tips for move in day

So my question is how would you recommend me to pack my clothes and other items when putting it in a car, luggage? boxes? I wanna know the best space conscious methods for packing.

@elstudenttt If you want to save some space we bought the vacuum seal bags and used those. Used it for bedding, towels, sheets, blankets, clothes, underwear, socks etc. worked great and saved a ton of space in the car.

For clothes that you hang up, gather a bunch of them while still on hangers (like 10 or so) and put them into a garbage bag. Have the top of the hanger stick out and use something to tie them up (like the strings of the garbage bag).
For folded clothes, use a suitcase with wheels. Then it is easy to bring it into your dorm.
For quilts/pillows, do what @pkchamp89 says and use vacuum bags.
For other stuff, use boxes. Purchase a foldable hand truck to use to move them.

We used a lot of those big trash bags for softer items such as comforters, towels, some clothing and that helped with space. I’d say that the vacuum seal bags would be even more space efficient but the trash bags worked for us.

@bopper Has the best thoughts my Son used the clothes on hangers, tied at the top, wrapped in a plastic bag and it worked perfectly. Also get rid of the boxes and extra wrapping, put the items together in a hamper or a rolling suitcase. You will have an easier time with less bulk.

This may not apply to your situation, but you never know who will read this:

We use my husband’s pick-up truck and D packs almost everything into medium-sized U-Haul boxes (all the same size). Those, maybe a couple of hand-carried items and two hand trucks (one big, one foldable) make move-in’s and move-out’s a breeze (no furniture as of yet). We took the flattened boxes back with us last year (3 in a dorm room, so no space, but 1 hour away from home), and brought them up again close to move-out weekend, along with packing tape and paper. When we picked her up, D met us at the elevator with everything packed up and ready to go. This year, she has her own closet, so we left the boxes and packing supplies with her as she has room in there to store them. Some dorms may have beds where flattened boxes can be stored under, but they usually have drawers under there. And yes, any clothes on hangers, keep on hangers and throw them in some spare dry cleaner bags to minimize wrinkling; that can go in a box or a bag as suggested.

DON’T have a lot of loose items that can get dropped and then lost/trampled on/broken/run over. The abandoned items on the sidewalk and gutter during move-in day is a sight to behold. Use some sort of containers with lids, and you can use clothing/bedding to protect more delicate things. DON’T be tempted to leave your laptop in the car while going back and forth. Keep it - phone, wallet, keys, etc. - in your backpack on your back. It takes no time for someone to see all of the goodies inside, smash the window, and take off with it. One of D’s friend’s found this out the hard way - they had to have their apartment re-keyed and they hadn’t even finished moving in yet :frowning:

I highly reccomend the vacuum seal bags - they are super easy to use! I also reccomend the IKEA Frakta bags.