Packing tips that will make your move smoother

Posted on 07/08/2014

If you want your move to go by as fast and painless as possible, one factor is to pack your boxes correctly. Here follows some tips on how you can do that. Good luck.

If possible, avoid most of the boxes that are sold in regular stores like IKEA or banana boxes from your local grocery store or supermarket since they are almost never in good quality and will probably break on the first use. And the last thing we want is to lift a box on moving day and having the bottom break and all our plates fall down to the ground. Of course some of those you can use for less fragile things. Either you can take over some boxes from friends or similar. There are some great eco-friendly boxes that you can rent online for a cheap price and that will be collected once you are done and unpacked. They are made out of environmentally friendly plastic and are much more solid than their carton relatives.

Use good quality moving boxes that removal-companies use and it is possible to order “standby” packing, where the client pack as much as they can or have time for, then a removal-company take care of the rest. Some also offer special packing of fragile and valuable goods and export packing for moving abroad.

Here follows some general instructions when you are responsible for preparing the packing for relocation. On each box you really should paste labels on top of the previous label if any. Also indicate which room the box should go, for example; KITCHEN CAREFUL or B.ROOM No.1. Plates should be packed standing on top of one another, each wrapped in paper waste like newspaper or tissues. Wrinkle few sheets of scrap paper and place in the bottom of the box for support. You should lay glass wrapped in paper waste. Do not use newspaper directly on the glass because it will rub off.

Do not pack heavily; packing things like books, you should leave half the carton to lighter things such as pillows or clothing. And when it comes to hanging clothes they should preferably be packed into wardrobe boxes where you can also pack some lighter items like shoes and in between clothes you can put umbrellas smaller paintings, hockey sticks, vacuum tubes etc. Protect the clothes with bubble wrap, or similar. Furniture to be carried should be emptied and taped together so that the shelves, doors or drawers don’t fall out. Another tip is to remove them. Remove cushions from furniture that can be protected with plastic. Mirrors and paintings should be protected with bubble wrap or cardboard. The lighter and smaller paintings may be combined as a package, but put bubble wrap between them and tape the package steadily. Large, fragile or extra valuable paintings or mirrors should be specially packed. Contact a professional for more information. Carpets can be tied together and rolled up.

Lampshades should be disassembled from the lamps and packed into cardboard boxes. All electronics such as TV, computer, DVD and Audio system etc. should be unplugged and properly packaged into their original packages. Cables and cords are unplugged and packed in the same boxes as their holding electronic. That way you don’t need to look for them when unpacking. Store cartons in a dry place! Not outdoors, on the balcony or similar, as they easily absorb moist and become damaged.

There are often things in the context of a move like leftover furniture and garbage. Some removal companies can arrange for removal of this. You just mark what you want to recycle or donate to charity.