Using the correct packing materials for the job
When it is time to move home, many people decide to do all the packing themselves rather than pay a removal company to come in and complete all the packing and packaging for them. It is often far cheaper to do it yourself, and you have a much better chance of finding things once in your new home, as you know what you packed in each box.
But we often see people making the same common mistakes when packing for their own house removal, and this blog post is created to shed some light and educate our customers on what they should and shouldn't do with regards to packing your own boxes ready for your removal.
Boxes for moving house come in many different shapes and sizes, and we are still amazed at how often we find customers taking the biggest box they can find and then filling it with the heaviest items in their home, like books or vinyl records. Then when we arrive to move their possessions to their new home we get informed "that box is really heavy", and more often than not we end up re-packing it or using two men to lift it instead. Don't overfill your boxes when packing up, think about carrying and moving your boxes while you pack and spreading the weight of your items equally between your boxes where possible. Use smaller, more manageable boxes for heavier items like books, and bigger boxes for lighter items like ornaments, toys or cushions.
Spending a little bit of money on strong uniformed identical packing boxes will save you a lot of time and aggravation in the long run, and more often than not, your removal company will be able to supply all your packing materials for you. Free boxes always sound good, perhaps from a local shop or business, maybe from some friends or family that have moved recently themselves, but they need to be up to the task, strong and stackable. Make sure you are getting boxes that can be taped closed at the top and bottom as this makes stacking the boxes so much easier and saves a lot of space. Avoid open top boxes such as fruit and vegetable boxes from your local supermarket, they are just not suitable for the task. Where possible, stick with double ply thickness removals boxes or similar.
Being careful to label your boxes well while you pack for your house move can make all the difference when it comes time to unpack. Once you have moved into your new property, and the removers have left, you still have a lot of work to do unpacking and deciding where everything will live in your new home. So a few extra minutes spent preparing the boxes while packing, labelling which room they need to go in and an idea of each box's contents will really help out when you are unpacking at the new house. Make sure you use good strong packing tape as well, otherwise the boxes may split and items could get broken while being moved. Try and avoid small thin tapes or folding the boxes shut, as this will cause more problems during the move.
When it comes to china, glass, crockery and kitchen items, we always advise you to use proper packing paper and bubble wrap, rather than old newspapers or magazines. The newspaper ink may rub off on your fine china causing damage or at the very least a lot of cleaning to be done once you unpack your items in your new house. A good rule of thumb is to use bubble wrap for all your glass and most fragile items and packing paper for the crockery, with any gaps in the boxes filled with screwed up paper and bubble wrap to prevent any movement within the boxes while being transported, that way everything should get moved safely without being broken.
Once you get the packing bug, it may surprise you where it ends, and you have to choose any specialist packing equipment carefully, or things will start to get expensive. We highly recommend a tv box or a couple of picture boxes to make moving day that little bit easier, but you can also go so far as to pick up extras like wardrobe boxes to hang your clothes in, wine boxes to transport you alcohol, and should you require one at all, barometer boxes to keep your barometer vertical while in transport and avoid damaging the mercury inside.
So as you can see, taking a little extra time to consider using the correct packing materials for your house move really does pay for itself in the end. Here at Smooth Move Removals we offer packing materials on all our house removal jobs, and we give our customers plenty of advice and tips on how they should be ready for their house move before we arrive on moving day.
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