Moving & Storage

0191 289 4397

  www.Moving-Tyneside.co.uk

Packing to Move

De-clutter

Once you've got an idea of when you're moving home, you're faced with the daunting task of packing everything. This is when you realise how much clutter you've accumulated over the years. All sorts of surprises will spring from cupboards that are hardly ever opened, bringing thoughts like, "Why did I keep this?" and "I thought I'd thrown that away!"

All boxes should be closed, sealed and labelled with the room they're going to.

At this point, you should think where, if anywhere that item fits into your new home. If you don't want it, get rid of it. Throw it away, give it away, sell it or recycle it, but don't pack it if you don't want it.

The two biggest clichés in the removals business are, "Moving home is very stressful…", (so obvious, you may as well say "water is wet") and "I still haven't unpacked everything from last time I moved." If you've left something boxed, in the back of the garage or under the stairs, for two years, the chances are you don't need it.

The final consideration when de-cluttering is the removal costs. Your removal company will base their price on how much they're moving, (among other things). So why pay someone to move things you don't need?

Box Sizes

The most environmentally friendly, (and cheapest) boxes are recycled boxes. Be careful though, as not all boxes are suitable for packing up your goods. Boxes should always be sealed, so open top boxes are a definite negative. Bigger isn't always better. Overloaded boxes are prone to collapsing when stacked, or falling apart when lifted.

Most removals companies will supply packing materials and many will supply second-hand boxes. If you have a lot of books, ask about book boxes. They're sturdy and smaller than standard packing boxes, so they can't be overloaded.

Wardrobe boxes or garment carriers are usually supplied on the day of your move, so your clothes don't need to be taken off their hangers and crumpled into boxes. They're simply lifted off the rail in the wardrobe, put on the rail in the garment carrier, enclosed for protection and transported safely, with no creasing. You will have to transfer your clothes into the wardrobes at the other though, unless you wish to purchase and keep the garment carriers.

Soft, light goods, such as duvets, pillows and cushions can be put into bags. This is cheaper and easier to pack. Your removals men won't mind, as the soft bags help to fill gaps when loading the van.
Packing Fragiles

Rule number one for packing fragiles is Don't rush!

Your packing paper is not wrapping paper, so it should always be crumpled. The idea is for it to absorb impact and fill voids.

Start by lining the bottom of the box with crumpled paper. Wrap each item separately, making sure there is adequate padding between items. For stemmed glasses, crumple a "snake" of paper and wind it around the stem, before wrapping the whole thing.

If any two wrapped items make a sound, when gently tapped together, they're not protected enough.

Plates are less likely to break if the impact is on the edge, so wrap them and stack them vertically, not horizontally. Be very careful not to make the boxes too heavy.

Larger fragile items should be bubble-wrapped before boxing or, if they're too big to go into a box, just bubble-wrapped. Pictures and mirrors will be safer if you cover the front with a sheet of cardboard before bubble-wrapping.

Labelling

Each box should be labelled with, at the very least, the room it came from and the room it's going to. This will save a lot of time during the removal and a lot of time when unpacking.

At your new home, put labels on the tops of the doorframes for each room. If the label on the box says, "John's room" the removals men won't know which room the box should go to, unless you tell them which room is John's.