How to Pack Fragile Items for Moving – Tips for Packing Fragile Items for Moving
10th November, 2016
When it comes to instructions on how to pack fragile items for moving, look no further. Packing fragile items for moving requires certain steps, including:
Step 1: Arm yourself with the best moving and packing equipment
Step 2: Give each box a strong base
Step 3: Use bubble wrap to encase and protect each item
Step 4: Make sure there are no empty spaces in your boxes
Step 5: Mark each box clearly as ‘fragile’
Step 6: Inform removal teams about the fragile boxes.
Moving fragile items successfully is all about giving yourself time to prepare. You need to devote time, attention and care to the process. If you rush through this part of your move, your treasures simply won’t be safe or secure.
Step 1: Arm Yourself with the Best Moving and Packing Equipment
Usually fragile items are valuable, either in terms of their price tag or sentimental attachment. This value makes it worthwhile to invest in good quality packing materials, such as heavy duty moving boxes, bubble wrap and professional packing paper.
Don’t fall into the trap of using newspaper when performing fragile items packing. Firstly, it doesn’t provide the protection that bubble wrap does and secondly, the ink can run and stain items.
Step 2: Give Each Box a Strong Base
A strong foundation is the key to any successful undertaking and the same applies to packing fragile items for moving. The best way to ensure a strong foundation in your moving boxes is to create a base out of bubble wrap or packing paper. During the removals process, your fragile treasures may bump up and down inside your boxes, so having a soft place to land will make a world of difference.
Step 3: Use Bubble Wrap to Encase and Protect Each Item
You need to devote a significant amount of time to this step. You don’t want to rush through and just do a quick wrap. Instead, you need to carefully wind the bubble wrap around each treasure, making sure that every section of it has enough protection. Thin areas of fragile items, such as stems on wine glasses, need thicker sections of wrapping.
Step 4: Make Sure There Are No Empty Spaces in Your Boxes
Your fragile items will hate empty spaces. Empty spaces in your boxes create room for your treasures to bounce around, crash into each other and eventually break. Filling empty spaces doesn’t mean shoving as many items into a box as possible. Instead, you should fit each item comfortably into your boxes and fill up the empty spaces with bubble wrap or packing paper.
To give each item extra protection, you can even place little cardboard dividers into the box to cordon them off to prevent rubbing or clashing.
Step 5: Mark Each Box Clearly as ‘Fragile’
This is a fairly obvious point but it’s something that is often overlooked. If you’ve gone to all that trouble to packing fragile items for moving as carefully as possible, you need to make sure you remember which boxes contain these fragile items. The best way to do this is to clearly mark each side of the box with ‘fragile.’ The boxes should also contain an arrow, showing the way the box needs to rest.
Step 6: Inform Removal Teams About the Fragile Boxes
Your removals team will know the best possible techniques for moving fragile items, but first you have to make sure they know which boxes contain fragile items. Marking all your boxes is a great first step, but it’s also a good idea to point out the boxes that need special attention. If your boxes are clearly marked and you’ve pointed them out to your removalists, you can rest easy in knowing that they’ll be looked after during uplift, transit and drop-off.
Now you know how to pack fragile items for moving, all you have to do is follow Kent’s simple procedure and your fragile items should arrive intact.