Going somewhere else to live is exciting, but it also comes with its unique challenges. When moving, you need to take special care that all of your precious, fragile items get to where they’re going in one piece. It is simply not enough to stack them in a box and hope for the best – that’s just a recipe for disaster. What you should do instead, for your ease of mind, is follow this guide to make sure none of your fine china or commemorative glasses get broken up during your move.
Firstly, pick a medium-sized box you’re planning to use for your dishes. Immediately afterward, – label it! Make sure the label informs about the box’s fragile status, as well as which side up it should be. From the moment you pack this box to the moment you unpack, inevitably, a lot of time will pass. It’s normal to get side-tracked and forget which box holds what. This is fine in most cases, except for dishes. You want to make sure that whenever the box gets moved, whoever is handling it knows to be extra careful when handling it.
Next up – reinforce the box with tape! Dish boxes often end up weighing a lot more than you might expect, so much so that they could even cave in. Nothing is worse than having everything ready for the move and hearing a rip followed by the loud clanking of broken dishes.
The next piece of advice is to wrap the dishes snugly in packing paper. You have to make sure it coats the surface well all over, to prevent weak spots. Wrap each plate individually, according to its specific needs. Start with the heaviest items and work your way up. Once you’re done, secure the paper with tape and move on to the next one. Repeat until done.
After you’ve packed up all the dishes into the box (again, make sure you take into account the weight – it’s easy to overpack here), it is time to add the padding into the box. Store-bought fillings are ideal, but towels or crumpled paper will do in a pinch, provided they cover all the points of contact. Once you’ve added the necessary padding, you can start loading up your dishes – starting with the heaviest first. That is the secret to keeping your glasses and finery in one piece during the move.
Once you’re done with the current box, seal it with the most durable tape you’ve got around and move on to the next one. This process can take some time, but you have to make sure you do it right. The placement of the box in the moving truck is also essential. Since it’s fragile, it should be at the bottom, preferably fastened or placed inside a piece of furniture that would help protect it.
The easiest way to pack your dishes for moving, however, is to have professionals do it. There is no short supply of moving companies that pack for you, including us. Here at AP Pro Moving LLC, we pride ourselves on our ability to handle 100% of the workload for extremely reasonable prices, so you don’t have to. We come with our packing supplies and time-worn experience to make sure your fragile items, dishes among them, will get where they need to in one piece.
Lastly, try to leave the dish-packing for last. It’s a purely practical point, but you will have to eat out of something, after all, until your move.
