Our Best Tips For Packing To Move
Below are our best tips for packing to move from your old property to your new property.
Moving house can and often is an expensive cost and doing your own packing can be a good way to help keep the removal costs down if you’re trying to save a bit of money.
However, there is a lot of packing to do, and you should consider how valuable your items are and ensure that everything is packed safely and securely.
DPH Removals offer a full or part packing services, but if you are looking to do your own packing, below are a few hints and tips to ensure that your belongings are going to be safe and secure during the move.
- Select good boxes – whether you are purchasing them from our online packing materials shop or sourcing them elsewhere, make sure you are selecting a strong box that has a top that can be closed. Your boxes will be stacked in the vans, so it is important that they are able to withstand this. Open top boxes provide little to no protection for your belongings and are far more likely to lead to damage and breakages.
- Pack your boxes fully – try to avoid half filling a box as this means that the box is more likely to give way, again leading to potential damage or breakages. You can fill out any space with our loose fill packing peanuts or things such as bedding or towels.
- Use the right size box – heavier items such as books and crockery should be packed into smaller book size cardboard boxes or our T-chest cardboard boxes so that they are a manageable weight. Lighter objects, such as bedding, clothing etc. can be packed into our wardrobe boxes.
- Try not to mix items from different rooms – this will make unloading and unpacking a lot easier.
- Clearly label your boxes – label your boxes with what room they need to go in and a description of the contents of the box. This will help our removals team when it comes to unloading as well as helping you to prioritise the unpacking.
- Adapt your boxes – need a taller box? Stick two together. Haven’t got the box for your TV anymore? Cut some boxes open, wrap around your TV and use tape to secure them. Our You Tube channel has some helpful videos.
- Don’t scrimp on the padding when packing fragile items – there are often a lot of breakable items in your kitchen, so it is important that you protect these sufficiently when packing. Use our packing wrapping paper or our protective tissue paper between every item and wrap again in smaller bundles. Make use of cut-up cardboard to create dividers and fill holes to prevent any movement.
- Tape the boxes well – use double layers of tape on the bottom and top and try and reinforce the top and bottom edges too as these are the areas that will take the most pressure. Our packing tape is ideal for this.
- Try and use uniform sized boxes – this helps to make the best use of space when packing the vans.
- Make use of good quality bags for soft furnishings as this is often cheaper and more helpful for us when loading.
- Hanging wardrobe boxes are provided for use on the day – this is much quicker than trying to pack everything and saves you having to have a big box of hangers too.
- Do not water plants the night before and try and keep plants and outdoor stuff dry before removal – it’s all going in the same lorry, so you do not want that running into your other furniture.
- Empty the fridge and freezer as much as possible and defrost the freezer if possible. If items are being stored for a prolonged period of time, then they must be fully defrosted and dry.
- Unless you have specified that we are undertaking any dismantling of furniture, make sure that is done before removal day as if not this can lead to delays and additional charges.
- Un-plumb your washing machine or at least check that it can be easily removed on the day with no issues.
- If using a room to store your items in then keep similar things together e.g., boxes one side, furniture the other, as this will help us enormously when we are loading our vehicles.
- If we are packing, then make sure you keep anything you do not want packed, out of the way – allocate one specific place so that the team know not to touch anything that is in the bath, for example. The same applies on moving day, anything that you do not want to be loaded onto the vehicles, keep it out of the way.
- Start packing early – get anything non-essential done as soon as possible. There is always more than you think there is, and things can get quite chaotic towards the end so try and be as organised as possible.
- If there is anything you have not been able to do before the move – e.g., dismantling of furniture or you have run out of boxes, let us know so that we can help and change plans if needs be. We are happy to help, but need to allow for additional time, etc.
- Lamps, vases, and pictures often get forgotten, so make sure these are packed. There should be nothing left loose, unless it is a large item of furniture.
- Make sure you have a contingency plan in case of delays, e.g., accidents, traffic delays, no house keys, etc.
DPH Removals Packing Services
DPH Removals offer a complete packing services solution, and this is useful for those of you who may want to use our expertise to ensure all items are securely packed ready for the move.
Get in touch with us for more information on our packing services or to obtain a quotation.