If you are preparing to move home, there is a huge list of the things that you need to make sure you are ready for and to do before the big day. BBC.com have an excellent preparation checklist you can use to make sure your move is on track, ensuring that things as diverse as letting your landlord know you are moving, to picking up the keys to your new home are completed. Other things, like packing may not need as much planning, but they will need as much attention to detail. For instance, packing expensive or special furniture to prevent damage is essential, and here we are going to look at the best practices for this often overlooked essential part of any move.

Material Preparation

Before even considering starting your packing, you should have all the material that may be necessary at hand. If you are hiring a reputable removal company like movinonmovers.com then they will be able to pack for you, but even if you do not trust them with your favourite furniture, they will have easy access to the materials you need. Strong boxes or crates should be measured beforehand, and you will need bubble wrap by the roll. Masking tape should be used to seal the bubble wrap, you will need spare cardboard (or corrugated cardboard) to pack between items, and cling film or packing bags will be needed for soft furnishings. Make sure you have all of this (plus labels to help recognize the furniture parts) as stopping to buy extra material is annoying and time consuming.

Dismantle What You Can

By breaking your furniture into component parts you will lessen the chances of breakage. A table can have the legs broken during a move, but a leg in isolation is a difficult thing to break if packed correctly. If you dismantle something, make notes of how you did it and include it with the parts. You should also make sure that and screws, nuts and bolts, handles, etc. are taped to the relevant parts of the furniture.

Take an Individual Approach

As much as possible, try to wrap everything individually. By doing this you remove the chances of items being scraped and marked during a (possibly) bumpy journey. Every part that you dismantle should be individually wrapped in bubble wrap and then in corrugated cardboard. If you are going to keep individual parts of a whole together, the next step is to wrap the individual parts, separated by cardboard, together in the same fashion; or better still pack into a crate or sturdy box. This method gives your furniture the best chance of arriving unscathed and complete.

Upholstery

Your upholstery will be easy to damage and could become dirty beyond cleaning, so seal all of your upholstery before packing onto the truck. After wrapping with cardboard and bubble wrap, upholstered items like sofas, beds, and chairs, should be wrapped in clingfilm or proprietary sealing bags like reusable sofa bags to keep out any dirt and moisture, This way your soft furnishings will be clean and dry on arrival.

Putting It in the Truck

Now that you have made your furniture safe for the journey, you need to pack it in the truck. This needs to be an organized affair with each item packed to restrict movement, and with each item separated from anything adjacent with cardboard, blankets, or moving sheets. This is a vital stage, as too much movement and rubbing will wear through cardboard and even sheets.

If you are really worried about some expensive or sentimental pieces of furniture, then these packing tips will help ensure that there is as little damage as possible during a trip to a new home.