Moving to a new house, seems exciting right? However, packing for a move can be a lengthy and tedious process if you have restricted time. In a highly advanced world, it has become necessary to plan your move. Regardless of where you are moving, whether to your first apartment or fifth apartment, both moving and packing would be a stressful experience for you. Packing a complete household into a few moving boxes might not seem possible for you in the beginning.
We have a few packing tips here that will help you organize the entire process so well that you will become a packing pro by the time you are done with your packing. Next, when your friend or relative is planning a move, you would be inspired to help them and make things smoother for them.
Packing is like a project, especially because you have multiple things to manage. Let's explore a few packing tips for moving that will make the packing process simpler and faster.
Create a moving checklist
It might seem tiresome to prepare a moving checklist, but it would be beneficial for your packing process. Perhaps, if you type or write a to-do list, you will not have to remember your tasks, instead, it would be dedicated to your memory. This would be more important if you were making an international move.
Here are a few things that you might want to include in your checklist:
- Calling the utility companies to turn off the utility services before the moving day.
- Set the mail forwarding services.
- Consider ordering the various packing materials.
- Any specific task that you might not want to forget.
Prepare a budget
Moving can be costly, however, if you set up a budget you can save your moving expenses. With this, you can identify if you can afford to hire full-service movers or if you need to continue with a DIY move. If you prepare a practical moving budget, you will never fail to exceed your budget while making a move.
Professional movers or a DIY move
If your budget allows you and you decide to hire professional movers, here’s what you need to do:
- Consider doing your research on various moving companies and shortlist a few of them.
- You can get referrals from your friends or family members.
- Take the quotes from the shortlist moving companies, compare and choose the one that meets your needs and requirements.
Moreover, if you have planned to make a DIY move, here’s what you need to do:
- Take the quotes from the rental truck companies, including their equipment.
- You may seek the assistance of your friends or family members to help you pack and load your belongings into the moving truck.
Declutter your belongings
If you want to pack easily, you must move to your new apartment only with those belongings you need and purge the rest. We suggest you start purging your possessions around 1 month before the day of moving and do a little bit of it each day or at an interval of a few days. You need to categorize your belongings into categories like donate, sell, gift, recycle or even discard. With this, you will have a clear idea of the belongings you need to pack for your move.
Arrange packing supplies
By now you must have a final list of your belongings that you need to move, we suggest you start buying the moving boxes along with other packing supplies. It would be a good idea to buy more moving boxes than you may need as this will ensure you don’t fall short of moving boxes at the last moment and avoid running to the stores to purchase more. This will reduce your stress and save time that you can invest in doing some other important tasks.
Tip: You may use a packing calculator to estimate how many moving boxes you would be needing to pack all your possessions. In case you have any leftover packing supplies you may either donate or sell them to someone who is moving.
Also, you may consider upcycling the packing supplies, instead of purchasing them. Here’s what you need to do:
- You may ask your friends for a bubble wrap or moving boxes, instead of buying them from office supply stores.
- Consider visiting Craigslist and searching for recycled cardboard boxes.
- Another good option would be to pack your belongings in your bags, drawers, or suitcase.
- You may use clothing or linens to act as a cushion for breakable items like dishes.
Regardless, if you buy or borrow packing supplies like packing tape or moving blankets, make sure you have them before the moving day.
Prepare an Inventory list
- You must enter each item you want to move in a Google sheet or an Excel sheet.
- In a column next to it, type the number of the moving box in which you have placed that item. This will help you find your belongings easily after unpacking in your new house.
- It would be a worthwhile idea to pack the items in each room in a separate moving box.
Improve the moving boxes
- Avoid filling a large box with heavy items like a KitchenAid mixer or books as this might be heavy for you to move. You can use smaller boxes to pack such items.
- You may pack linens or other lightweight items in large boxes.
- Make sure you place the heavy items at the bottom of a moving box, while the lighter items are on the top.
- You must fill the empty spaces in the moving boxes with towels, clothing, or packing paper. No mover will not move a box that seems unbalanced or is loosely packed.
- Make use of sufficient packing tape to secure the bottom and top of your moving boxes.
Plastic wrap to prevent liquid spilling
Simply, unloose the lid, apply a layer of plastic wrap on the opening and tighten the lid again. This will not let the liquid spill out of a bottle.
Avoid packing any hazardous or flammable items
If you are hiring professional movers, you can ask them to provide you with a list of prohibited items. However, we have prepared a list of items that are prohibited, and we shouldn’t pack them for moving:
- Batteries
- Pesticides
- Fertilizers
- Nail polish and acetone remover.
- Matches
- Liquid bleach
- Aerosols
Click Photos of items you are disassembling
If you need to disassemble a piece of furniture or unhook cables, it would be a great idea to click a picture of them before breaking them apart. This will help you reassemble them after you reach your new house. Moreover, if you have hired a moving company, we suggest you click the pictures of all the items that you need to move. This will help you claim for any accidental damage to your products during transit as well as for any lost items.
Color code boxes
You can save a lot of time if you set up your new home with a little bit of planning. Here’s what you can do to optimize the process:
- Make use of different color stickers for each of the moving boxes you have.
- You may allocate one color for each room and make it easy to differentiate.
- Don’t forget to label your moving boxes. This will help you instantly identify to which room each of the moving boxes belongs.
Pack a suitcase
It would be a worthwhile idea to pack a suitcase as if you were packing for a trip. You may not want to tear apart all the moving boxes as soon as you reach your new house and look for every item you need. It would be an ideal option to pack a suitcase with the following essentials:
- Toiletries that may include toothpaste and toothbrushes.
- Toilet paper
- Medicines
- Phone charger
- Change clothes and pajamas
- Toolbox for reassembling your furniture.
- Easy to make breakfast like granola bars and instant coffee.
- Vital documents
Keep your outfits in the dresser’s drawer
There isn’t any need to empty your drawer, however, you can move a dresser with clothes and non-fragile items packed into it. Make sure to cover your dresser with a shrink wrap as this will prevent the drawers from falling apart while it’s in transit. Simply, you need to unwrap the dresser once you reach your destination, and it would be ready to use.
Moreover, you can leave your outfits in the hanger itself and save time in setting up your wardrobe at your new house. You may group five to six hangers and pack them in large garbage bags. Don’t forget to check how heavy your clothes are before you wrap them in a garbage bag. Another good option would be to use a wardrobe box with multiple metal hangers to hold your outfits. You will just have to set up your outfits in your new closet without wasting much time and energy.
You must also protect one pair of shoes from the other while you are packing them for moving. Here’s what you need to do:
- Consider packing each pair separately, otherwise, its heels or buckles might damage the other pairs. Even the dirt and dust on one pair of shoes might mix with the other pair if you don’t wrap them separately.
- It would be a good idea to pack your socks into the shoes as this will help your shoes retain their shape.
- While packing your jewelry you can consider recycling a few items to assist you, for example, you can string your necklace with the help of toilet paper rolls or straws. This will protect your necklace from getting tangled.
Tips to pack the dishes
- Make sure you pack the dishes on their sides. This will reduce the chances of your bowls or dishes breaking in transit.
- You may place the cups in a stand erect position inside the moving box.
- Take additional care while packing the dishes and make use of sufficient packing materials. We suggest you use a lot of packing paper to pack your dishes.
- You must use adequate cushioning in between the dishes and prevent any chipping, breakage, or even scratches.
- If you have glasses to move, wrap them with sufficient layers of packing paper to offer them protection. Also, make use of cardboard dividers to prevent the glasses from getting scratched or breaking.
Make use of special crates to pack expensive items
Here are a few tricks that you should follow to pack expensive items like an art piece safely and securely:
- Avoid wrapping your oil painting in regular paper as it would stick.
- You must create an X with masking tape over the glass to make it strong and prevent it from shattering if you want to pack a picture for moving.
- Make sure you wrap the picture in a bubble wrap or a piece of paper and place it inside the frame box.
- You can use a cardboard piece for each framed component and protect it from getting damaged.
How to pack a TV for moving?
Many moving companies treat a TV like any other piece of furniture. Thus, they consider wrapping them in a moving blanket or quilted furniture pads. However, if you have a Plasma TV, here are a few tips that you must follow:
- You may use special wooden crates to pack a plasma tv if you have lost its original box. Avoid laying your plasma tv flat, otherwise, you will lose your precious investment.
- If you haven’t hired any professional packing service, we suggest you double pack your television set.
- Place the box containing the plasma tv inside another box that you might have cushioned with packing paper.
Are you ready to move?
If you follow the above guidelines, you are ready to make the move. Overall, we have covered everything that you should know, however for further assistance you can contact us at Movers.com. Our professional team will help you move your couch, computer, or specialty items easily and efficiently.