How to pack sweaters for a holiday trip without the creases

Holiday trips are sweater trips. The suitcase fills with knits before anything else goes in, and the sweater you were saving for dinner comes out with a crease across the front that no amount of smoothing by hand will get out.

Two things go wrong. People pack more sweaters than the trip needs, and they fold them the way they do at home, with a sharp line that sets under the weight of everything on top.

What works is a short routine: choose fewer, roll instead of fold, give them their own cubes away from anything that can leak, and give them a few minutes of steam when you arrive.

Pack fewer than you think

Sweaters are the bulkiest thing in a winter suitcase, so every one you leave at home buys real space. Count the days and the occasions, not the outfits.

• One sweater for every two or three days is plenty for most trips. Nobody remembers what you wore on Tuesday.
• Wear the heaviest one on travel day. A chunky cable knit takes up a shoebox of room in a bag and none on your back.
• Pick neutrals that go with everything else you’re packing, so each sweater works with more than one pair of pants.
• Add one cardigan or zip layer for houses that run warm. Holiday kitchens get hot, and a layer you can take off beats a sweater you regret.

If there’s a dressy event, pack that sweater first and build the rest around it.

Roll the knits, fold the structured pieces

A crease forms where fabric is folded sharply and then pressed under weight for hours. Rolling skips the sharp fold, so most knits arrive with soft curves that relax on their own.

For a pullover:

1. Lay it face down on the bed and smooth it out.
2. Fold each sleeve in along the side seam, so the sweater becomes a long rectangle.
3. Lay a sheet of tissue paper on top.
4. Roll from the hem toward the neck, snug but not tight, with the tissue rolled inside.

The tissue keeps the layers from pressing straight into each other and gives the knit a cushion where it bends. It also cuts down on the fuzz that rubs off one sweater onto the next.

Cardigans with buttons, collared knits and anything with structure keep their shape better folded. Button the cardigan, lay tissue across it, fold the sides in, and fold it in thirds from the bottom, with tissue inside each fold so there’s no hard edge.

Give the sweaters their own cubes

Rolled sweaters stand up side by side in a packing cube like files in a drawer, so you can see every one and pull out the one you want without unpacking the rest.

A compression cube squeezes out extra air once it’s closed. It helps on a long trip or with a small bag. Compress it gently rather than forcing it, and take the sweaters out when you arrive. A sweater left squeezed in a cube for a week comes out more creased than one that was unpacked.

Keep the sweater cubes away from:

• Toiletries. Shampoo and lotion go in their own sealed bag, in a different part of the suitcase. One leak on a cream sweater ends the trip for that sweater.
• Shoes. They go in a bag of their own, at the bottom near the wheels.
• Gifts with sharp corners. Boxes and wrapping snag knits. Pack them against jeans, not cashmere.

Unpack on arrival, then steam

The first night, take the sweaters out of the cubes and unroll them. Lay them in a drawer or on a shelf rather than on hangers, since a heavy knit on a hanger stretches at the shoulders.

Most travel creases relax overnight. For the ones that don’t, a few minutes with a travel steamer does it. Check the care label first, then hold the steamer a little away from the fabric, move it slowly and keep your free hand out of the steam. Never steam a sweater while you’re wearing it. Don’t press the hot head into the knit, especially on wool, and let the sweater dry for a few minutes before you put it on, since steam leaves it slightly damp.

No steamer? Drape the sweater over a towel bar in the bathroom while someone showers, then let it dry before you fold it back into the drawer.

Handle lint and fuzz on the road

Knits pick up something on every trip. Car seats, airplane blankets, the family dog and wool coats all leave something behind.

A lint roller in your bag clears hair and lint in seconds. It won’t remove pills, the little balls of fiber that form where a sweater rubs. Those need a sweater comb or a fabric shaver at home, so leave them for after the trip rather than tugging at them in the car.

What to actually buy

The cubes. A set of six lightweight compression packing cubes, so the sweaters get cubes of their own and the rest of the suitcase stays separate.

The tissue. Acid-free tissue paper, 100 sheets at 20 by 30 inches, large enough to roll inside a full-size sweater. The leftover sheets work for storing knits at the end of winter.

The lint roller. An extra-sticky lint roller, six rolls, so one goes in the suitcase, one in the car and one in your bag.

The steamer. A compact travel steamer that heats in about 30 seconds and runs up to 11 minutes on its 5-ounce tank, enough for a few sweaters and a shirt.

Who this is not for

• If your sweaters have beading, sequins or embroidery, fold them around tissue and skip both the compression and the steamer.
• If the place you’re staying has a garment steamer, leave yours at home and use the space for another layer.
• If you’re driving, skip the compression and put the cube of rolled sweaters on top of the bag, where nothing heavy sits on it.

Start on any Monday

This week, pick the sweaters for the trip using the one-for-every-two-or-three-days rule, and roll one around tissue overnight to see how it comes out in the morning.

The night before you leave, roll the rest, stand them up in their cubes and seal the toiletries in a separate bag. The first night there, unpack the cubes before you do anything else.