This Brilliant $5 IKEA Storage Gem Will Make Every Move So Easy

If you’ve ever moved to a new house or apartment, you understand that it’s an exciting,  exhausting, and oftentimes expensive endeavor. Moving can cost a small fortune, packing up everything you own into moving boxes can be time-consuming, and figuring out the best way to get it all to your new abode can be stressful. 

This includes taking everything out of your closet, putting it all into boxes, then taking it out and hanging it all back up again. If the thought of this makes your head spin, you’re not alone, but one not-so-little bag from IKEA could make this part of the moving process a whole lot easier.

I first came across this idea in an Instagram video by content creator Laura Benson. The self-described “mom who’s done seven years of college move-ins” shows how she uses a big blue IKEA bag with a zipper to neatly pack up everything on their clothing rack. Without taking the clothes off the rack or even off their hanger, she simply puts the bag around it all and zips it up from bottom to top, so everything is secured but the hangers are exposed, so you can easily hang your packed clothes back up.

This specific bag she uses in the video is the FRAKTA storage bag for cart from IKEA, which retails online for just $5. It’s a 20-gallon rectangular bag with large, backpack-esque handles and a yellow zipper that runs up the sides of the bag as well as across, so you don’t have to deal with trying to stuff your long coats into a small opening.

When you’re done unpacking, you often have another task: Figuring out what to do with a bunch of empty boxes. However, this bag can easily come in handy long after your move is done. IKEA’s website suggests using it for laundry, beach days, and shopping trips. It’s also eminently storable (you can just roll it up into a tiny little ball) and could be used for storing any manner of other things, like Christmas decor, out-of-season clothing, and more.

If you’re moving, you’re probably pretty overwhelmed with packing, planning, and all the other stuff you have to think about during this process. So, if you can’t get to an IKEA or don’t want to wait for an online order to ship, that’s okay — you can still take advantage of this moving hack even if you don’t have this specific storage bag, and for even more cheaply. 

Yes, there’s definitely something nice about the zipper and angular shape of this IKEA bag, especially for transporting clothes on hangers, but at the end of the day, it is kind of just … a really big bag. If you have a big duffel bag with wheels and a handle, that could work nicely. If you don’t have that either — just poke a hole in the bottom of a 30-gallon garbage bag, put your hangers with clothes on them through them, and pull the drawstring closed just below the hook of your hangers. Voilà!