1PRO MOVING & SHIPPING (PACKING TIPS)
Before You Begin:
Preparing a convenient place to work and keeping your packing materials in one place are
important in completing the packing by moving day. If there is a spare room available, consider
setting it up as your packing headquarters.
A large table covered with a heavy blanket, quilt, or mattress pad makes a good firm work
surface. It is helpful to have a second covered table nearby to place soon packed items on.
Gather together everything you need:
- Packing paper, tissue paper, paper towels or newsprint (Bubble wrap for glass) can be embedded in fine china if used for direct wrapping.
- Various sizes of sturdy cartons with lids that can be completely closed
- Notebook and pencil for listing cartons as they are packed
- Packing tape for sealing packed cartons
- Felt marker for labeling the packed boxes
- Scissors, sharp knife and/or tape dispenser. Now that you are ready …
Good packing means:
- Wrapping items carefully
- Using sturdy cartons that close
- Making sure to pack firm boxes that will not rattle, bulge outward or bend inward
- Providing plenty of cushion to absorb shock
- Limiting the weight of boxes, where possible, to 50 pounds to make handling easier
Basic Rules Of Packing:
- Pack similar items together.
- Do not pack delicate china in the carton with iron frying pans, for example.
- Start with out of season items. Next pack those items used infrequently. Leave until last the items that you need until moving day.
- Keep pairs and sets of things together.
- Pack heavy items in small boxes and light items in big boxes.
- Empty drawers of breakables, spillables, or anything that would puncture or damage other items.
- Wrap items individually in clean paper; use tissue paper
- Wind electrical cords, fastening them so that they won’t tangle.
- Pack the boxes in layers with the heaviest items on the bottom, medium weight items next and lightest items on top.
- Avoid overloading the carton, but strive for a firm pack.
- Label all cartons clearly by marking on the 2 sides and the top.
- As you finish with each carton, list it and its contents on an inventory in a notebook.
- In then case of packing lots of boxes, you may want to number and color code the boxes for each room.
- Label any boxes that you will need immediately at the new house “unpack first”.
How To Pack Glassware, China Silverware:
- We recommends using a Dish pack carton, an extremely sturdy carton of double wall construction designed especially for china, glassware, clocks and other fragile items less than 18” in size.
- Place a two or three inch layer of wadded up paper in the bottom of the carton to serve as a cushion.
- Wrap items individually in clean paper. Using several sheets of paper and or bubble wrap for china and glassware.
- Pack the largest and heaviest items in the bottom of the carton, medium weight and most fragile items on top.
Flat China And Glassware:
- Place cushioning material in bottom of the box. Then wrap each piece individually; then wrap four to six like sized items into a bundle with a double layer of newsprint. Place these bundled items in a Dishpack carton on edge.
- Fill an entire layer of a box with bundles and surround each layer with wadded up paper to prevent shifting. Add two or three inches of wadded up paper on top of each layer to protect rims and edges and to make a level surface to pack the next layer on top of. Dishpack, flat cardboard can be helpful in between the racks and on top.
Bowls And Odd Shaped Pieces:
- Stand shallow bowls on edge in a carton and deep ones (such as mixing bowls) nested two or three together upside down on their rims.
- Wrap bowl lids in packing paper or half a sheet of newsprint and turn upside down on top of the bowl, then wrap both pieces together in a double layer of wrapping paper.
Cups And Stemware:
- Wrap cups and stemware in a double layer of wrapping paper and place them upside down on rims in a row on the upper layer of a Dishpack, if placing more then 1 layer, it’s a good idea to separate with thick cardboard on top of the 1st layer.
Figurines, Bric-a-brac, Other Delicate Items:
- Small mirrors, plaques and pictures should be wrapped individually in tissue paper or packing paper. A bath towel also makes excellent wrapping for large glass. Place flat items on edge in a carton. Figurines and other small fragile items should be wrapped in bubble wrap or packing paper and packed in the top layer of a Dishpack.
Lamp Bases And Shades:
- After removing the light bulb and shade, wrap them separately in newsprint or bubble wrap and place together safely in a carton, place pillow or cushiness to avoid shifting. Too much paper can cause the sides of a shade to bow inward.
- Same for glass type shade or chandelier.
Glass Table Tops, Marble Slabs, Extra Large Mirrors, Paintings:
- All items are very fragile. They should either be professionally crated into a wooden crate or carried separately in your personal vehicle if possible. Same for glass type shade or chandelier.
Dresser Mirrors And Pictures:
- Mirrors, pictures and glass table tops up to approximately 30″ x 50″ can be packed into a mirror pack. Wrap each item in a paper pad or light blanket. Adjusted to the size of the item to be packed but leave room on the sides for cushioning material, Wrap tape completely around the box both horizontally and vertically. Do not lay a mirror carton flat, make sure that it is upright at all times.
