like best is a small rectangle from Ikea (discontinued, of course). In it I can pack one of my Eileen Fisher jersey dresses, a change of undies, a couple of scarves, and a couple of changes of jewelry plus a pair of flat sandals. It is packed to the gills! It goes in my personal item (usually my backpack) when I am checking a bag. If my bag were to go astray, between that little packing cube and my travel outfit, I could get by for a couple of weeks …wouldn’t really want to, but I could.

I have a change of clothes in my "personal item" tote bag.

Your comment reminds me of this story. One March, we did a cruise with my ILs. I made many packing suggestions because they didn’t travel much.

One suggestion was to keep a change of clothes easily accessible, so, like you mentioned, they wouldn’t have to disturb their big suitcase for the one night in a hotel. Neither did that, and they had to just about repack in the morning. I guess they didn’t even think to keep the one night of clothes at the very least on the top of their suitcases.

I also reminded them that the ship’s air con might be cold, even though the weather in the Caribbean would be warmer than what we were experiencing. Neither brought a jacket or sweater beyond the winter coat they had worn on the plane. And they were cold in the dining room twice a day. Huh, who could have predicted that?!

“The lace covers a world of sin.”

I am not touching that one 😎

I have a change of clothes in my "personal item" tote bag.

Always if I’m checking bags. Sometimes I just put them in a ziplock bag.

I mix and match and rewear things so it hardly seems worthwhile to pack that way.

This is why i didn’t bother with cubes when we went to Italy. We never knew what the weather might be or exactly what we might be doing all day. But a point for using cubes for underwear is luggage inspections if you’re checking bags. I can’t stand the thought of my undies being pawed by someone or worse, spilling out everywhwre.

I can’t stand the thought of my undies being pawed by someone or worse, spilling out everywhwre.

But doesn't almost all luggage have a zippered section for that? Moreover, have you ever had that -- I have never had my checked baggage inspected.

Another reason I like my cubes is, it looks nice. When i open my suitcase, I’m not confronted by a jarring assortment of colors and shapes, which makes me feel a bit discombobulated. So, in the same way we might use baskets or bins in a closet or pantry, I use cubes for my suitcase. It looks tidy and is organized.

I also use a collapsible box designed for a dog bowl, to corral all my little stuff in my hotel room or guest room. Chargers, daily jewelry, key card, lanyard if an event, phone and glasses overnight.

I just like containers!

I was at a gift shop the other day and saw this cute little travel tray. I was awfully tempted to buy it. They had several different colors. I may go back and get it.

Annie Selke has (or had) pillows in that pattern, always liked it. I have a few of those trays I bought in Beijing, but I do not travel with them.

Another reason I like my cubes is, it looks nice. When i open my suitcase, I’m not confronted by a jarring assortment of colors and shapes

Too funny, GMTA! I also like my luggage to look nice when I open it. My cleaning lady folds everything because she can make it look perfect, and usually, given my color preferences, it all "goes." But I also chose my luggage in part because of the pretty yet neutral lining. They have some pretty floral linings, and I think a red-striped, but I went with this:

It took me a few trips to fine-tune the way I use packing cubes, but the results were so good that I now sound like an infomercial when anyone asks me about them. I know it sounds wacky, but cubes transformed the way I travel because I now only bring one rollaboard and one personal item, and pack for any trip as if it's only one week. I do sink laundry of "delicates" which is well worth the amazing increase in mobility and time conservation that one-bag travel creates.

The key, for me, is having exactly the right cubes, their weight, size, shape, color, zipper configuration (i.e. waterproof or not, compressible or not). Since weight is paramount, I prefer the ultralight nylon compressible cubes, and suggest a variety of small and medium sizes and shapes, a few with the special rubber waterproof zippers. Also, for me, a mix of colors is useful so I can just grab exactly what I want from the bag with little disturbance to anything else.

Your needs will differ, but I find that some cube-colors like red, blue, yellow, orange, gray, black and white, lend themselves to consistent content from trip to trip. Easy example is the small red for first-aid and OTC meds cube, blue for the bath, orange for power banks and cables. It was the cubes that helped me adopt the rolling method for clothing, (it takes practice like anything new), and rolling further improves access to individual items without touching anything else.

One more tip, since adopting cubes, I've rewritten my packing list so that I pack by cube and color. All together it's so consistent and simplified that I save time and energy packing, and use the extra time to practice the destination language(s). Be forewarned that cubes may also transform your travel wardrobe over time, I always check weight and "rollability" when I'm buying new clothes these days.

Easy example is the small red for first-aid and OTC meds cube, blue for the bath, orange for power banks and cables.

I have those three categoris always packed, each in its own container, but not in cubes. Tortoise for toiletries, a small black leather onboard amenity kit that I now use for first-aid, and a drawstring pouch for chargers, cables and adapters. I fly at least 2x a month so it's ready without me having to think about it.

Reminds me, I don't like how the quart size ziplocs get ratty, and/or tear. I find more variety than ever in re security checkpoints, not just by country or airport, but by terminal (shoes off or on, liquids in or out, laptops in or out, etc etc). Within the same airport, some have new scanners that allow you to leave everything in , and some do not.

In any event, I have been in places where they want you to have your 3-1-1 carry on liquids in a clear bag, and in that case they often supply them, But what a pain. I bought one of these for my carryon toiletries intead of a ziploc. Works just as well.

PS, BTW, @hhireno and @anniedeighnaugh, where are you going?

OK, I am a terrible packer....terrible. and I'm about to go on a 2 week trip. I'm thinking these cubes may help me to be better organized. Any suggestions for specific sizes, brands, etc? Thank you for this timely topic!

If I am flying with carryon, I have a clear plastic cube-pouch on top in my tote with all my liquids or my toiletries.

My toiletry bag itself is translucent green, but I use the long, clear, zipper pouches we get at the dentist (comes with, of course toothbrush, travel toothpaste, and floss.). They are like pencil pouches. Kind of like the packing cubes, they keep my makeup, skin care, meds, first aid, mani, feminine, organized, so much easier to find and easy to fit.

Jmcknc, mine are a combination of brands-some Eagle Creek, some IKEA (discontinued), some Sharper Image. DD has Away luggage and they sell packing cubes specifically for their luggage. However, DD bought AMZ Basics and is perfectly happy with them. In addition to the “cubes” (which is a misnomer), I also have the envelope shaped “folders” like Irish pictured above. I like those for button up shirts. Eagle Creek makes good ones but the plastic lining disintegrates over time and will they have a “lifetime warranty “, Eagle Creek says that is normal and will not honor the warranty. 🤬
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Wirecutter on packing cubes. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/rei-coop-expandable-packing-cube-set-review/?campaign_id=290&emc=edit_wcd_20240731&instance_id=130325&nl=the-recommendation&regi_id=36708574&segment_id=173737&te=1&user_id=6afa3e1363ecab9802a9efc31651449f

Thank you for the link and info. I'm off to buy some cubes!

I have Eagle Creek, rip-stop nylon and an expansion zipper. I can pack it with the expansion open, and then zip that one shut to squash the cube. It's great to fit more in the suitcase. If the cube isn't too full in the first place.

Forgot to mention the double-sided cubes, essentially two sewn back to back, zippers on each side. Those are great for swapping out things from the clean to dirty side, and the cube retains its same size, weight, and format. Your bag stays packed the same every time you move, but don't mix clean/dirty. I've only seen those in medium and large size, however.

For cubes, I have purchases multiple different brands on the BigA. They're all totally fine. Even the less expensive ones are fine.

I also use clear cases for skin care, shampoo/conditioner, etc. I have 2 different types also bought on A. These are similar -

Clear Bag 1

Clear Bag 2

Some go in my carryon or personal bag. Lots go in my checked bag.

I wish I could do carryon only, but even if I could pare my clothing down to fit in carry on, there's no way I could meet the liquid limit for carry on. I can't use hotel shampoo/conditioner so have to bring my own, and for a beach trip that's a lot of shampoo/conditioner. And for beach trip, I need a lot of sunscreen. The kind I like cannot be bought in any generic store so I have to bring it on the plane.

This is one of my pet peeves -- if I am TSA approved and I don't have to take off my shoes or remove things from my bag, why can't I carry as much liquid as I want? You already did your due diligence to decide I'm not a terrorist so why can't I bring my big bottle of conditioner and my sunscreen??