Packing Materials

Do I need packing materials?

Yes, you need packing materials. Whether gathered by you or your movers, they are essential to any move. You have the freedom to purchase materials yourself, but please be warned that what you will find at Walmart or Home Depot is nowhere near the quality of materials that we receive for use with our customers. Remember, moving is our expertise. Those other large stores sell many, many things, so moving supplies is not their expertise. Still not convinced? Keep reading:

Boxes – by placing items into boxes, you protect them from damage, and although packing things in boxes takes time, you will save time in the end. If you hire professional movers, you do not want them spending their time carrying small, individual items because you skimped on the boxes. You may have heard the saying “you get what you pay for” and well, if you look at the reviews online for boxes from the large stores that we mentioned earlier, you’ll see many people who unfortunately got what they paid for when they purchased these cheaper boxes!
Tape – you should tape your boxes. Many people try to skip the tape by folding the four box lips in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner that does manage to close the boxes, but not very securely. When boxes packaged like this are picked up and carried, the weight from the items will cause the bottom of the box to break open, causing everything to fall to the floor! Tape the top of your boxes too in case things shift in the moving truck so that your items stay put.
Padding – you need to take up extra space on the inside of boxes with large and light materials so that your items will be protected. This padding should be lightweight so that unnecessary weight is not being moved. Padding isn’t just for the inside of boxes though, you should also pad your furniture to prevent scratches!
Wrapping – most people pick up bubble wrap, thinking it’s the only padding and wrapping material that they need. Professional movers, however, understand when and where to use different padding and wrapping materials. Do you know that the best way to keep your dresser drawers closed (and not falling open and banging into walls) as they’re being moved is to wrap the dresser with plastic wrap first, and then pad it with moving blankets? Read on for further explanation!

Essential Packing Materials

By investing in the following essential packing materials, you will not only save time and energy but you will prevent damage to your valuables:

Boxes
Small boxes – good for valuable things that you want to keep track of, and other essentials that you want to keep nearby, for example in your personal vehicle.
Medium boxes – good for most things, including heavier small items such as books.
Large boxes – good for lighter and larger items. Do not overload large boxes with heavy items because not only can they become too heavy to carry, the box or tape may not be able to handle all of the weight!
Wardrobe boxes – you may not have heard about wardrobe boxes, but these boxes allow your hung clothes to remain hung during the move! These boxes are tall enough for your business clothes to remain wrinkle-free on hangers, instead of being stuffed into trash bags and later sent to the dry cleaners for an ironing!
TV and picture boxes – these are specialized, with a narrow enough space to allow your TV and large pictures to sit in them without much room for movement.
Tape
Be careful of the quality of packing tape you use. It should be labeled specifically for use on boxes. But even professional movers know that many brands of tape found at hardware stores, even with being labeled for boxes, are not high-quality and thus do not safely secure your boxes. A fairly new concept to help people move is tape that is pre-labeled by room! When using tape pre-labeled by room such as “kitchen”, “living room”, “bedroom 1”, “bedroom 2”, etc. you are able to save all of the time you’d spend labeling your boxes instead with a marker!
Moving blankets
Moving blankets, also known as “furniture pads” are specialized blankets used to wrap furniture. Many people who do their own packing attempt to wrap their furniture in blankets and sheets. Unfortunately these blankets and sheets are often not thick enough to correctly protect their furniture. These same people don’t usually think about how their bedding will be exposed on the inside of a moving truck, sometimes becoming dirty and torn! Keep your blankets and sheets clean by choosing to use moving blankets.
Padding
Padding comes in many different types such as newsprint paper, foam sheets and packing peanuts. Every box packed for a move is not only packed differently but also has different things inside, so our suggestion is to use a professional moving company that understands the best choice of materials for you!
Stretch wrap
Furniture with drawers and doors should be wrapped with stretch wrap in order to prevent the drawers from opening while they’re moved. As we’ve already mentioned, you don’t want drawers opening as a piece of furniture is being moved through a doorway! You also wouldn’t want the doors of a china cabinet opening while traveling on the road. The ability to securely wrap furniture in this manner is an art, so contact professional movers because they’re the artists here!
Mattress bags
You will want to wrap all of your mattresses and box springs individually in large plastic covers called mattress bags. This protects them as they’re moved in and out of doors from snagging on anything sharp such as the metal plates on the inside of door jambs. Once your mattresses and box springs are on the truck, their mattress bags will keep them from being in contact with the floor. Although we proudly maintain very clean trucks, we would like to be extra cautious with your most valuable items!

As you can see, there’s a lot needed for a move. We can help, and you may contact one of our representatives today for current prices and specials!

Hire Professionals

Hire professionals to pack your items not only to save time (remember: “time is money”) but also to prevent yourself from purchasing unnecessary materials. Many times DIY pack jobs result in people purchasing extra materials that are never used. Not only will you save on materials, by hiring the professionals you save yourself from purchasing moving equipment too! In your everyday life, you most likely do not have a need for moving equipment such as hand trucks, dollies, appliance dollies and moving shoulder straps. So why purchase these things when you can hire United Moving Solutions? We’re one stop for all of your moving needs, so contact us to speak with one of our representatives! We handle everything from the packing, to the logistics and even storage, plus we do it all with a smile!