13 Tips When Packing Your Moving Boxes
Moving house is both an exciting and stressful endeavour. Although you might be eager to move into your new place, packing all your belongings in a van can be daunting. But don’t worry! With our handy guide filled with our top packing tips, you can easily keep all your possessions organised and secure, ready for the big move.
- The Essentials for Packing Up Your Home
- Packing Tips for Moving House
- Moving House Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful with Schott Packaging
The Essentials for Packing Up Your Home
Before you can even begin packing, you will need to round up all the packing essentials. From cardboard boxes to packing tape, here are all the tools you’ll need to pack your personal items with ease.
- Cardboard Boxes: Your home will be full of items of different shapes and sizes, so make sure you have large enough boxes to accommodate everything. At Schott Packaging, we have a range of moving boxes and moving kits to accommodate almost any item.
- Packing Tape: Don’t forget to have some tape on hand to secure your boxes!
- Utility Knife or Scissors: Once you arrive at your new home, you will want a way of actually opening your moving boxes. A utility knife or scissors are the best tools for this.
- Bubble Wrap: Anything can happen when transporting your items. That’s why you should make sure to wrap your items with bubble wrap to ensure any bumps in the road are absorbed by the bubble wrap, keeping your items in one piece.
- A Permanent Marker: Organization is the key to packing and unpacking your belongings smoothly! Simply labelling your moving boxes with a permanent marker will make all the difference when you are sorting through your possessions.
Packing Tips for Moving House
With all your packing gear in tow, you can start planning to pack your belongings. A lot can go wrong when packing up your home, but with our top tips, packing will feel like a breeze!
1. Make a Checklist
Making a checklist doesn’t just mean ensuring you have listed everything you need to pack. It also means noting down everything you need to do before you leave your current home. For example, remember to cancel any services at your home, such as internet connections.
By writing a list of things to do before you leave, you can ensure nothing slips through the net, and you are all prepped and ready to move into your new home.
2. Remove Your Clutter
Before you start packing your possessions, it might be helpful to sort through all your personal belongings and put anything you don’t want to take to your new home in the bin. This will not only lessen the load of things you need to pack and transport to your new home, but you can also start living in your new house clutter-free!
3. Keep All Your Important Documents Together
Having hard copies of any contracts, new address information, and receipts stored in one folder is a good way of keeping organised. If, for whatever reason, you need to show a copy of any important documents, you will have peace of mind that everything you need will be in this one folder. This takes out the stress of trying to find emails or digital copies of documents.
4. Start Packing Early
The earlier you start packing, the less you will have to do as you approach moving day. It can seem daunting having to pack all your items into boxes, but if you start chipping away at it weeks before your move-in day, you will find packing to be a less stressful task.
Start by packing any items you won’t need immediately. For example, if you are moving house during summer, you won’t need any winter coats or clothing any time soon, so why not pack those away first?
5. Protect Your Items!
Wrapping your items in bubble wrap or any other cushioning materials will protect them from any bumps in the road or rough handling. Especially when it comes to your delicate items, you should ensure you wrap them securely to avoid any damage.
For photo frames or mirrors, it is also a good idea to put an X of masking tape across the glass portion of the item to prevent the glass from breaking.
6. Label, Label, Label
The number one most important thing when packing for moving house is to label. Labelling will allow you to know what’s inside your hundreds of plain brown boxes. With a permanent marker, you should clearly write down the details of the box’s contents, including what items are in the box and what room the box should go in.
Don’t forget to label any boxes containing delicate items as fragile. Whether this be with a marker or fragile tape, labelling boxes as fragile will ensure anyone handling the box will take extra care.
7. Don’t Forget to Book Removal Vans
Booking removal vans and other services in advance will ensure you have a way of transporting your goods without disruption, and you won’t have to pay extortionate last-minute prices. Plus, you can start planning your moving day around the scheduled times of the removal van’s arrival.
8. Moving Home Yourself? Hire a Van with a Ramp
If you decide to transport your belongings yourself, make sure you are hiring a van with a loading ramp. This takes the strain out of lifting cardboard boxes filled with your possessions, heavy electronic equipment, and furniture. The last thing you want is to injure yourself during a big move!
9. Keep the Essentials with You at All Times
You should pack a separate bag of extra clothes, toiletries, and any other essential items and valuables to take with you in your car. Any valuable items, such as family heirlooms or family photos, should always be kept with you to prevent them from being lost during transport. Anything can happen during a move, so be prepared for any situation.
10. Plan Where Your Boxes Will Go
Before you get to your new home, it is crucial to plan where your boxes, furniture, and other belongings will go. This will keep your possessions organised and help you locate anything you need quickly.
It is also a good idea to plan ahead when it comes to furniture. For example, will your sofa fit through the doorways? Planning ahead will ensure you have an action plan for when you arrive at your new home, helping you avoid the awkwardness of trying to push a large sofa through a narrow doorway.
11. Take Lots of Pictures
If you are moving to a rental property, it is best practice to take photos of everything before you move into your new home. This includes walls, doorways, and any furniture or appliances that may have been left. Having these photos will act as evidence if needed for any security deposits.
12. Don’t Overload Your Boxes
It’s the worst feeling when you go to pick up a box and all its contents fall out from under it. Although moving boxes are sturdy, overloading them can cause them to break. Overfilling a moving box can also cause damage to your items. To avoid this, make sure you are only packing each box with an appropriate number and weight of items.
13. What to Do with Your Empty Boxes
Don’t just throw your moving boxes away when you have unpacked all your belongings. You could recycle them at a local recycling centre, donate them to a charity shop or advertise them online!
Moving House Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful with Schott Packaging
With Schott Packaging, you can make one of the most nerve-racking moments of your life stress-free. From Moving Boxes and Moving Kits to Bubble Wrap Rolls, we have everything you need to move out of your home with ease. Shop our range of packing materials today to get a head start on packing up your home!
Packing Your Moving Boxes FAQs
What is the best thing to pack first when moving?
When you are ready to start packing, it is best to start with the items you will need the least. For example, if you are moving house in summer, you won’t be needing any winter coats any time soon, so you can start by packing them!
How long before you move should you start packing?
It’s best to start packing as early as possible. This will ensure you are not rushing to pack all your belongings before the deadline, and you won’t miss anything! It is recommended you start packing as early as two months before your moving date or as soon as you receive your moving date.
Where do you put your clothes when moving?
Clothes are great to pack as they can provide extra cushioning if needed. You should begin by packing any clothes on hangers and placing them in boxes with the hangers still attached. This will make unpacking these items easier. Any loose clothes can be packed away in a suitcase or used as cushioning for delicate items.
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