How to Pack Your Items When Moving House
When moving house, preparation is key, and that especially applies to ensuring all your items are well packed and ready move – the last thing you want is to have to stop everything to repack your items, or find things damaged when you arrive.
Packing Boxes and Materials
The first thing you can do is start stockpiling boxes, even if your move is months away. If you get an packages delivered to your house, make sure you keep the boxes and packing material that they arrive in. It’s also worth speaking to one of the staff in your local supermarkets or shops, as they often have surplus empty boxes from all their deliveries, and you may find that they’ll let you collect any they don’t need at certain times.
While stockpiling boxes may help, most people find they also need to source some additional boxes to ensure they have enough of the right sizes. Make a note of how many of each box size you have (e.g. small, medium, large), and order whatever you are lacking. You may find that speaking to your removal company will help, as they can often supply boxes and will be able to advise on how many you’ll need.
In addition to boxes, make sure that you also have a good supply of other packing materials such as tape, scissors, bubble-wrap, labels and pens before you start - there is nothing more annoying than running out of supplies when you’re half-way through packing a box.
How to Pack Your Boxes
When packing your items into boxes, ensure that everything is suitably well protected, and that you’re not overpacking your boxes. Don’t scrimp on bubble wrap, and ensure you put enough material in the box to prevent things from shaking around inside – if necessary use old newspaper to pad them out. Try to put heavier items at the bottom of the box to prevent things from being crushed inside.
Rather than just randomly pack everything, it will help with the unpacking if you pack all your boxes on a room-by-room basis, so once you get to your new house you can easily find all your belongings for each particular room. Make a note of anything of particular value/importance so you know which box it is in. You should also label your boxes, in case they get mixed up during transport or if you’re not sure which room they need to go in.
Finally, one thing people often don’t take into account is the weight of their boxes - men shouldn’t lift anything heavier than 25kg, and women shouldn’t lift anything heavier than 16kg, so make sure you take this into account and don’t make your boxes too heavy. No-one wants a back injury when they’re about to move house!