Vacuum Storage Bags

A flat bag with a valve and pump gives the strongest compression and slides under the bed and into a suitcase. A cube-shaped 3D bag stacks steadily on a shelf and compresses by pressing with your hands, no pump needed, so it's the easiest for the closet. A travel set comes in sizes that fit a carry-on and with a small electric pump, so you can compress again on the way home from the hotel.

A 40 x 60 cm bag holds a few sweaters or two light down jackets. A summer comforter fits a 50 x 70 cm bag, a thick comforter a 60 x 80 or 70 x 100 cm bag, and a double down comforter sizes of 80 x 100 cm and up. In a suitcase, several medium bags are better than one large one: easier to arrange and to find things.

The culprit is almost always a zipper that isn't closed all the way, or a thread or crumb caught in it. Close it slowly along its full length, run the sealing clip over it a few times, and don't fill the bag up to the zipper. After pumping, screw the valve cap on firmly. A double zipper and a screw-cap valve, as on our bags, are what separate a bag that holds for months from one that puffs up after a week.

At the end of winter, wash and thoroughly dry comforters and sweaters, compress them into bags and store them on the top shelf, under the bed or in the attic. The bag is sealed against moisture, dust and odors, and in the fall you open the zipper and everything returns to its full size. Clear bags save you searching: you see what's in each one without opening it.