Home Packing Guide

Packing For Your Move

Moving a house or even going for a vacation calls for one tedious task, and that’s packing! Packing your stuff can be really difficult and a rather hectic job. So don’t rely on the last moment for packing.

Start packing from way before to avoid last minute confusion. Try and finish as much packing as you can well ahead of your moving time. The more you delay, the more tiresome it will get. So follow our packing guide and pack well in advance.

Plan what goods you want to move and then start to pack them accordingly. Make sure that you pack heavy things such as books in smaller boxes and lighter things in larger boxes. This way you can make sure that all your boxes, smaller or big once, will be of equal weight. Ideally, the weight should be within 50 lbs for both the smaller and bigger boxes.

Prioritize what you want to pack before and what later on. You might need to use some things, say for example, the tool box, later on. So pack such things later on.

However, if you are planning to move your furniture then you should start dismantling it from before. For example, if you have a water bed then empty the water the night before as this will need at least two hours of your time. If any extra fittings are attached to your furniture, be very careful when you dismantle it. Keep the extra fittings safely.

Extra fittings can go missing easily and then to replace them can be a hard task if not impossible.

Pack all important but small things like say, all the remote controls you have for your various gadgets, safely in one box. Label the box properly so that you can locate it easily after you reach your new home and unpack.

In fact, label all the boxes that you pack. Use colorful labels for all your boxes and every thing that you pack. For packing use plastic tapes that are 1.5” to 2” inches wide. You will need lot of paper for packing. You can use newspapers to wrap things. However, remember that the ink in news papers can run if wet, so whatever you wrap with newspaper can get soiled. You may need to clean them after unwrapping them. One good option is buying unprinted paper or you can also buy good quality wrapping paper.

For delicate things like mirrors or vases, you can use bubble wrap. Don’t use newspaper to wrap delicate things like lamp shades and pots or even rough surfaces like computer parts, as newspaper wrapping is messy. You can use foam wrap as well. After wrapping all the delicate stuff, label them ‘fragile’ and ‘handle with care’. Move these delicate things yourself. It would be best if you can carry them with you in the back of your car. Pack little and delicate items like cups, saucers, lids of tea-pots with even greater care. Use plenty of paper for wrapping them so that there is no damage due to friction. Wrap each peace with layers of bubble, foam and paper and then label each piece and keep them all together in a bigger box. Label the box fragile and tape every piece and the box very securely. You can use cushions at the base of the box where you will pack your delicate things.

Bigger delicate items like plates should be packed with great care. They should be separately kept and not with smaller delicate things.

Plates, for example, should be packed in sets of six plates. They should be stacked one upon the other but each plate should be separated from the plate below, and above, by a layer of foam or bubble wrap.

They should be kept in separate packages and labeled properly. To easily locate and identify things you can make brightly colored labels and also use colorful tapes. Lamp shades too should be wrapped in white paper and each one placed in one box.

Pack your silverware with equal care. Smaller items, like spoons, should be packed in bundles. Don’t put them in the same box as your delicate things. You can use foam wrap or bubble wrap for your silverware as well. Use plenty of paper for wrapping them.

Use markers to write on the boxes clearly marking what they contain and where they should be kept in your new home. For example, if a box contains books and you want to keep them in the book shelf in your new home, then write ‘books’ and ‘living room’ on the box. Draw an upwards arrow if you want the boxes to be kept upright all the time.

Lastly, file your important documents but keep them at an easily accessible place incase you need them anytime. Hopefully this packing guide will make moving much nicer experience for you.