The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Rachel at Useful Beautiful Home.
Since Father’s Day is this weekend, I thought it best to talk about organizing something related to men. And since the standby gift for fathers is often a tie, what could be more fitting a topic than neck tie organization?
Travel Organization: Men’s Neck Ties
There are many gadgets to organize business ties but today I’m sharing how I organize my husband’s ties specifically for when he travels.
Honestly, it never crossed my mind to find a way to organize ties for the purpose of packing in a suitcase, probably because I don’t wear them. I assumed people fold them in half and pack them alongside their socks and tee-shirts – seemed logical to me. However, according to my husband, neck ties can potentially get ruined by packing them like that.
Recently he was showing me how his ties were getting wrinkled, and in some cases permanently, whenever he traveled with them. He then asked if I could think of a way to prevent the wrinkles from happening. (For the record, my solution isn’t original, I found it in a travel magazine a while ago, but I thought it was brilliant and worth sharing here in the organizing world.)
What I found to work involves NO extra purchase! This little tip includes something you already have in your home… toilet paper! That’s right, this is a free and easy way to pack ties for a road trip using something as simple as a cardboard tube.
Don’t have extra TP rolls? The trick also works with paper towel rolls cut in half lengthwise as pictured below.
See, I told you it’s something you already have in your household. It didn’t take long to save up a few empty cardboard rolls until we had a nice collection.
As for the “how-to” details… it’s really simple. Starting at the skinny end of the tie, begin to wrap the tie around the TP roll. The plain blue end of the tie pictured below is the skinny end that no one sees once the tie is worn.
As I wrap, I cross over the entire length of the short cardboard tube to prevent a big pile-up in the center.
It should end with the pointed wide part of the tie on top.
To keep it from unwrapping, slip the roll into a clean plastic sandwich baggie. I wanted to rubberband the whole thing together but according to my husband, it’s best NOT to pin/clip/rubberband the tie because it will make a indentation that won’t go away.
The whole little packet gets slipped inside the suitcase with the rest of his clothing, looking fresh and ready to be worn upon unpacking. In between trips, I store the empty TP rolls and baggies inside the suitcase.
I’m sure this simple little trick has been written about before, but I wanted to share my version to help someone else avoid purchasing an expensive tie organizer. After all, most of us have no trouble accumulating a few empty TP rolls for a common packing need.
Additionally, this is a great tip for packing an entire collection of ties during a relocation. We recently moved out-of-state and all our belongings sat in storage for over a month. I packed all of my husband’s ties using this TP method and hoped for the best. It would take a lot of future Father’s Day gifts to re-accumulate his tie wardrobe if they all got destroyed in the move. I’m happy to attest that after a month of storage in this manner, all of his ties still look good as new!
In the professional world, I’m a nurse by trade. But, around our house, I’m known as Mommy to our young daughter. My two worlds collided and began shaping into a blog. Useful Beautiful Home represents the hours I’ve dedicated to managing my household as efficiently as possible. I offer you motivation to keep your home healthy, organized, and welcoming. My goal is to share what I’ve implemented in my home to inspire you with fresh ideas and to encourage you to keep up the good work in yours! Learn more about me HERE or visit me at UsefulBeautifulHome.com.
Linking up: Six Sisters Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Home Stories A to Z, Your Homebased Mom, A Bowl Full of Lemons
Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort says
What a great idea! I love re-purposing items for organization. I’ll definitely use your trick the next time my husband flies somewhere! Thanks!
Neelu says
Very COOL!