Moving On Up! (For the First Time)

Getting ready for a big move can be a daunting task whether you’re moving from a one bedroom apartment, or a large home. I speak from experience as I am doing right NOW! So I thought what a great blog this would make. A few friendly words of advice, give yourself plenty of time, you will need it. Sort, sort, sort! Don’t pack things that are not near and dear to your heart, when in doubt donate it, or throw it out. Try as hard as you possibly can to make it FUN, especially if you have a partner (and you want to keep them). Do not plan on doing too much in one day. Pack a little, play a little! If you have to pack like you just robbed a bank, well then you’re not going to have much fun. My wife and I have been packing up our house of 13 years for the past 4 weeks, and we still have about 15% REMAINING. Start with the most difficult rooms in your living space first, and save the easiest rooms for last (when you’re tired).

OK, now for the nitty gritty;

1) Use a high quality tape. We chose a 3 inch wide 3M 373 tape (T9055373). DON’T SKIMP ON TAPE! Buy the good stuff and you will be happy, buy the cheap stuff (yes we have it because we have to) and you will be sorry.

2) Put your heavy items in smaller boxes such as our 16 x 12 x 12; pack your lighter items in our big boxes such as our 24 x 18 x 24.

3) Use bubble wrap and tape to wrap your pictures and paintings, be generous with the bubble, why? Because we sell it (joking), because these items are fragile and likely some of your most valuable possessions. Then use our inner and outer mirror packs to put as many of these items that will safely fit without bulging. Start by taping up an inner mirror, place your items in a vertical orientation, then tape up an outer mirror box and place it over the inner. Don’t forget to use your good quality tape to seal the boxes together. I ordered a bundle of book folds thinking that I would use them for large pictures and prints. As it turned out, wrapping in bubble was far more effective than using the book fold style corrugated. When wrapping your items, keep in mind the size of the bubble required as well as the perforation and width of the bubble. What worked for us was having a narrow (BWUP316S12P) and a wide bubble (BWUP12S12P) in 12” rolls and 24” rolls (BWUP316S24P / BWUP12S24P ) perforated at 12”. The smaller bubble size, while easier to work with, offers less protection than the thicker bubble.

4) Foam in two widths, (FW116S12P) and (FW116S24P), also worked well for us. Be careful as this product can be a bit abrasive if you are moving a long distance.

5) Mailing tubes are great for unframed items that you want to roll up and keep from being damaged. They are re-usable and great for storage.

6) Kimpak (KIMDIS12) Awesome stuff! Again, I recommend two different widths perforated at 12”. This product, while a little expensive, is easy to work with and offers good protection.

7) Always a good idea to purchase a bundle of newsprint just to have you will know when you will need it.

8) Bike boxes are a waste of money unless you’re shipping a very expensive bike. Our bikes are inexpensive, so we just put them on the moving truck.

9) Lamp boxes can be a good investment if you’re moving some expensive lamps that are tall and need very good protection. We did not use them.

10) Padded mailers (B811SS25PK) - we found to be great to protect small nick knacks. If they are small enough, you can wrap in the protective product of your choice (bubble, foam, Kimpack or paper) and place them together in the padded mailer.

11) Wardrobe boxes (WARDCOMBO) were an absolute must, off the wracks on hangers and into the box. No muss no fuss. For 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids) we purchased 8 packs.

12) Dish packs 181828DISH (well frankly they’re not dish packs and we will be re-naming this to glass packs.) The partitions are great for protecting wrapped glasses from banging together in transit.

In closing make certain boxes are packed tight and items are well protected. You do not want any movement within the boxes at all. If after packing a box you have head space, use a product to fill the void. Make certain boxes are not too heavy!!! I would try to keep the boxes at 40LBS or less. Mark the boxes by contents and what room it is to be moved to. WATCH OUT FOR THINGS THAT CAN MELT!!! If there is a chance something could melt or leak and ruin the other items in the box, pitch it out and by it new once you reach your destination. If you’re moving across town, pack all of these items together and keep them in the air-conditioned car or truck.

I hope this recent and first hand information is helpful, if you have further questions you can call me during normal business hours at 708-458-7711 or visit us at www.pkging.com. Good luck and have FUN!!!