Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our move is finally getting real. It's looking like my husband will be heading to Florida without us (as DD finishes school here). He'll be renting a 2 bedroom place - probably a townhome - while I work on pakcing and selling the house.
So we'll be doing a split move. He'll take some furniture he needs - bed, dresser, table, chairs, some household stuff - but the bulk of the house will come with me when we sell.
I have already some uhaul packing materials for regular items and have made a good dent with that. But I need some advice on items that are not easily packed in a box.
Specifically:
Kitchen items like the blender, food processor, stand mixer - the boxes for these are long gone.
Lamps - table and free standing - 12/6 respectively
Large mirrors - antiques that I really want protected - 2 wall and 1 cheval
Small mirrors - also antiques - 4
Other frames pieces that are fairly large - paintings and such - 6
Garage items like tools - we'll leave some but will bring others. I don't think we'll need a snow shovel and I'm not moving the old mower - but all the hand tools are coming like the chop saw, the circular saw. Some things we still have the box for but others, no.
Basically I could use some good tips on how to pack these things - where to get supplies. I really want to do most of the actual packing on my own.
If you are using a professional mover, then have the pros pack the breakables. I had several mirrors and two stained glass panels as well as some art packed. The stained glass and the big mirror were actually crated. That is, the guy built the crate around the pieces. They arrived beautifully. If you have pieces that are valuable, then IMO, that is the way to go.
I am wracking my brain about our art. I believe the movers used special flat boxes for them. You might be able to find these at a mover.
If you let the pros pack the breakable and valuable things, you will still have very much to pack on your own. I packed all unbreakable kitchen gear, books, photos, clothing, sewing and craft supplies, and some decorative pieces. I was very busy donating as well. We kept track of our donations--the major ones--and we donated a lot.
I am so happy the pros packed my old china. They did a beautiful job--far better than I could have done. And they did a nice job with our lamps, but I can't remember how they packed them.
I guess I am encouraging you to allow packers do the hard stuff for you, unless you need to pinch every penny on the move. I think you are likely to have a better outcome, especially if some of your things are valuable.
Lower dollar appliances and anything you can live without - give to charity. ( I no longer try to recoup a few bucks by selling them- too much of a flake parade) Buy new ones at new place.
If you were moving to Alaska I'd say ditch ALL of it Good to evaluate the cost and hassle of shipping common items that can be easily replaced.
My last move was just a 4 hour drive away, and I downsized to a small studio, still...I had artwork and a wicker filing cabinet that I was concerned about getting cracked. I wrapped the heck out of everything with giant bubble wrap. I got a couple of huge rolls delivered. Bought them on Ebay.
I had two students help me load the trailer on the front end, and two young movers hired on the new apt end. On both ends you could hear the bubble wrap popping as they moved things around lol! But, everything arrived just fine. I got some really wide tape - like 4" wide from U-Line years ago, and used that to tape the bubble wrap to the items.
Some pretty cheap boxes are the filing boxes you can buy at Staples or Office Max. They come in a bundle for around $1.50 each, bundle of 10 or 12, I think. You put them together. I pack as much into these boxes when I move, as they're really easy to move, and stack, since they're uniform. Cheaper than U-Haul boxes. They won't work for everything, but lots of stuff will fit into them, and it keeps you from packing huge, really heavy boxes, for things that will fit in these smaller ones.
One of the reasons I really like these filing boxes, is that you don't have a ton of boxes taking up space while you're trying to organize, etc. You just put one box together at a time, fill it up, and stack it. Then go back to the nice neat, flat pile of boxes, and put together another one. I can't think when I'm surrounded with too much junk. Helped me not feel so overwhelmed.
These are what I'm talking about. They're easy to write on, too. Write on all sides, so it's easy to see what's in the boxes, no matter how they get turned.
If you have a shredder and all those old letter, ads, etc, run them through the shredder and bag them. Makes great packing material for odd items. Pack the blender, etc in a box, then put the shredded packing materials around them.
As to pictures, etc, UHaul has frame boxes for mirrors and boxes. Tools - small boxes for hand tools, heavy items. Large items, you may just have to take 2-3 boxes, cut and tape to make a box, again filling with peanuts or shredded paper.
But I'm with another poster. The waffle iron, cheap blender, old pots and pans, etc. Sell this stuff or give it to Goodwill/Salvation Army. Cheaper to buy new than move.
When I moved I bought telescoping boxes for my mirrors and pictures from a company called ULine. They can be adjusted to a maximum size of 48" x 72" so they can handle some pretty big things. On the downside, you can't just buy one box, you have to buy a minimum of 10.
As for lamps, remove the shade, wrap it in packing paper and box it by itself with more paper for padding. Remove the bulb from the lamp, wrap the lamp in paper, and pack it in a box tall enough for the lamp to stand straight.
Lots of good suggestions here.
Someone beat me to the liquor boxes...I use Corona boxes all the time...they are a good size for many things including books. Most nightclubs break them down and throw them away...ask and they will give them to you...so will Kinkos...paper boxes are great also.
As for garden tools...yard sale or donate...not worth moving.
One very helpful must have for me is shrink wrap! Both the large roll and the handle roll. You can leave dressers full..just wrap them and dolly away. Packing paper or newspaper wadded up makes good dunnage. So do plastic grocery bags filled with shredded paper.
Often if I know I'm going to move I'll save all my junk mail and other papers off to the side until packing time then run them through the shredder and fill plastic shopping bags then tie them for padding/dunnage.
I always mark my boxes on a corner...all three sides of a corner....and always the same corner. That way I can easily see which boxes have what without moving them around and opening them to find out....even when stacked.
This works especially well if putting stuff in storage.
When packing dishes either use foam sleeves or loosely and sloppily wrap every other plate...by wrapping sloppily and loosely you create padding.
Mirrors and art should either be crated or if on the cheap, get a couple of refrigerator boxes from an appliance store...the cardboard is often doubled up. Use the foam and cardboard corners that are left in them to make edge protection and then cut the boxes apart and use the large heavy cardboard to create a crate of sorts. Initially tape to hold together but ultimately use the large roll of shrink-wrap to wrap it up.
All electrical items have their cords rolled up and shrink-wrapped to the main body.
Empty water bottles capped make good dunnage also.
So do towels, linens, blankets, T-shirts and pillows...just place them in plastic bags first if needed. otherwise just launder them when at the new place.
Rubbermaid tubs make good food containers for dry goods, again, shrink-wrap them shut and marker the wrap for identification.
Having moved many times, there is no way I would want to re-purchase items at my new location every time I moved!!! Some of these posters must have unlimited funds. Purging unused items is one thing, but getting rid of things just to have to buy them again isn't necessary IMO.
Large Rubbermaid garbage barrels make an excellent way to move garden tools. Shovels, rakes, shears, etc. can be placed in the barrel and the exposed handles either shrinkwrapped, tied, or if the moving company requires them to be covered, another barrel or box upside down and both barrels duct taped together.
Artwork and mirrors can be safely moved if you wrap them in blankets or bedspreads and place upright in a box. The layers of padding these blankets provide are an inexpensive and ideal way to protect the art & mirrors.
Newspaper offices have remnant rolls of unprinted newspaper that they will sell for a nominal fee. Dishes and glassware can be wrapped in this paper and should arrive safely, and with no ink stains since the paper is unprinted. As another poster mentioned, sloppy wrapping is key for extra protection.
I'm a big fan of banana boxes, which can be gotten for the asking at any grocery store. They have lids and cut-outs on the sides for handles.
For large paintings one should find an art supplies store which may have the right size boxes that would fit and can't usually be found in other places.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Good to evaluate the cost and hassle of shipping common items that can be easily replaced.
