Getting Precious With Your Move

Nothing puts a dampener on your exciting journey to new lands more than arriving to find that despite the fact you’ve arrived feeling well and in one piece, sadly some of your most valued and precious items have not. As grim as it sounds, there are plenty of ways to ensure your stuff has a first class journey, minus the bubbly and peanuts perhaps, to its new destination.

Use the right boxes
While you can use any old grocery box from the supermarket, can you really trust it to hold your great-grandmother’s precious Faberge egg or your drinking glasses? Consider using specialised packing boxes from your removalist to ensure your possessions stand the best chance of moving safely. PLUS, if you’re moving overseas, it’s almost guaranteed that boxes holding your DVDs that once held lettuce will be detained by Customs! In fact, if you are investing in the services of a professional moving company they will almost always pack your household goods themselves. So while you might have to shell out a little more coin for specialised packing cartons, it’s certainly cheaper than having to replace your broken items.

Wrap it
Using old newspapers to wrap your goods can be great, but the downside is that the print can easily rub onto your possessions. Butchers paper on the other hand, is stronger and won’t leave your linen with headlines from the daily news! Pick-up butchers paper for a small fee from your removalists. In a lot of cases they will provide this to you free of charge; a complimentary feature of using their removal services. Make sure you get plenty.

Stuff it
Depending on whether you’re packing crystal tumblers or kids’ toys, you’ll want the best packing filler to do the job. Bubble wrap is a great way to both wrap and conceal valuable items, but make sure when it comes to packing in the actual boxes that you arrange them with enough space from other items so they don’t bump ‘n’ grind during transit. The old scrunching up of newspapers is usually enough to do the trick, or you can locate proper packing foam for the job. Towels also work well on things like vases and knife sets.

 
What’s in a box?
Don’t overload boxes unnecessarily – remember; a human is going to move that thing! This will make life easier for you come unpacking too. Make sure that the boxes used aren’t too large and balance the number of heavy and light items that go in each box. Books are heavy anyway, so utilise small book cartons/boxes for these and keep them to a minimal weight.

It’s okay Ma’am, I’m a professional
If you’re hiring a truck for your move, for the extra expense it’s often worth getting a professional to take care of it for you. Not only are these guys experienced, will have it done faster, but they’re used to taking special care of items: don’t forget it’s their reputation on the line. By the time you’ve paid for a truck, looked into getting insurance, got your friends to lend some muscle and tried your best to juggle everything, sometimes it’s cheaper, and certainly easier, to let a professional removal company take the hassle off your hands.