Folders and rollers – Brits are obsessive when it comes to packing

According to national research released today by Jet2holidays.com, we are a nation of obsessives when it comes to packing our suitcases, with one in four (27 per cent) packing at least a week before their holiday and a third (31 per cent) repacking at least twice, with the average Brit taking one hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds to do so.

And when it comes to our preferred method of packing, the vast majority of holidaymakers (75 per cent) are neat and tidy ‘Folders’ and ‘Rollers’, while ‘Squashers’ (13 per cent) and ‘Chuckers’ (9 per cent) don’t care what their clothes look like when they arrive – and a small minority (4 per cent) classed themselves as ‘Minimalists’ who take very few items to leave plenty of space in their case.

Yet even though we appear to be obsessive about our packing, we also think we’re pretty good at it too with 95 per cent classifying themselves as average or better.

Jodie Harris, Marketing Manager at Jet2holidays.com, said: “It appears from our research that Brits are very particular and have high opinions of their suitcase packing skills. We may not be the first to the pool or beach, but we can at least claim to be the masters of packing!”

The survey also revealed that ladies (37 per cent) were twice as organised as their blokes (18 per cent), packing their suitcases at least a week before departure.

What’s more, men were put to shame further with 41 per cent of women spending at least one hour packing – including a deliberating 8 per cent who take over five hours! Over half of men (53 per cent) took under half an hour with 2 per cent claiming to just need five minutes.

Jet2holidays.com enlisted the help of Dr Hugo Christenson, Reader in Molecular and Nanoscale Physics at the University of Leeds to categorise packers from the neat ‘Folders’ to haphazard ‘Squashers’.

He said: “The mathematics of folding clothes is a non-trivial problem – there are close analogies to the folding of proteins, in this case clothes, necessary for efficient packing into a space.

“Therefore, it is heartening to learn that the majority of British packers realise that careful folding before packing minimises gaps, thereby maximising space. However, a word of caution for the ‘Rollers’ out there – it is possible they are sacrificing space for a smooth look.

“In addition, the efforts of ‘Chuckers’ can lead to random packing, which is even less efficient, while the application of external pressure (‘Squashers’) simply leads to jamming.”

Packing Key – which one are you?

Folder – neatly folds most clothes
Chucker – throws items in last minute
Roller – tries to prevent creases by rolling up clothes
Squasher – crams as much as you can in (even sitting on case to seal it)
Minimalist – takes just a few items, leaving plenty of room

For bookings visit jet2holidays.com.