Packing Tips

The act of packing is paramount when preparing for relocation. Whether you are moving a business/home or apartment to a new location, the way you pack determines the ease of transition that you will experience. When relocating you have two options for packing; hire moving service to do your packing for you or do it yourself. There are dozens of packing/moving services that are readily available through your local phone book if you choose to have someone do your packing.

If you choose to have a moving company send a group of strangers to your home to pack up all of your belongings, you may be asking for trouble. While these companies are considered professional moving companies, the individual employees may not be experienced packers or movers. Sometimes it is necessary to have a relocation service pack your own belongings before relocation, but most often it is in your best interest to box up all of your own belongings yourself.

By taking the time and effort to pack all of your belongings carefully, you may greatly reduce the chance for having broken items. When packing your boxes, you must always remember to keep all hard and breakable items separate. A helpful hint for this is to wrap your breakables with your kitchen and bath towels before packing. Not only does this ensure that your fragile items are protected during transportation, it also lets you know exactly where your towels are for quick and easy unpacking.

All boxes should be packed to capacity at all times and boxes should be taped securely shut. Any empty space in a box leaves room for the items to rock and shift, possibly causing damage to your items. You can fill empty spaces in a box with rolled clothing, linens, newspapers or packing filler. This may make the job of packing much more tedious, but it is definitely worth the effort to ensure unbroken valuables.

Another very important point to remember is that all boxes or containers to be shipped must be clearly marked with a physical location of the new residence. For example, a box containing pots and pans would be marked with “KITCHEN” in bold letters. After packing each box securely and marking each one visibly with a room in your new residence, the final step is to have the boxes moved.

The actual task of moving the boxes from one residence to another can also be performed in two different ways. You can choose to move the boxes yourself by using your own vehicle or renting a moving truck. This is one of the least expensive and most common methods used for relocation. An important aspect of loading a truck or van to facilitate this relocation is that your boxes must be stacked in order from heaviest to lightest, with the heaviest boxes on the bottom of the stack. You must always remember to pack the boxes into the vehicle very snugly just like the method used to pack the inside of the box.

However, if you still choose to use a moving company to relocate your valuables, the moving company will generally load your boxes into their truck free of charge. This charge-free loading is based on the concept that you will be required to pay a fee for the actual relocation of your property between residences.

No matter who packs your valuables into their boxes, watch closely so that you do not end up with broken items. Make sure that the boxes are packed fully and that the boxes are packed securely into the actually moving truck. Those are the two most important rules when it comes to packing for relocation.