How to Pack Women's Dresses to Prevent Wrinkles

By: Grace Riley

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Travel can be exhausting enough without having to worry about clothing care upon arrival, and you certainly don’t want to spend valuable vacation time or work time on mundane chores. Wrinkles are a common travel problem, and while there are numerous ways to remedy wrinkles, the best use of your time is to pack your clothes thoughtfully so that you can prevent wrinkling altogether.

Garment Bag

Step 1

Place the dress on a hanger. Secure all of the fasteners, such as buttons or zippers, on the dress so that collars and cuffs cannot fold over and crease.

Step 2

Slip a plastic dry cleaner’s bag over the dress. The plastic will prevent any creases or folds from embedding in the fabric.

Step 3

Place the dress in a hanging garment bag. At most, you will only have to fold a garment bag once as you carry it through a terminal or place it in a vehicle, which will minimize the number of wrinkles. A garment bag is your best bet for arriving with a wrinkle-free dress.

Suitcase

Step 1

Lay the dress facedown on a large surface, such as a bed, table or countertop. Smooth the fabric with your hands.

Step 2

Lay a plastic dry cleaner’s bag or a large sheet of plain, white tissue paper on the back of the dress. Plastic and tissue can serve as barriers, preventing folds from embedding in the fabric.

Step 3

Fold the dress to a size that is appropriate for your suitcase, smoothing wrinkles with your hand as you go. You will be folding the plastic or tissue paper inside the dress as you fold the garment.

Step 4

Pack other folded garments in your suitcase. Pack enough clothing in the suitcase that it will be full but not bulging. Both underpacked and overpacked suitcases cause clothes to wrinkle.

Step 5

Pack the dress last so that the weight of the other garments does not press wrinkles in the dress fabric.

Step 6

Lay another plastic bag or sheet of tissue paper on top of the dress.

Step 7

Close the suitcase. You should be able to zip it without forcefully pressing the lid down, but the suitcase should still be full enough that it prevents clothes from moving around inside.