Packing Tips
26+ Tips for Packing Room by Room Need a professional?
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Moving house is a slow process, not to mention stress-inducing. It takes up to three months of preparation (unless you’re aiming for a disaster on moving day). Packing your belongings takes up a lot of time. There are professional services that can do this for you, but if you know how to pack brilliantly, you might not need them.
The Fantastic Services team has made this handy guide on packing the most problematic items you may have at home – namely, the fragile glassware.
No matter the item you’re about to pack, there are a few general rules to follow. Knowing these would make any packing day easy going and maybe even fun.
Shop for your packing supplies as if you are moving an entire army. Dedicate a day on just gathering what you need. It may sound like a time-waster, but our main objective is to reduce stress on the big day as much as possible. You will need double-wall, small boxes. That’s right, small. You’ll find out why in a bit. However, make sure they are bigger than the radius of your largest glassware. Additionally, you’ll need cell dividers for glasses, packing tape, bubble wrap, stretch wrap, packing paper, a marker or a stack of sticky labels. Or both.
Now, why do you need small boxes? Well, the experience of many people who moved properties has proven that if the item you are transporting is heavy, the box needs to be small. Dishes, glassware and anything ceramic or porcelain is heavy. If you put them in a large box, they will have space to jiggle and might break on the way resulting in a disaster.
Even if you’re using small boxes, this doesn’t mean you can go overboard with overpacking the heaviest items. Every box has a limit, and it’s usually around 30 pounds. Have a scale nearby to measure your boxes before closing them. Never exceed the box limit. It’s not just bad for the box, but it’s going to be hard on your back as well.
Once a box is full, it would most probably have some empty gaps around the edges. During transportation, your glassware might be unstable, thus increasing the chances for damage. To avoid this, fill the gaps with whatever you have. You might use your packing supplies such as packing paper, or bubble wrap. From your household items, you can use crunched newspaper or an old piece of fabric.
Labels are important not just for your plate and glassware boxes, but for all of your belongings. Once you close the box, you can quickly forget what is where, and unpacking would turn disorganized. That’s where labels come in. You can use a permanent marker to write on the box, or you can label by room and by item. If you have too many boxes, you can even use a colour code system. And, of course, don’t forget to label everything FRAGILE.
When it’s time to load the packed boxes in the moving van, it’s tempting to pile them up one over the other to conserve space. The general rule is to place the heavier boxes on the bottom and the lighter boxes on top. However, boxes loaded with glassware are better left without anything stacked on top of them. They shouldn’t be placed on top of anything either since they might fall off and break.
Here is the easiest way to pack plates by using nothing more than packing paper. If you don’t have packing paper, old newspapers would do the same job.
Cups and bowls have different shapes, so logically, the packing technique will be also individual. Coffee cups usually come in a cardboard box with cups separator inside. If you have kept that box, you can use it for your move. If not, here is how to pack them:
Just like with the plates, prepare the box ahead of time, by laying several sheets of crumpled packing paper, or soft cloth on the bottom and walls. The box should be wide enough to contain about three rows of coffee cups and two rows of small bowls. Or, one large bowl.
Use the same flat surface you used for the plates and wrap each cup with a sheet of packing paper until the ridges are covered completely. Don’t shove too much paper on the inside of the cup, since other cups will be stacked into a bundle. For that, you might have to cut a smaller piece of paper.
Use the same flat surface you used for the plates and wrap each cup with a sheet of packing paper until the ridges are covered completely. Don’t shove too much paper on the inside of the cup, since other cups will be stacked into a bundle. For that, you might have to cut a smaller piece of paper.
Both cups and bowls should be placed upright and stacked together one over the other. Don’t stack any more than 3 or 4 dishes at a time. Three rows of cups, two rows of bowls, or one large bowl should be easy enough to fit in a single box.
Since you’re packing dishes of different shapes and sizes in one box, there might be more gaps than with the plates. Make sure to fill them up with crumpled paper, or other unusable soft cloths. Seal with packing tape and label.
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Juice glasses come in different varieties, but all in all, they don’t differ that much in relation to the space they would take up in a box. They’re easy to pack, in fact, the most specific thing about them is that you’ll have to count a bit.
Wine glasses are tricky since their shape is extremely fragile. They often get broken during transportation. You would benefit a lot if you saved the original box they came in. It’s just the right size and has the right cells, keeping them stable and secure. If you didn’t save it, here is how you can wrap wine glasses with the packing supplies you have.
When wrapping with tape, be careful not to wrap the glass too tightly, or it might break in your hand.
Beer mugs are heavier than standard glassware, which poses a problem for cardboard boxes. If you have more than two beer mugs, we suggest that you use a plastic box instead.
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In today’s modern age, moving house is considered one of the most stress-inducing experiences in a person’s life. With this guide, we hope that we might help alleviate your stress at least a little. The Fantastic Services team wishes you luck on your next endeavour. And, remember, we’re always here if you’re having difficulties.
Image source: antoniodiaz/shutterstock.com
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