How to pack dishes & glassware when moving?

Packing might just be every mover’s worst nightmare. However, it doesn’t have to be so. Even when you are moving to Florida with family, running around and packing everyone’s room. With proper planning and preparation, you can make the packing easy, and the move as stress-free as possible. Take dishes, for example. Many people freak about breaking them during the move. This is why in this article, we give you some tips and tricks on how to properly pack dishes and glassware when moving. Follow these simple steps and your items will be safe and sound when you arrive at your new destination.

Get the right boxes to pack dishes correctly

The first thing you need to think about when you want to pack dishes and silverware is what kind of packing supplies and material you will use. Since dishes are prone to breaking, you will want to use the boxes with thick cardboard. Preferably, you can try and get dish barrels. These get their names from the actual barrels that people used to transport dishes in a long time ago. However, now, only a name remains. These are a bit more expensive than the regular boxes, but they might be worth it in the long run.

If you cannot afford expensive boxes, there are ways to find cheaper once. For one thing, you can try finding them online. There are websites, like Freecycle, that offer things for free or cheap. However, if you are stuck with regular boxes, you will need a lot of packing material. Packing paper, packing tape – you can find all these in a hardware store.

What bonus supplies to get to pack dishes correctly

When it comes to the packing paper, the best one to get would be the white packing paper. You can also use newspaper to wrap your dishes in, but you will need to wash them after the move because of all the printer color in the newspapers. When it comes to picking tape, skip the duck or masking tapes. They might be cheaper than your good old wide packing tape, but they are less secure too. You will want to use the packing tape to secure the bottom of the boxes, so you will need something to hold the weight of your dishes.

When you get your material ready to pack dishes and glassware, it’s time to designate a packing area. This can be your dining room table or the floor – somewhere where you will have room to move and pack for long distance move with ease. Get everyone in your family involved in the process – even children can help!

Use packing paper well when you pack dishes and glassware

The first step when you pack dishes is to crumple your packing paper. The creases will provide great insulation against the bumps in the road. Don’t be shy about using a lot of paper – you will need about 6″ of paper bed at the bottom of each box. You will also need a lot of packing paper at the top of the box too – for the similar reasons. Another thing you will do is wrap each piece of glassware separately into each own packing paper.

When wrapping your items, you will want to lay each item on the sheet of paper. After that, you insert some of the paper into the open end of the dish and start rolling. This will create a sort of cushioning for each item, and offer even more protection. Don’t be afraid to use a couple of sheets of paper for some fragile items – like crystal glasses.

When laying your items into a box, put the heaviest items on the bottom. Glass jugs, serving trays and stuff like that will go first, and then build upwards towards the light and fragile items. You should not do this the other way because the heavy items will weight down on the light, and damage them or break them during the transport.

Be careful when packing plates

All long distance movers Florida will tell you to be careful and creative when packing plates. They will also mention one rule you can follow – pack in stacks. First, wrap each plate into a separate piece of packing paper. Then, stack a couple of these together, and wrap the whole stack into a separate piece of paper. This will ensure the plates stay together during the transport, so they won’t break against each other. It also gives the plates a double layer of insulation against the vibrations and bumps in the road.

The same rule applies for plates as for the glassware when putting them into the box. Place the heaviest items on the bottom first. If there are some dishes that are durable and you worry less about breaking them, then there is no need to wrap them in too much paper. Use this paper instead of on fragile China and similar, more expensive items.

Fill the boxes to the top

Finally, you will want to fill boxes almost to the top. You should leave about 3″ of room for crumpled paper, just like you did at the bottom. You can also fill the top of the box with the light and small items that cannot break – like wooden or plastic ones. When packing furniture for a cross-country move it’s very important to remember that boxes are usually stacked. When you close the flaps of the box, you should not be able to push down on it too much. Otherwise, the boxes will push against one another in the truck and damage the items inside them.

Finally, remember to mark every box when you pack dishes and glassware. Be sure to also mark up that the box contains fragile items, and what should be the top side of the box. If you are planning for another move in the recent future, you can flatten every box you have and store them for it. Otherwise, you can give them away to someone else who needs them.