Alternative Uses for Packing Cubes and Sacs

March 18, 2020

You may be the most efficient packer that you know, but can you keep your stuff as organized in everyday life? These are seven creative ways to use the Pack-It System to keep everything pulled together at home.

Frequent travelers often become master packers, particularly when they use a packing system to help them compartmentalize the space inside their suitcase. But while you’d think that anyone so pulled together on the road would be ultra-organized at home, many of us still struggle to find a place for everything—so we can locate it quickly when we need it most. Fortunately, some of the same solutions that keep travelers organized abroad can work in everyday life, too.

This piece explains exactly how to use packing cubes for travel. But have you ever wondered what you can put in packing cubes when you’re not on the road? Well, there’s no end to the options really, and using travel packing cubes for alternative uses is a great way to keep other untidy spaces—handbags, daypacks, closets, and drawers—as neat as your favorite travel bag. Here are seven ways, according to Eagle Creek travel expert Jessica Dodson, that you can use packing cubes, sacs, and other travel system products so they do double-duty as home and life organization essentials.

1. Keep Daily Essentials Together

Since I like to switch purses in the morning sometimes, I keep all of my day-to-day essentials—extra pens, lip balm, tissues, and headache medicine—in a small Pack-It Sac or extra small cubes. This not only helps me to avoid digging around to find what I need inside a larger bag, but it makes it fast and easy to transfer things between bags when I’m moving quickly and likely to forget something.

2. Organize Electronics Cords

For rounding up my computer and phone charging cords, camera, and other miscellaneous things, I place everything inside a Pack-It™ Reveal E-Tools Organizer. I’d recommend using a label maker (or any kind of sticker that you can write on) to label your cords; go through them once a year to decide if you still need them all. Often times, we buy new electronic devices and forget to toss the related cords that come with the old ones.

3. Streamline Your Laptop Bag

I carry a Wayfinder backpack for my everyday needs on the go. This backpack gives me plenty of space for any extra files and cords, and it has a ton of pockets to help me keep things like jump drives and external hard drives safe and within easy reach. Plus, my 17” laptop fits perfectly in the padded compartment. It’s a lifesaver.

4. #KonMari Your Drawers & Closets

You can totally use the #KonMari method to organize your travel packing, but did you know you can use that same method at home? Put your out-of-season clothes in packing cubes (I recommend the compression sacs for bulky items and shoe sacs for out-of-season shoes), or extend their use by organizing your active draws. Pick up a set of cubes, then use the Marie Kondo folding method to line up shirts, pants, underwear, socks and more in your cubes. Then when it’s time to travel, you can easily just zip up a few cubes and head out the door.

5. Separate Hair Accessories & Toiletries

The Pack-It™ Isolate Sac Set is a trio of bags—it comes in a small, medium, and large size and weighs next to nothing (2.2 ounces). Use these packing sacs to separate and organize different size hair accessories—or anything else your child needs to keep in one spot. Bright colors like strobe and brilliant blue appeal to kids, and they can easily spot them in their drawer or closet.

6. Maintain Wrinkle-Free Clothes in Transit

Many cities now have bike share programs, which means you—and millions of your fellow commuters!—now face the issue of how to look polished after commuting by bike. I suggest tucking your work clothes inside a Pack-It Garment Folder, and a Pack-It Clean Dirty cube. Also include a quick dry towel to pat down quickly on particularly warm days. Now you are ready to pack up and get pedaling!

7. Road Trip Like a Pro

Sure, a road trip is still a type of travel, but a lot of parents or travelers don’t consider using packing cubes outside of their backpack and luggage. Use packing cubes in your car for things like your roadside emergency medical kit. Or, on a family road trip, you can keep snacks for the kids in a gear pouch, separate out kids’ car entertainment by colors (one for each kid), and so much more. The glove box is fair game for cube organization, or your beach essentials for the kids that usually roll around in your trunk.

How do you use packing organizers to keep your stuff pulled together between trips? Tag Eagle Creek on social media and let us know what you put in your packing cubes if you’ve got a tip to share.