How to Pack Furniture for Moving Like a Pro

Even if you have antiques, wooden or fragile items, you can protect them yourself, or you can hire professional movers to help you with this if you have your doubts. But if you wish to pack everything alone here are some tips on how to pack your furniture and move it safely.

How to Prepare Furniture for Moving?

When it comes to relocating, people usually forget about protecting their sofa, beds, and bookcase. They are more worried about fragile items such as plates (and even dishes they use every day), how to protect and pack knives, and, of course, antiques. But these items can be damaged in the transportation too – they can be torn apart, scratched, broken, wetted, and more. If you want to prepare your stuff for relocating, you will have to learn how to protect furniture when moving.

If you are moving to a big city and maybe buying a smaller home, you can donate your furniture before a relocation if there is not enough space for them in your new place. Before packing it will be useful to do some good deep cleaning of your stuff. This way, you will have some extra time when unpacking but you will also see whether the pieces have any damage you may want to repair.

And of course, before you start packing your belongings, you will need to empty everything. It would be good to create a household inventory list and see what stuff you are relocating and what not. Maybe some items are old and broken or just too big for your new home, so it is better to decide before relocating what to take with you.

 5 Essential Items You Need When Moving Furniture

Packing materials are essential in every move. You can ask your movers for them since they certainly have all that is necessary. But if you wish, you can buy some of the supplies yourself. Here are some of the materials you will need:

• Bubble wrap: Bubble wrap is used to protect fragile items in transportation. You can wrap some of your large, delicate things like glass coffee tables, oversized mirrors, valuable paintings, or glass closet doors with it.
• Plastic wrap: Wrapping items for transportation can’t go without plastic. Use this to wrap your sofa, couch, or chairs, and your possessions will be protected from scratching.
• Furniture pads: They are placed between items so you can protect them from scratching each other in the truck.
• Foam padding or blankets: Use them to protect your wooden items.
• Duct tape: With duct tape, you can protect your large glass items by creating an X pattern on them. This way, if the glass breaks, it’ll remain in one piece. Also, duct tape is used to secure drawers and other movable parts of furniture.

There are different types of packing materials you can use, but these listed above are truly essential for packing all kinds of equipment and goods. The only dilemma you may have is whether it’s best to cushion with bubble wrap or packing paper.

Figure Out What Furniture Needs to Be Disassembled and What Not

Now when you have your supplies for packing, it is time to figure out what items you need to disassemble and how to do it. Find your manual to see how to do this. If you lost your hard copy, try to find one online. You will also need a screwdriver, hex key, and wrench. Make sure to put all the screws in a labeled bag and tape this bag on the appropriate piece.

If you have many items to disassemble, you can always hire a moving company for packing services. Movers will do everything, disassemble and later reassemble everything. And most importantly, they will give you an assessment of which items are ok to be disassembled and which one will fall apart in the process. But if you wish to do this on your own, then make sure that you detach everything that can get in a way or to ruin other things. So remove arms and legs and all other ponty stuff from your furniture – nails, screws, wires, etc.

Rules for Packing Wooden and Other Items

When it comes to packing furniture, you need to follow some rules if you decide to do this alone:

• Protect your items – This means you need to protect your belongings with appropriate packing materials – wooden stuff with blankets, sheets, or towels, while a couch or sofa made from fabric can be protected with bubbles or plastic wraps..
• Disassemble everything that can be set apart – This may look easy when disassembling an Ikea coffee table, but hiring professionals is always a better option with larger items.
• Label your stuff – It would be best if you label each bit, so you know where to put them when it comes to unpacking. That especially goes for every screw or detached part so you know where everything goes when reassembling.

You can always find cross-country moving services in your area to help you with your move. If you are wondering how much movers cost, you can contact cross-country movers and ask them to give you a quick moving estimate.

How Do You Pack Wood Furniture?

When talking about how to protect furniture when moving, the most important thing you need to know is not to put plastic directly on your wood because of the condensation. For this purpose, you should use foam padding to protect your stuff. If you don’t have foam, use old blankets or towels. This way, your wooden items will be protected from mildew and can be safely transported. If you have drawers on your cabinets or desk, you should empty them and secure them with duct tape so they can’t move.

Here, packing paper for moving can also prove useful. If you have extra cushions, tape them on your sofas or table legs, or arms. The cushions will protect your coffee table from scratching or breaking if it falls. There are also some techniques for adequately packing antiques or tips for moving Ikea furniture but if you have any doubts about dealing with these items, then hire cross country movers to help you.

How Do You Pack a Couch Like a Pro?

If you have bulky pieces like a sofa or a couch, you’ll need some long-distance relocating tips. The first step is to disassemble any legs or arms from your couch, if possible, and place this in a separate labeled box. Next, depending on the material your sofa is made of, you will use plastic wrap or padding for protection – as with wooden items, leather can get wet underneath the plastic, so use blankets or foam for this purpose. If your sofa is made of other material, use plastic wrap to cover the whole sofa. This way it will be protected from moisture, scratching, tearing apart, or dust. If you want to move the couch without movers, you will need an extra pair of hands to put your items in the truck. If your couch or sofa has pillows, pack them in separate bags.  Check this video for some more tips on how to pack your sofa and other pieces.

Have a Lot of Antiques? Find Out How to Pack Them

If you have antiques, you probably already know how to conserve them in the best way possible. It is the same when it comes to packing and transporting these items. Make sure to get a valuation of your antiques so you can make insurance arrangements with your movers. If your antiques are expensive or have sentimental value, maybe you will have to get separate insurance for them.

The first step in wrapping them up is to clean your stuff and disassemble everything that can be. Make sure you don’t detach something you can’t later put back on. If you have wooden antiques, you will have to wrap them with blankets or towels. This way they will be protected from moisture. If you don’t have enough blankets, your movers can bring them to you. It would help if you labeled your antiques so your movers can secure them in the truck with extra ropes. Make sure not to put plastic directly on your antiques – they can be easily destroyed by moisture. The same goes for tape – it shouldn’t go directly on the surface, or you’ll be stuck with having to remove tape residue.

Need a Place to Store Your Belongings? Learn How to Prepare Them for a Storage

Lack of space can be a big problem when you are relocating out. Sometimes your new house is not ready to move in, or you are going  to a smaller home, and there is not enough space for your stuff. If this is the case, you can always put your items in storage, but what do you wrap furniture in for storage? Well, you have to know how to prepare everything in the best way possible. Your leather and wooden items must be cleaned with a high-quality cleaner and then polished with a wood or leather protecting product. After that, you need to wrap everything in pads or blankets. Put cardboard on glass items or doors, then finish everything with bubble wrapping.

Make sure that your belongings are clean and dry before putting them in storage. Of course, you need to protect all the items you removed, by wrapping them in plastic wrap. If you need storage facilities, bear in mind that most moving companies provide storage service as well. So before deciding what to do, make some calls and ask for some quotes about your move.

Pack Your Items in a Truck Like a Professional

First, you need to figure out what size of a truck you need. Make sure not to choose a small one. It may be cheaper, but in the end, it will cost you more. So if you are renting a van, go with bigger ones. You can contact a long-distance moving company to give you a free estimate of your move. Maybe you will pay a little bit more, but you will not have to do anything, and you will have time to make other arrangements. But if you and your friends are in the mood for some exercises, you can try and do this on your own.

You are probably wondering, “Do movers pack boxes or large items first?” Well, the general rule is that large items go first. Use ropes to secure them in the truck and pads to prevent mutual scratching. Use a dolly to transfer any large item you can, for instance, if you are moving a pool table, heavy chairs, and alike. If you own a piano and don’t know how to move a piano from your house, then ask some professionals to give you advice. After all, you don’t want to damage your instrument. After your larger items are in the truck, it is time to put smaller ones. If possible, try not to put them on your sofa or couch because they can move and damage them during the ride. Make sure all items are secured, and fastened with ropes. The final stage is packing fragile items in the truck. They always go at the end and on top of other things, but they need to be secured too.

Moving Is Easier With Professional Help

If you still have doubts about doing this alone, then hire professional movers. As we mentioned before, there are many services they can provide. If you are wondering how to pack paintings or an ancient china cabinet, don’t worry – they will have a solution for you. Get some recommendations for moving companies from your friends or relatives and then ask for at least three in-house estimations. After that, choose the one that suits you best. Hiring a cross country moving company will make your relocation a lot easier and stress-free. No matter what your reason to move is relocating to a new city or state can be challenging. To avoid relocation depression, call movers and ask them about their moving company’s hourly rate, and then you can decide what services you need .