Undamaged dishes during the household move - is it possible?

When moving house, the last thing you want is to find your dishes and glassware broken once you start unpacking. If you are willing to learn how to safely pack and transport your dishes, then this is the right place for you. Read on for some useful tips on packing up your kitchen and dishes for the move.

It’s no secret that a household move can be very unpredictable depending on the circumstances, therefore a relevant strategy (if not experience) would help. You can always reach out to professionals, such as Dumbo packing and moving services, and get your items packed with quality materials and utmost care. But if you prefer to DIY, that’s possible as well − simply follow our guidelines to keep dishes from breaking.

According to our customers’ experiences, a kitchen seems to be the most difficult room to deal with when it comes to preparing for the household move. If you’re wondering if it is possible to have undamaged dishes during the move, we’ve got you covered. Read on to learn about the best way to pack kitchen items during the household move.

Guidelines for packing your dishes for moving

Whether your dishes are traveling across town or to another state you would like to ensure they are delivered in one piece by taking some basic safety measures. These are the steps you should follow:

Have an early start

While some kitchen items can be packed without too much thought, others require a special approach. Start packing up in advance to give yourself enough time and avoid packing in a rush.

Make a selection

Sort through your dishes and decide what’s worth keeping. As a result, you will reduce the number of items that need to be packed, transported, and unpacked and therefore save time and money. If there’s an item that’s just collecting dust, sell it online or give it away to charity.

Gather packing supplies

Having undamaged dishes during the household move will not be possible without proper equipment. Collect quality packing supplies to ensure a safe moving experience:

• sturdy medium-sized boxes/dish boxes
• packing paper
• protective material – bubble wrap, padding material, newspapers
• packing tape
• marker

Get sturdy boxes

Damaged boxes will not do much for fragile and heavy kitchen items. If you’re on a budget, find out where you can find cheap or free moving boxes that can hold the weight of your dishes during the move. Make sure they’re in good condition and sturdy enough. Although cardboard boxes from liquor or grocery stores may seem like an ideal solution, consider using dish pack boxes that are designed to provide suitable protection. If you can’t get ahold of dish pack boxes, use cardboard ones, but do follow the next steps.

Make cushioning

Reinforce the bottom of the moving boxes using packing tape. Also, use crushed packing paper or newspapers to pad the interior of the boxes to avoid sliding during the transport. Bear in mind that if you use newspapers as padding or wrapping material, you will probably have to wash each item upon unpacking due to the ink residues. Bubble wrap is the best and easiest way to make the first layer of protection before packing kitchen items inside.

Pack heavy dishes on the bottom

To keep fragile and lightweight items from breaking, use a proper packing technique when packing dishes for a move. First, pack heavy and sturdy dishes. Don’t hesitate to use large amounts of packing paper to wrap each item individually. An easy rule of thumb to remember – heavy dishes are to be packed on the bottom, lighter items on top. Fragile dishes should be placed on the upper part of the box. Very thin glassware requires special attention and extra cushioning material.

Fill in voids

Once you arrange dishes in the moving box make sure all gaps are filled with packing paper, newspaper or towels so that your precious glassware cannot move inside the box while being transported. You can also use bits of bubble wrap.

Extra protection

While it may seem smart to pack plates horizontally and stack them up, it is actually a safer option to pack them vertically as you would place them in a dishwasher. Cups should be packed upside down with secured handles. Needless to say, adding one final layer of packing paper, bubble wrap or towels will provide extra protection to your breakables during the transition.

Don’t over-pack `

Once the box is packed, shake it slightly to check if your dishes are completely immobilized. When loaded on the moving truck, make sure the boxes won’t shift during the move. Also, carrying too heavy moving boxes may result in serious damage to the dishes since the box bottom is likely to break under excessive weight. It will also make it more difficult for people that are carrying and loading boxes in the truck.

Label

The last, but definitely very important tip for having undamaged dishes during the move is to handle the boxes carefully. Label moving boxes as fragile and indicate their destination so that your movers know where to put them. Besides making it clear that there are fragile items in a specific box, labeling will also save a lot of time when you get to your new home and have to unpack. It is way easier to organize when you know the content of each box.

Get help from professional movers

If you are unsure about how to pack your dishes properly, you can always get in touch with professional packers. Find out how much they charge. Also, if your move is handled by a professional moving company, you may be interested in additional services they offer like packing and unpacking. So, instead of putting your expensive dish sets at risk, let professionals pack up your kitchen. They will move your dishes with the utmost care. Dumbo Moving is the easiest way to have your dishes undamaged during the household move. Let’s get in touch to chat about your upcoming relocation.