Instructions

• Step 1: Invest in professional wardrobe boxes. They come with heavy-duty clothing rods, so you can transport much of your wardrobe without getting it wrinkled.
• Step 2: Gather your hanging clothes in bunches of 5 to 15 (depending on the thickness of the clothes), and secure the hangers with twist ties. Then cover each bundle with an oversize, extra-strength garbage bag, poking a hole in the bag for the hangers and knotting the bottom so the clothes don’t hang out.
• Step 3: Fill sturdy shopping bags with shoes, belts, pocketbooks, etc. and stash them in the bottom of the wardrobe.
• TIP: Use this opportunity to donate to charity any clothes you haven’t worn in the past year.
• Step 4: Pack any clothes that are stored on shelves in your luggage.
• TIP: Toss dryer sheets in with packed clothes to keep them smelling fresh.
• Step 5: Leave light clothing items like undergarments in their drawers. On moving day, remove drawers, carry the now-lightweight dresser into the moving van, and then replace the drawers. Secure the drawers with packing tape for the trip.
• Step 6: Stash inexpensive clothes like T-shirts in large garbage bags or cardboard boxes.
• TIP: Be careful about using discarded boxes. If they stain your clothes or bring bugs into your new home, it’s going to cost you a lot more than if you’d just bought new ones.
• Step 7: Label all your clothing boxes with the room or place where they should go in your new home, like the master bedroom closet, and hope that everything makes it intact.
• FACT: The average American family moves every 7.5 years.

You Will Need

• Wardrobe or cardboard boxes
• Twist ties
• Heavy duty garbage bags
• Shopping bags
• Luggage
• Dryer sheets