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Ship clothing in a sealed plastic bag inside a box or a sturdy poly mailer, folded neatly so it arrives unwrinkled, with heavier items at the bottom and delicate fabrics kept away from zippers and rough seams. Clothing is light and forgiving, but water, snags, and crushing are the three ways a parcel of clothes arrives in worse shape than it left.
Poly mailers win for soft, light clothing: they weigh less, cost less to ship, and conform to the contents. Boxes win when the clothing must hold a shape, such as a structured jacket, a hat, or a garment on a hanger, or when the parcel also contains shoes or accessories that could crush fabric. A good rule is mailer for T-shirts, knitwear, and soft items, and box for anything tailored, boxed, or mixed with hard objects. Either way, the plastic bag inside is what protects against rain and warehouse damp, since neither a mailer nor a cardboard box is waterproof on its own.
Weight is the quiet advantage of clothing parcels. Most clothing parcels sit well under carrier weight limits, including the 5 kg flat-rate limit for LetterAgent labels, so the packing choice is driven by protection and cost rather than weight. The exception is bulk: a parcel of jeans or winter coats adds up fast, so weigh a bulk clothing parcel packed before you buy a label, rather than guessing from the item count.
| Clothing type | Best packing | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| T-shirts, knitwear | Fold, bag, mailer or box | Snagging on zippers packed in the same parcel |
| Tailored jackets, suits | Garment bag, then box, kept flat or hung | Creasing at the shoulders if folded hard |
| Shoes with clothing | Shoes in their own bag, kept separate from fabric | Shoe soles marking light fabric |
| Delicate fabrics, silk or lace | Tissue paper between folds, sealed bag, box | Hooks, buttons, or rough seams catching the weave |
Fold along the garment's own seams rather than forcing new creases, and place tissue paper between folds for delicate fabrics, which stops the fabric pressing a sharp crease into itself. Button all buttons and close all zippers before packing: an open zipper is the most common snag source inside a clothing parcel, and it will find the knitwear packed next to it. Turn printed or embellished items inside out so beads, sequins, or prints face inward and cannot catch on neighbouring fabric. For a garment that must arrive crisp, rolling rather than folding can reduce creases, though it takes more space.
Ship clothing clean and fully dry. Damp fabric sealed in plastic grows musty fast, and a parcel that sits in a warm sorting facility for a few days will arrive smelling worse than it left. If the clothing was stored with mothballs or strong scent, air it out before packing, since a sealed bag locks that smell in. Keep the parcel away from anything that can stain: do not pack clothing with shoes that have wet soles, toiletries that can leak, or food items, even in separate bags, since a leak inside a sealed parcel spreads farther than senders expect.
On a poly mailer, press the label flat and smooth out air bubbles, since a label that peels at a corner can jam a sorting machine or fall off entirely. On a box, tape over the label edges with clear tape for the same reason. Put a slip with both addresses inside the parcel as a backup, and photograph the packed parcel before sealing it if the contents are valuable. Clothing parcels are rarely opened in transit, but if the outer label fails, that inside slip is what gets the parcel home.
With LetterAgent, you get a Canada Post Xpresspost shipping label by asking your AI assistant. You get a per-label quote, approve the exact price, pay once through Stripe, and receive a label PDF. Labels are Canada-only, flat-rate Xpresspost, with a 5 kg maximum. That limit shapes several of the choices below.
Ready to ship it? Get a shipping label with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and get your label.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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