Protect Shoes In Your Luggage With An Unexpected, Affordable Common Kitchen Item From IKEA

Every traveler loves a good packing hack, especially if it's free or affordable. From this plastic straw hack for packing your jewelry to this surprisingly genius organizing tip from Samantha Brown, there's tons of surprising advice out there that will improve your packing skills and help you enjoy your vacation even more. One additional piece of packing advice: You can protect your fancy shoes from scuffs with an unexpected, affordable, common kitchen item from IKEA. The humble IRIS oven mitt can do double duty as shoe storage.

As writer Anna Goldfarb explains in a 2019 article for home cooking publication the Kitchn, an IKEA oven mitt — priced at just $3 — not only protects shoes from scuffs, it can also provide padding for fragile souvenirs. "Stuff your fancy shoes in a pair to protect them from scratches and spills. They also provide padded protection for gifts and trinkets you want to bring home," she advises. If you're bringing high heels, you can simply stick the heel in the oven mitt's thumb area. While the model Goldfarb was writing about in 2019 has since been discontinued, the similar HILDEGUN oven mitt is the same shape and price, just with a slightly different design. Of course, you can use pretty much any oven mitt for this purpose, no matter where it's from.

Shoes can make packing tricky — they're bulky and they get dirty easily, so you risk getting dirt on your clean clothes. High heels and delicate sandals can get scuffed, damaged, or even broken in transit. You can try to avoid shoe issues on your vacation by only bringing a single pair of shoes, but that limits both your wardrobe choices and your itinerary. You can't wear the same pair of shoes to go hiking and to go to a fancy restaurant! Instead, consider some additional shoe-packing hacks in addition to the oven mitt trick.

If you're worried about space, one Redditor suggests clipping a pair of shoes to your backpack in order to save space in your luggage. Simply put your shoes in a plastic bag and attach it to your backpack with a carabiner. For another space-saving travel hack, one TikToker suggests purchasing a small item at an airport duty-free shop and putting your shoes in the bag. Most flight attendants will overlook duty-free bags when it comes to carry-on limits. And if you're worried about your shoes dirtying (or stinking up) the clean clothes in your luggage, consider bringing some travel bags to store them in and a deodorizer to minimize the smell. There you go — enjoy all your extra outfit options!