Expert reveals bizarre reason why you should pack your suitcase the night before you travel

We all love to get away on holiday.

But the run up to a holiday is enough in itself to make us need to a getaway.

Holiday shopping, making sure we’ve got all right paperwork and documents, and for the forgetful ones among us digging out the passports from their elusive hiding places.

But one pre-holiday chore that is universally stress-inducing is the dreaded packing ritual.

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Trying to stuff two weeks worth of clothes, shoes, toiletries and accessories into every crevice of your suitcase is not the most relaxing of tasks.

But now a travel expert has weighed in on how to maximise the space in your suitcase so you can fit that extra pair of wedges without having to bounce on the top of your luggage to try and get the zip to close.

And we were shocked at the slightly strange revelation.

Lois Robertson, brand manager at London Stansted Airport gave away a little known hack, revealing that if you pack your suitcase the day before you go away you will actually have more room.

Here’s how it works.

According to Lois, our clothes contain a number of chemical elements so when we pack up our garments in a suitcase, those elements take up space.

“Studies have shown that your clothes are filled with eight per cent or more of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon and Carbon Dioxide,’ Lois told the Express Online.

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However, if you pack up your clothes the day before you go away, or even earlier if you’re organised enough, you’ll actually make more room to add extra bits in later.

This is because if you leave the clothes in the case for a bit, it gives time for the build-up of chemicals to settle, which creates more room.

“If you pack and leave your clothes to ‘settle’ overnight the mixture of gravity and compression will push this out and leave you with a little more wiggle room,’ added Lois.

Obviously you won’t be left with half a suitcase’s worth of space Mary Poppins style, but you will be able to create a little bit of extra space to fit in those awkward extras that always leave the suitcase zip just that bit strained.