Moving house can be fun, but at times, it can be stressful. There are a lot of home items that can be broken and otherwise damaged during a move. You worked hard to obtain and maintain your belongings. Consider these tips for moving house. 
 

Dishes and Fragile China

The number one consideration you want to make while you pack is to think of impact and how to lessen it. For instance, shoes absorb a lot of the impact humans would normally incur if they walked around with bare feet. This is why padding is essential while you pack dishes and other fragile items.

Some people recommend using specially-dimensioned boxes when packing things like plates; however, square boxes suffice. It is wise to use foam, bubble wrap or even wadded up newspaper on the bottom of the box. However, be sure to allow for 4 inches of padding before placing the first plate down. Corrugated cardboard can be used between each plate to prevent each dish from touching. 

Use newspaper to fill in hollowed pieces of dishes, such as gravy bowls, pitchers and regular bowls. Cups and glasses require a separate kind of boxing to keep them intact. Special boxes with dividers help cups and glasses to stay in place so that they do not make contact with one another. However, the same method of newspaper wrapping can be used with cups and glasses as with other hollowed out dishes to avoid impact.

Use styrofoam peanuts around the dishes and other fragile items to prevent the dishes from moving side to side. Folded-up cardboard that can be placed sideways in the box is useful in preventing this as well. Mark arrows pointing upwards on the box, so that everyone knows not to turn it upside down. Write “fragile” on the box multiple times. 

Furniture

Items, like couches, are pretty easy to pack up. However, you have to consider where they’re being placed and what will be placed next to them. Cardboard, bubble wrap and other types of padding are useful in placing around the feet or the legs of the couch and any place the couch will make contact with another item. 

Some people prefer to move their dressers with everything intact. This is great for people who want to keep their garments and other non-fragile items as-is and don't mind a heavier dresser to move. However, it’s a good idea to make sure the drawers won’t open during the move. Any piece of furniture that has doors or drawers that open need to be taped shut. Make sure the tape can be safely removed without causing chipping and other damage. Furniture blankets and mattress sheets are useful in preventing soilage. 

Disassemble any furniture that can be disassembled. For instance, remove chair and table legs if it is possible to do so. This will prevent these items from breaking during the move. Pad the dining room table top and any other surfaces that can be damaged. Glass table tops need heavy packing paper to prevent damage. Glass table tops can be placed between mattresses, but they should be previously wrapped. 

Clothes

Clothes can be packed in a number of ways. Some people prefer to leave them as-is in their dressers while others, who prefer to hang them up, need special boxes that contain rods inside to allow for easy hanging. Boxes of this sort need to have arrows pointing upwards and words that read “This side up” if the boxes are not already equipped with this information. If simple boxes are desired, it’s useful to roll up clothing to save on space. 

Bikes, Sports Equipment and other Items

If a bike cannot be secured to the exterior of a vehicle, bike boxes are available to place a bike inside. Wheel plugs, derailleur guards, fork guards and foam tubing should be included within the box, but if it’s not, it can be picked up from a bike shop. Styrofoam peanuts can be used in the box as well. These boxes are placed in the moving truck as would any other item. They’re useful because they prevent bikes from moving around and crashing into other items, which can be common with bikes because of their propensity for motion. 

Travel golf club bags are useful for moving golf clubs, but simple bubble wrap that is wrapped around the heads of the golf clubs can prevent damage while keeping these golf clubs in their current bag. Use bubble wrap around all of the clubs, together, and secure with tape to prevent the clubs from coming loose from one another. 

You can never have too much newspaper, bubble wrap or styrofoam. They are useful in creating safety for all your items. Pad anything that can receive impact so that it remains safe from damage. Happy packing and moving house!