Packing cubes. Useful or waste of time?

[Toddlerteaplease]

Thought I might try them as staying in several different places this year. Are they a help or a hindrance?

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If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best packing cubes Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

➡️ ELEZAY Hanging Packing Cubes (£30)

➡️ WOWTOY 6PCS Packing Cubes Value Set (£7)

➡️ Eagle Creek Reveal Cube Set (£42)

For more recommendations, check out our guide to the best packing cubes, featuring products that have been tried and tested by Mumsnet users and editors.

MNHQ

Will you marry me? 😍

I love my packing cubes, OP! I hope you get as much (ridiculous) satisfaction out of them as I do, haha.

I mostly go on backpacking type holidays where we're moving around a lot, so no unpacking into a wardrobe as we're only ever somewhere a couple of days at a time - I just have my beloved cubes. And I have a soft travel bag, so it helps me keep things organised as we go instead of everything getting mixed about.

Get compression cubes, not just packing cubes. I buy the Gonex ones from Amazon, the ones with the mesh seem to have the strongest zips.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gonex-Compression-Packing-Organizers-Laundry/dp/B07336KWDH/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1OWQMNG6T6080&keywords=gonex+packing+cubes+compression&qid=1687977446&sprefix=Gonex+packing+cubes+%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

I also have the ones without mesh like these.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gonex-Compression-Extensible-Organizer-Organization/dp/B01N7FHB0V/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1OWQMNG6T6080&keywords=gonex+packing+cubes+compression&qid=1687977446&sprefix=Gonex+packing+cubes+%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

If you scroll through the colours you sometimes find one colour is inexplicably cheaper than the others. I prefer the brighter colours as they are easier to see in a black suitcase / bag.

I’ve had mine for at least 7 years and my adult kids use them when they go away too, so they get a lot of use.

Watch some YouTube videos about the different packing methods . I roll everything ( except jeans and thick jumpers or fleeces ) into little sausages and stack them in the cube. I would never travel without them now .

For me, the big advantage is when you move destinations frequently - you can find your stuff easily without unpacking each time, and without messing everything up.

Last year we did a 15 day holiday with lots of stops, so I didn't unpack, just found e.g. socks in the sock cube, etc. At the end we had 5 nights in the same place, so I thought I'd unpack. But the room had a grand total of 2 hangers and a tiny drawer, so I ended up still storing my stuff in the blooming packing cubes!

I find them useful if I use them sparingly. Just one or two per case, for small things like underwear, socks, swimsuits etc. If you fill an entire case with them I find they create wasted space around the edges/corners etc that would be better filled without using them in the first place.

So I can't work out wether to jace separate cubes for tops, bottoms, dresses etc. or have one for the two single night stops at each end. Or could do both. A cube for the fist night would be used him and mean I don't have to disturb the rest of the case.

This is causing me to rethink my whole packing strategy.

Has anyone got the Primark ones? My MIL going to look for them for me and I’m wondering if 1 set each is fine for 10-day multistop longhaul trip.

I'd think cubes would take precious space and are for light packers. I literally have to sit on my stuffed case to close it and I'm still opening the zips an inch to stuff things in on the way to the airport.
I want to be a cube person but I'm a stuffer instead. 😔

I bought some the other day, @Peachy2005. Just be aware they are three different sizes. The Poundland ones are better if you can find them. My nearest store hasn’t got them in yet but they’re on the website.

Check out youtube, there's tons of videos of people showing how they use them

If you are staying in more than one place, then a cube for each place is the way to go! Just take it out the suitcase and you have what you need without disturbing the rest of your stuff

Maybe I should order some. Reading thread now.

Because you can actually find the dress, or pair of knickers, or whatever you're looking for, rather than ending up with a big messy pile where you've been rifling through your case looking for the item!

I'm in the cube-for-each-type-of-clothes camp. This is because I mix and match, and how often I change an item is not fixed. E.g. if a t-shirt gets hot and sweaty I will change it after a day, otherwise I will wear it again. But trousers would usually last 3 or 4 days.

They're great for places that don't have much clothes storage space . If I'm staying in one place, we each have a cube for the first few days. Once worn they go in washing pile or hung up to air if they'll be worn again. It means the suitcase can be zipped up and tucked in the corner rather than open and rummaged through constantly. I also have a small pop up laundry basket though...

Packing cubes are the dogs wotsits. I have ADHD and used to travel with forgetting to pack " something. It could be knickers, socks or whatever. If I'm staying in the one place, I pack trousers/jeans/ skirts /dressesvin one, and tops etc in another and underwear in a 3rd. Add in a toiletry/ makeup bag and I'm sorted. I have the compressed ones.

Last year, I was moving around and managed to pack 10 days of clothes in different bags, and manage with a small case, and a holdall ( Ryanair priority boarding type size, although I was driving). I just lifted the Packing case and toiletries into my accommodation instead of lugging everything.
I was away early May on a city break and got a cheap flight, so decided to just take hand luggage. I managed to get 3 days full outfits, an extra pair of shoes, make up ( decanted liquids into tiny pots in a clear bag) ,straighteners and a soft cheap cross body bag into my under the seat hold all , and actually found room to buy stuff there...🤣. Not a lot I grant you.

I was a terrible overpacker before. Can't live without my cubes.

I presume they aren't much use in smaller suitcases and cabin size ones?

@Pugdogmom Yours must be pretty robust: can you tell us which ones you use? Thx

Unfortunately I'm already spoken for - I found that one in a billion man. His tshirt shelf is a thing of beauty and his precision folded used shopping bag stack is a joy to behold!

Agree - I don't think they're of much use in @TheChosenTwo 's example of packing once, heading directly to your destination and then unpacking once. Or if you're just stuffing everything into a little cabin bag in your case @Powerplant .

Long haul flights with layovers, a few days here and there then you're on the move again, switching modes of transport, different climates/activities to cater for, more than 1 person's stuff in your bag and they really come into their own.

I find them really useful in cabin sized bags. I manage to fit much more in to a cabin sized case than I did before I discovered packing cubes. Likewise with my 55l backpack.
I can travel for a week or more (managed two weeks once) with an IT cabin sized case with no problem, as the cubes compress my clothes so they take up less space. And I can back pack in remote places where getting laundry done is difficult, because I can pack more tee shirts and underwear etc than I could before.

The only trip that I've taken in recent years where they felt less necessary (though I still used them) was when I took a full sized suitcase on a trip to Australia where I was staying with my relatives. No need to pack light, and no moving from place to place, made them a 'nice to have' rather than something I've learned to rely on.

These are mine, extremely lightweight and compact, but they don't seem to be available atm. Really love them.

Finn Compression Travel Packing Cube (2 pc set) amzn.eu/d/b9naRPt

@Yellowdays
I find even better in cabin size tbh. Can then have clothing contained, and your pants aren’t flying out when they check your bag at security.
Plus clothes stay cleaner and less rumpled if your also putting other stuff in and out bag.

With children and hood luggage , I use the smallest packing cubes in handluggage, and put change of clothes in per person. Then if toddler needs changing for example just grab toddler full change and it’s easier in plane teeny toilets and your not standing on plane rummaging through overhead bag for a pair of socks and pants

@Seddon
His tshirt shelf is a thing of beauty and his precision folded used shopping bag stack is a joy to behold!

I don't suppose you'd like to brighten an old lady's day and post a picture ?