No matter how much footwear you have, if you’re shoe-obsessed, you’ll have to learn how to pack shoes for moving properly and make sure your babies get at your new home address in great shape and condition. The average woman owns 19 pairs of shoes, while the average person buys 7.8 pairs of footwear per year. For a family of four, that means 31.2 pairs per year. But, somehow, we have a feeling you do not belong to that average group. So, here is the ultimate guide on the best way to pack shoes for moving.
Learn all the tips on how to package your heels and other footwear
How to Pack Shoes for Moving
Once you’ve learned how to package clothes and explored all the relocation hacks concerning, for example, packaging makeup and keeping it whole, it is the right time for organizing boxing up of other moving essentials – your footwear.
Even if you’ve saved every original package for your footwear, there is no way you could package it like that when moving cross country. Since those boxes can be pretty bulky, especially when it comes to boots, you’ll most likely need to get all of them out from their boxes and start boxing them up from scratch. Although it might seem like a pretty demanding task, if you organize it well, you will avoid common relocating mistakes in terms of improperly used space. Here is an ultimate list of packing tips and tricks that will help you package your footwear properly.
Boxing up of footwear should be strategically performed
Declutter Shoe Rack
The best way to pack shoes is to start decluttering your storage place. First, take out all footwear from the boxes, and sort out the pairs you will definitely need and want to take with you, set aside some to donate as unwanted items and those that can not be used at all. This step is especially important to perform in case you’re relocating to a smaller home, and your storage place won’t be as spacious as the previous one.
When boxing up all the items, don’t forget a good old rule saying that you don’t need it anymore if you haven’t worn it for one year. Instead of filling your storage places and closets, consider donating to one of the local charity organizations, such as Dress for Success, that empower young professionals in need of this kind of support. We bet you have a bunch of unworn footwear cause you didn’t have the right occasion to wear it. And not only will donating help someone, but it will also bring you a step closer to completing the quest of finding the cheapest way to move out of state.
Sort Out Your Shoe Collection by Categories
Once you have decided what footwear you will bring with you, it is important to sort them into categories and make sure to package them this way. You can divide it based on the season you wear it or footwear types like sneakers, sandals, boots, or high-heels and even make a separate category for kids’ footwear if you’re relocating with children. This will help you organize the boxing up easier, and if also labeled properly, your unpacking after a move will be fast and with ease.
Sorting out all your items will definitely help you deal with relocating stress and the whole process of relocation much easier. It will also be very useful when trying to estimate the value of household goods and pick the right cross-country moving services. And remember that in case you’re relocating to a smaller home, sorting out all your belongings is a crucial step if you don’t want to clutter your next home before you start living there.
Set Aside the Essential Footwear
When sorting out the collection, don’t forget to set aside the essential footwear you’ll use during the transitional days and on the relocation day itself. Ensure to set aside only the comfortable footwear since you will have to wear it all day and travel with it. Depending on the season, make sure to choose some flat sandals or adequate sneakers, and be ready to walk a lot on that day.
Make sure to take with you only footwear you will use
How Many Pieces of Footwear Should You Have?
There is no way you wouldn’t ask yourself this question while you’re exploring how to package footwear for a move and finding out you have more than two Carrie Bradshaws put together. Although personal preferences, style, and lifestyle have a great impact on your footwear choice, fashion stylists recommend the next scheme:
- Sneakers – two pairs,
- Boots – two pairs (ankle and riding ones,)
- Loafers – one pair,
- Sandals – two pairs (casual and high-heel ones,)
- Comfortable, business style footwear – two pairs.
In case you have more than the essentials listed above, consider decluttering and handing them over to people who are really in need of it.
When deciding what footwear to take with you, try to be as rational as possible
How to Properly Prepare Your Shoes for Packing?
Preparations of your footwear imply cleaning footwear. That will prevent losing the shape or getting smelly and moldy while being transferred to your new home address. For that reason, it is essential to clean them in detail, and this is especially important for sneakers (thеy could even be washed if the material allows it.) Another way to keep your footwear in perfect condition is leaving them in the sun for one day since UV power kills all the bacteria. Once you clean your footwear, leave them to dry properly, so the boxing up process can start. We don’t doubt you’ll want to keep your footwear fresh, without any possibility of getting smelly. In this case, use tea bags, baking soda, citrus peel, such as lemon, orange, and lime, to absorb the unpleasant smell.
Make sure to stuff your footwear and ensure that it will keep its original shape. You can put old newspaper or socks in them since there is no reason to spare packing paper on them cause you will definitely need it when you pack each shoe separately and wrap it out. This way of wrapping is especially important to apply on high-heel shoes since they can easily damage the box. Or, the cardboard can be damaged during transportation due to other boxes’ weight. For that reason, you should package heavier pairs, such as boots and other winter footwear, at the bottom of the box to prevent any unnecessary damages.
Footwear should be properly prepared and packed if it's to stay in perfect condition
What’s the Best Way to Pack Shoes When Moving?
Now all the preparations are finished, the boxing up process for your cross-country moving can finally begin. Still, in case you’re moving in with a boyfriend, consider preparing him when it comes to the number of pairs of footwear you have.
How To Pack Shoes for a Move – What Packing Supplies You Need?
When resolving how to organize your move, don’t forget to include the following supplies for protecting your footwear when storing them:
- Large relocation boxes (cardboard or plastic,)
- Wrapping paper,
- Marker for labeling packages,
- Tape,
- Old shoeboxes.
How Long Before Moving Should You Start Packing?
The right time to start boxing up your footwear is a couple of weeks before relocation. You should literally package everything except essential footwear that you’ll be wearing on the relocation day and a couple of days before relocation. And since you’re not relocating at the last minute, you will have just enough time to package all your footwear properly. So, in case you have some shoe pairs that are out of season, or are too elegant and extravagant, don’t hesitate to box them up. That will be the right answer to the question of how to move efficiently.
How Do You Pack Shoes Without a Box?
Even when boxing up your footwear, it would be a good idea to make a list of every pair you have and place it as a part of your household inventory list. In case you’re relocating locally, consider taking a whole shoe rack, wrapped with some strong tapes so the door can not open during the transport. However, if you’re undertaking long-distance moving, then the best way to package footwear for relocation is to package each shoe separately and wrap it in clean packing paper. This will enable you to package all the footwear in one large box, so you better pick the best-sized boxes for this purpose. The size of the box has to be appropriate, meaning it shouldn’t be too large so the footwear can move around it during transportation, nor should it be too small, so the footwear is compressed.
Provide Special Treatment for Favorites
However, when it comes to some really valuable or elegant footwear that needs special attention, ensure packing shoes for moving in original shoeboxes. Also, remember to stuff them too, and, if it is possible, wrap them in additional protective bags to ensure they will not be exposed to any external element that could lead to scratches. And last but not least, don’t forget to label every box properly if you want to avoid searching for your favorite items. Simply put, there will be just way too many things to do after relocating to worry about whether all your footwear is delivered to your new address.
Want to Get More Packing Tips and Pack Your Footwear Like a Pro?
How do you pack shoes? If you still feel anxiety about moving out and want to get more tips and tricks on how to package your footwear for relocation or travel, then check out the video below and get some more practical tips on how to do it.
How Will Your New Footwear Storage Look Like?
The best part of each relocation is the possibility to create specially designed places, like walk-in closets, where you will be able to organize your footwear in a way you’ve always dreamed of.
Custom-made closets will work as a storage place and give you a chance to have all your fashion accessories at one glance, arranged by colors, season, or by the occasion you will use it. You could also arrange them by categories, dividing them into high-heels, flats, sneakers, boots and winter footwear, sandals, and many more. However, organizing the footwear in this way implies you will have to take proper care of them. Regular cleaning and enhanced maintenance will be required if you want to keep your storage place in perfect order.
Create a specially designed place for your footwear that will help you use it easier
Organize the Transportation Process
While organizing the transportation process within the local area is easy to do on your own, and you can even drive your own car, for those who’re moving cross-country, the situation is quite different. All long-distance movers know that organizing relocation across the country usually means hiring a cross-country moving company that will share all the professional advice with you on how to package footwear and help you choose only long-distance moving services and packing services you actually need.
The thing you should know is that from the moment your footwear and all other belongings are packed, they are fully secured and stored in specially organized storage units, so when scheduling services with your cross country movers, don’t forget to ask them about storage services and how they function.
The greatest benefit of hiring professional movers is that they will manage your belongings in a logical and safe way. They will make sure all of your belongings get in perfect condition back to you and organize the whole loading and unloading process seamlessly.
