In this article, we discuss some of the top tips to follow when packing fragile items ready for your house move.
If you have started wrapping and packing your belongings in preparation for your move, you have probably found out that wrapping up your fragile items (including glassware and dishes) takes a certain level of skill.
It seems an especially daunting task when compared to packing other belonging that don’t require the same level of finesse.
Caution is certainly key when packing items that are easily broken.
Luckily, there are several tips you can deploy when preparing items like glasses and plates.
By following our top tips, you can heavily reduce the risk of breaking expensive fragile items during your move.
These professional standard wrapping tips can greatly improve the protection of your fragile belongings!
Be sure to check out all our top tips to discover all of the steps you can take to prepare your fragile items for the move.
Selecting the Best Materials for Packing
- Dish Barrel Box: These are the ideal box for transporting fragile dishes during a house move. The thicker, more sturdy cardboard used in dish barrels help to soak up and movement that may occur in transition.
- Cell Dividers: A cell divider can be used to organise your glasses in the most effective way. They are also a great tool to best avoid dishes bumping during transit.
- Tape and Boxes: It is best to securely tape the bottom of all of your boxes with strong tape. While choosing which tape to use, it is worthwhile to use the strongest and widest tape available. Be sure to avoid not masking or duct tapes as they are more likely to cause damage.
- Paper: You should certainly be making use of paper to wrap your plates and glasses ready for transport. Where possible we recommend avoiding using newspapers. Whilst they are very practical, the ink used on newspapers can cause stains that may damage your dishes.
- Bubble Wrap: Utilise bubble wrap when transporting fragile items. Bubble wrap will provide you with the best possible protection for your breakables. These air-filled bubble sheets will absorb and tremors and shocks that will occur when transporting your belongings.
- Label Boxes: Be sure to mark any boxes with breakables as “Fragile”. Ensuring you have clearly labelled these boxes will ensures your movers take the utmost care with and will also allow them to place these boxes in the best spot in the truck.
Preparing Glasses for Moving
There are several things you can do before you begin packing your glasses.
- Boxes: When preparing your box for fragile glasses, you should place numerous sheets of paper on the bottom on the box. This will help to best protect your glasses from the harsh movements that are unavoidable during transit. If you want to provide even more protection, you could use towels instead of paper. Towels will take up more room in your boxes but provide additional protection when compared to paper.
- Wrap Your Fragile Glasses: It is the best policy to wrap your heaviest glasses first. These should be placed at the bottom of your box, placing the lighter glasses above them.
Two Glasses
When packing your fragile glasses, it is possible to be more efficient by wrapping them in pairs.
This should only be done with glasses that are the same size and will help you to cut down on your packaging materials.
To best protect your fragile glasses, you should wrap the first glass with half of the sheet then add the second beside it.
Please note that stemmed glasses should always be wrapped on their own.
Packing Your Glasses Box
You now know the best way to wrap your glasses ready for your move.
So, what is the best way to pack them in boxes ready for transport?
Firstly, you should fold the paper over the ends of the glasses, carefully placing the glasses into your box,
Glasses should be placed on top of creased paper, towels or heaped napkins to reduce the risk of breakage.
It is important to separate your stemmed glasses, placing them in last and adding additional creased paper on top of these more fragile items.
Once all of your glasses are in the box, add some further creased paper on top.
At this point, you can give your box a shake.
When gently shaking your box of glasses you should listen for any clicking.
If you can hear glasses colliding take them out and repack until you can no longer hear this.
You should now use strong adhesive tape to make certain that the box is fully secured.
Finally, ensure that your box has “fragile” written on it.
Preparing Dishes for Moving:
When preparing your dishes for transport, you should ensure you line the inside of your boxes.
We recommend using bubble wrap when moving with dishes.
Make sure you line the bottom and sides of your box fully with the bubble wrap to best avoid any breakages.
Wrapping Dishes Ready for Your Move
- We suggest wrapping each plate in tissue paper.
- Next, acid-free tissue paper should be wrapped around your dishes. These help to prevent any moisture from building up and helps to avoid any discolouring of your dishes.
- When wrapping your dishes, you can pack three. With larger dishes and plates it may be best to wrap two at a time. Use your judgment here to make the best use of your wrapping materials.
Packing Your Dishes Box
You now know the best way to wrap your dishes ready for your move.
So, what is the best way to pack them in boxes ready for transport?
Always pack your dishes in the box on their sides. Be sure to avoid placing them on top of each other as this can increase the chances of dishes breaking.
Next, you should place some bubble wrap in between each of your dishes.
Once you have filled your box, use your remaining tissue paper to fill any visible gaps in the sides and corners of your box.
This will help to stop your dishes from moving around during transit.
Before you close the box, we recommend placing an additional sheet of bubble wrap on top of your dishes.
By doing this, you now have bubble wrap on each side of the box.
You should now use strong adhesive tape to make certain that the box is fully secured.
Finally, make sure to write “fragile” on the outside of the box to ensure it is handled with care.
Final Tips
- Try to get hold of some divided boxes. You can find these in most wine and alcohol shops. Divided boxes provide the most effective protection for fragile glassware.
- When packing sglasses in a box with other fragile items, you should always place the glasses at top of the other items.
- Always avoid over-packing boxes with fragile items.
- You should ensure that there are no gaps in between any of your fragile items.
- Always pack the top of your fragile boxes with paper or bubble wrap.
- Boxes are typically stacked on top of another when being transported. If you haven’t fully packed your boxes firmly, fragile items can be damaged due to the compression caused by the other boxes.
