Using vacuum bags for packing your clothes for travel is one sure way to get more clothes in a limited space. Fit a week’s worth of clothes easily into one carry on with this one travel hack.
First off I want to start with a warning that you have to be very careful about using vacuum bags for packing if you’re checking luggage. No, it isn’t dangerous, at least not to anything but your pocketbook. If you use vacuum compression bags, you can easily blow past the weight limit on checked bags.
That being said, using vacuum bags is a great way to get a lot of clothes into a small space. This is particularly true if they’re fluffy items like sweaters. And for carry-on bags? They’re absolutely amazing since airlines don’t seem to care about weight, just size.
The concept behind travel vacuum bags is very simple. You put in your clothes, seal the bag and then either suck or push all the air out. This squishes everything down as flat as possible. This compression means you can get a lot more in your suitcase. At least without having someone sit on it to close it.
The Game Changer: Vacuum Bags With Built-In USB Pumps
Here’s where things have gotten a whole lot better than when I first wrote about vacuum bags. Now you can get vacuum bags that come with their own USB-rechargeable pumps. No more hunting for a vacuum cleaner in your hotel room or manually rolling the air out until your arms hurt.
I’m talking about products like the TryPackEase vacuum bags (also available on Amazon). These come with a compact USB pump that you can charge from your laptop, power bank, or any USB port. Pack your stuff, seal the bag, connect the pump, and watch it compress in about 30 seconds. That’s it.
The pump is small enough to toss in your bag, and one charge can handle 15-20 bags. So if TSA decides they need to inspect your vacuum-sealed belongings (happened to me once in Dallas), you can recompress everything right there at the checkpoint in about a minute instead of stuffing wrinkled clothes back into your bag and hoping for the best.
These newer bags are also waterproof, which means your clothes stay dry even if your water bottle decides to explode mid-flight. Ask me how I know that matters.
Traditional Vacuum Bags Still Work Too
When looking at vacuum bags for travel, there are basically three types now:
- USB pump bags – Come with a rechargeable electric pump, work anywhere
- Traditional vacuum bags – Require a full-size vacuum cleaner to suck the air out
- Roll-up compression bags – You manually squeeze or roll out the air
For traveling, I lean towards the USB pump ones now. Yeah, they cost a bit more upfront, but not having to hunt down a vacuum cleaner or spend ten minutes manually squeezing air out of bags is worth it to me.
The traditional vacuum types do the best job of getting ALL the air out, but good luck finding a vacuum in most hotel rooms. The roll-up ones work everywhere but take some effort and don’t compress quite as hard.
Do Vacuum Bags Wrinkle Your Clothes?
If you’re wanting pristine, flat pressed dress shirts, then stuffing them in a vacuum bag randomly and compressing them isn’t a winning plan. That being said, for most clothes, if you put them in neatly, they’ll only get mildly wrinkled. Compressing all your clothes into a small space does come with some wrinklage.
Pro tip I learned the hard way: fold or roll your clothes nicely before putting them in. The USB pump bags compress so fast that you don’t have time to adjust things once you start, unlike manually rolling where you can fiddle with positioning.
The TSA and Vacuum Packed Clothes
The TSA and Vacuum Packed Clothes
A common question that comes up is if the TSA will allow vacuum packed clothes through checkpoints. The official answer is yes. They don’t love them, but yes you can pack your clothes in them for flying.
Personally if I’m using them, I pack only clothes in the bags and keep any objectionable items separate. So don’t pack your “adult novelty items” containing batteries deep inside your vacuum sealed clothes.
With the USB pump bags, if they do want to inspect, you can just recompress right there. The pump takes up maybe the same space as a deck of cards in your bag.
Advantages of Using Vacuum Bags for Packing Your Clothes
- More clothes in a small space
- Clothes are protected from moisture
- Clothes are safe from bugs
- USB pump models work anywhere
- Perfect for carry-on optimization
The first advantage to using vacuum bags to pack your clothes for travel is that you can cram an amazing amount of clothes in one bag. Especially if you use a bag fitted with a USB pump, you can make a big stack of clothes get really small.
The next advantage traveling with vacuum bags is that your clothes will stay dry even if your luggage gets wet. Even if your suitcase gets soaked, your clothes will stay nice and dry.
The last big advantage is that clothes in vacuum bags are immune to bugs. Depending on where you’re traveling, you may want to avoid taking any of the wildlife home with you. The fact is that bed bugs among other insects are not uncommon in some areas and anything you can do to reduce the chance of bringing them home is worth it.
Disadvantages of Using Vacuum Bags for Packing Clothes
- Checked luggage can get dangerously heavy (this is the big one)
- Very easy to overpack
- Some wrinkling is inevitable
- Can be hard to get into small bags
- Not easy to just grab an item
- USB pumps need charging (though they last forever)
Top of the list for disadvantages when using vacuum bags to pack clothes is that it’s VERY easy to overload checked bags. With most airlines getting more strict about baggage weight, this is a serious concern. I cannot stress this enough: just because you CAN fit 30 pounds of clothes in a space that used to hold 10 pounds doesn’t mean you should if you’re checking the bag.
For carry-on bags though? Go nuts. Airlines magically don’t seem to care about carry-on weight, just dimensions. This is where vacuum bags with pumps really shine.
Tied to the weight thing is the tendency to overpack. Just because you can get 15 outfits in your carry-on bag doesn’t mean you should. Use the power of the vacuum bag wisely and still only take what you really think you’ll need.
Some wrinkling of your clothes is inevitable. Whether you lay them flat or roll them up, sucking all the air out of your clothes will add some wrinkles. The more carefully you put them into the bag will make a huge difference on how badly they get wrinkled though.
Getting a loaded up, flattened down vacuum bag full of clothes into a small suitcase can be tricky. Once you’ve flattened all your 1980s vintage rock band t-shirts into a brick, it isn’t going to want to mold itself into the shape of your suitcase very well. Planning ahead and sizing your vacuum bags to your luggage helps with this though.
If you’re on the move, quickly grabbing an item out of your stash of clothes is a little trickier if they’re all vacuumed away. One trick to make this less of an issue is to use several smaller bags as opposed to one large one. They’ll be easier to reseal with the USB pump, and help keep your clothes organized at the same time.
My Take: When to Use What
After dealing with all these options, here’s how I actually pack now:
For carry-on only trips: USB pump vacuum bags all the way. Pack your bulky stuff (jackets, sweaters) in vacuum bags, compress them flat, and suddenly you have room for everything. Weight doesn’t matter, so compress away.
For checked luggage trips: Be extremely careful. If you’re going to use vacuum bags, weigh your luggage before you leave. Trust me on this. Otherwise you’ll be that person at the airport repacking stuff into your backpack because your checked bag is 15 pounds over.
For most regular trips: I still use compression packing cubes for my everyday clothes. They compress reasonably well without all the fuss, and I can grab items easily. But I’ll throw my jacket or bulky sweater in a vacuum bag.
Another Option for Compressing Clothes for Travel
Personally I don’t use vacuum bags for everything. In most cases I use compression packing cubes to organize and compress my clothes into my suitcase. They do a fairly good job of compressing clothes, but don’t require any of the fuss that vacuum bags do.
Check on Amazon and you’ll find a wide variety of compression travel cubes for anywhere from $10 to $30 depending on how many you get. If you’re really crazy about travel organization, you can even separate out your dirty from the clean clothes with them.
But vacuum bags for packing your clothes for travel definitely have their place. If you need a lot of clothes in a small carry-on space and want them to stay safe from moisture and bugs, they’re absolutely my go-to choice. And with the new USB pump options, they’re way less of a pain than they used to be.
Just remember: for checked bags, compression is your enemy unless you’re willing to pay overweight fees. For carry-ons? Compress away, my friend.
