When the time comes to move, knowing how to safely protect and pack your furniture can mean the difference between arriving at your new home with your valuables intact…or being left with an unmitigated disaster.
As Sydney’s premier removalist company, we’ve picked up a few tips and tricks over our years in business, and we’ve decided to share a few of them with you today.
Let’s take a look.
1. Ask Your Removalist About Insurance vs. Valuation
If you’ve decided to use a professional removalist team, we’re going to assume you’ve done your due diligence and confirmed your team is fully licensed and insured. Knowing your insurance options is another important step in protecting your furniture.
Some removalists offer their clients released value protection, which is cost effective (yay!) but doesn’t provide much coverage (boo!). With this type of coverage, your furniture is only partially covered in the event of an accident, typically $.60 for every pound an item weighs.
Full value protection means the removalists will repair or replace your furniture with a similar item. Each company sets their own liability limit, so be sure to discuss the amount of coverage provided before you invest in insurance.
2. Collect Packing Supplies
You may assume the only moving supplies you need are those required for packing boxes. In truth, there are several items needed to ensure your furniture is properly protected before it is loaded on the truck.
In addition to moving boxes, packing paper, and tape, make sure you have the following items on hand:
- Copious amounts of bubble wrap
- Sheets of heavy-duty cardboard
- Sofa and mattress covers
- Stretch wrap
- Moving blankets
- Resealable plastic baggies
Most of these items can be found at your local hardware or moving store, or you can purchase them online.
3. Give Your Furniture a Good Cleaning
I know what you’re thinking…taking time to clean furniture before you pack it up may seem excessive. But layers of dirt and grime can scratch some furniture finishes, so allow time to give furniture a quick dusting before you pack up.
4. Break Down Larger Furniture Pieces
Take every piece of furniture down to its smallest parts. Not only will this make the furniture lighter, but it also increases the odds that the piece will arrive at your home intact.
Remove legs, arms, doors, and drawers if possible. If not, tape drawers and doors so they don’t swing open or catch on something during the move.
Use those handy resealable baggies you gathered to corral screws and bolts, then tape the bag to the furniture.
You may also want to consider taking a photo of the fully assembled piece prior to dismantling to make the reassembly process go smoothly.
5. Wrap Furniture Thoroughly
What you use to wrap your furniture will depend on the kind of furniture you’re packing. Mattresses should be placed in mattress covers. Upholstered furniture should be completely covered in stretchy plastic wrap (or use a sofa cover). If you don’t have plastic wrap, blankets can be used in a pinch…but can be challenging to keep in place during transport.
Use bubble wrap to protect wooden furniture, paying particular attention to sharp corners. You may want to add a layer of cardboard over corners for additional protection. Not only will it protect the furniture itself, it can save walls from scratches or gouges as furniture is moved into the new home.
Don’t forget to cover furniture legs with bubble wrap as well—they often end up getting scratched during the truck loading process, when other items are shoved underneath the table to maximise packing space.
6. Pack Carefully
Once everything is fully wrapped and protected, it’s time to load your furniture onto the truck.
You’ll likely have a wall of boxes at the back of your truck. Place any square furniture—tables, desks, dressers—against the boxes. The furniture will stabilise the boxes, and the boxes will cushion the furniture. Don’t forget to add blankets or heavy-duty cardboard between the furniture pieces themselves.
You may stack additional boxes on top of your furniture pieces, provided they are lightweight and tightly packed against one another.
Add mattresses next (if you didn’t use a mattress cover, do yourself a favor and lay a moving blanket on the floor of the truck before sliding your mattress in).
Finally, load your upholstered furniture, using furniture cables to secure your pieces to the truck if needed. Again, keep your eyes out for anything that could potentially damage your upholstery and supplement padding where necessary.
When you arrive at your new home, be sure to open your truck carefully in case any boxes or furniture happened to shift during the move.
And, if you decide you’d like a little help from one of Sydney’s top removalist companies, we hope you’ll contact us at Holloway Removals. We know exactly how to protect and load your furniture, freeing up your time for more important moving duties.
Contact us today for a custom quote.
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