Use This Clever TikTok Packing Hack To Keep Clothes & Shoes Separate In Your Luggage

It's no secret that packing can be challenging — especially when it comes to packing for longer trips. It can become even harder when you're trying to make the most out of your space, organize all your items appropriately, and keep everything clean. While there have been great inventions, like packing cubes, vacuum storage bags, and laundry bags, all of these items can often add up to become expensive or heavy. The TikTok travel tip community has come up with one clever and free solution for packing shoes: using the inner lining of a suitcase to place shoes separately from clothes.

When it comes to packing shoes, not only can they get heavy, but they are also the most likely to pick up dirt, germs, and other unwanted substances that you don't want touching personal items, like your toothbrush. Luckily for travelers, the TikTok community has come up with plenty of simple hacks that make packing shoes even easier by using what you have in smarter ways. In addition to making sure that the shoes are kept separate from the rest of your clothes, this TikTok trend also ensures there's more space for other items in the seemingly empty suitcase.

Of course, the TikTok travelers have also discovered several other genius tips to become efficient packers — including packing a suitcase vertically to maximize the space, squeezing the air out of toiletries to keep from spilling, placing tape over suitcase wheels to ride smoother, and the best ways to pack jewelry. When it comes to packing shoes alone, several content creators have discovered even more TikTok packing hacks and tricks.

While many people might see the suitcase lining as simply the way to separate the physical part of the suitcase from their clothes, several TikTok users have discovered a convenient hack to maximize every inch. Several TikTok users have posted videos that show them using the hack, which consists of unzipping the upper lining of a suitcase and neatly placing a pair of slippers and other flat shoes underneath the lining. From there, the social media users zip back up the lining and close the suitcase, showing how the shoes are easily separated from the rest of her inner suitcase.

For maximum efficiency, other users pointed out that people can flatten their shoes and deliberately match them up to create a more even surface. The hack allows travelers to separate dirty shoes from the rest of their clean clothes and creates space in the more visible parts of the suitcase. One TikTok user, @sanamotherhood, wrote in her own post on the trend that a flight attendant was the person who taught her the genius trick.

However, since the liner separates the outside shell of the suitcase from the inside, some users warn that there is a risk to the trick, since if the suitcase cracks, the shoes could also fall out with no protective barrier between the shoes and the case.

While there technically isn't a right or wrong way to pack, there are some strategies that will improve how your clothing travels, including effective ways to pack without worrying about wrinkles. The suitcase lining hack offers both more space and a cleaner packing experience, and there are many other creative tricks. For instance, when it comes to cleanliness, everyday bags from purses, other shoes, or sheets can serve as a makeshift bag to separate shoes from clothes without separating them in the lining.

One TikTok user, @what.sophie.does, showed in a video that she carries several packaged shower caps on her wherever she goes. The shower caps come in small and light sizes and often are the perfect size to cover the bottom of the shoe. Since the shower caps are so easy to pack, travelers can bring several of them along and use a new cap after using the shoes.

However, there are also hacks for shoes that people can utilize before they even place them in the suitcase. For instance, TikTok creator @problemsolved shared that he puts smaller items — like socks and shirts — in plastic baggies and stuffs them inside bulkier shoes, such as boots. "This not only uses the extra space, but helps the shoes keep their shape," he explained in the video. He also recommended wearing the heaviest pair of shoes while traveling, so it creates more room for packing and also lightens the suitcase load.