One of the worst parts of moving to a new home is packing up your old one. It’s not always easy to keep track of where everything is going and knowing what to pack first. You also need to deal with protecting your belongings so nothing breaks. As such, it will help to hire professionals like Mesa Moving and Storage for the job.
Keep reading to learn how to to do proper packaging protection during your move.
Packaging Protection: The Basics
Once you started planning your move, you probably already created a mental checklist of all the supplies you need—boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and so on. Many people pick up old boxes from grocery or liquor stores and reuse linens to wrap their items, which is excellent! But you need to do more to ensure your belongings arrive safely at their destination.
First, think about what you are packing and the relative sizes of your things. Do you have a lot of oversized items that will take up a lot of room? How about shelves of little knick-knacks that will all fit in one package?
The size boxes you get is important, especially when it comes to transporting easily broken things, because you don’t want them to be filled with a lot of empty space. Everything should be snug but not squished. Make sure to label these boxes well so you and whoever you have helping you with your move knows the contents should be handled with care.
Essential packaging products you should have are:
- Packaging inserts
- Flexible corrugated cardboard wrap
- Crinkle paper
- Bubble wrap
- Packing peanuts/loose fill
- Kraft and/or newsprint paper
- Air pillows
- Foam sheets
- Tissue paper
- Edge and corner protectors
- Styrofoam sheets
- Polysheeting
While you probably won’t need all of these, you could use a combination of these items to protect your stuff.
Packing and Moving Fragile Items
One of the most stressful parts of moving is packing up all of your fragile items and hoping they survive the trip to the new house. Here are some tips for protecting items easily breakable when packing for a move.
Plates, Bowls, Glasses, and Mugs
Dishes should be wrapped individually. Use a combination of tissue, kraft, and/or newsprint paper to cover plates and bowls. Place small bowls inside of larger ones, but don’t stack too many together.
Wrap the plates in paper and do not lie them in a box flat, as they are more likely to break that way. Using Styrofoam or packaging inserts to store them vertically. Make sure there isn’t a lot of excessive room; use loose filling or linens in between the plates to secure them before taping up the box.
As for glasses, you’ll need to take care to wrap them properly and use inserts to keep them steady. Consider boxing up glasses (especially stemware) in a small box and then securing it in a larger one filled with crinkle paper or packing peanuts for extra protection. Label the box as fragile and indicate which side should face up.
Mugs are slightly easier to pack than stemware. You just need to make sure the handles do not break in transport. Follow the same steps as packing glasses and consider the double-boxing method.
Picture Frames, Mirrors, and Sculptures
Picture frames and mirrors have a pretty good chance of breaking during a move. Using a roll of artist’s tape or blue painter’s tape, put an X across the front of the glass. This helps the glass absorb shock and, in the event it does break, it will be easier to clean up.
Wrap them in paper or a thick blanket and surround them with bubble wrap. Ideally, these will be packed in their own separate boxes, but if you can’t, pack them together vertically with no wiggle room.
For transporting sculptures, line a box with a liberal amount of packing peanuts and crinkle paper or airbags. Wrap the sculpture in layers of paper, linen, and bubble wrap (if you can). It should be packed tightly and place so the weight is distributed evenly throughout the box.
Lamps, TVs, and Other Electric Devices
Disassemble your lamps before you start packing them. Remove the lampshade and the metal support holding the shade. Discard the current light bulb and wrap the fixture the same way as you would a vase.
Flatscreen TVs are fragile and awkward. Remove as many cords and extensions as you can so they do not get damaged. Wrap the TV in a thick blanket and store it upright in a box slightly bigger than the appliance.
Keep the manuals and cords for your electric devices together. Use bags to keep everything untangled and organize. Always remove items like batteries, ink cartridges, CDs, DVDs, etc.
Other-Decorations and Irregularly Shaped Item
You will likely end up with an “other” box: a box for items that don’t have a specific category or don’t quite fit in with everything else, for fragile “other” items, such as knick-knacks or oversized/oddly shaped pieces.
However you decide to pack these (newspaper, linens, bubble wrap, cardboard), make sure you do not leave any room for the items to bump around. Don’t fill the box so much that it is difficult to close, but any empty space should be protected by materials like bubble wrap or packing peanuts.
For more advice on how to pack easily broken and fragile items, check out this easy guide.
Get Some Help
Packaging products like loose-fill, bubble wrap, airbags, newsprint paper, and more, are essential to protect your things during your move. If you aren’t confident in your wrapping skills or just need an extra hand, you can use the help of a white-glove moving service.
White glove moving services are high-end companies that specialize in handling belongings with the utmost care.
That’s a Wrap
Now you know the materials you need to start the process of moving and packaging protection. Gather up all the relevant supplies and boxing everything up. You can always hire some extra hands and use a white glove moving company to help the process go smoothly.
If you found this article on protecting your items for a move, be sure to check out the rest of our blog for all types of advice!
Rene Bennett is a graduate of New Jersey, where he played volleyball and annoyed a lot of professors. Now as Zobuz’s Editor, he enjoys writing about delicious BBQ, outrageous style trends and all things Buzz worthy.
