25 Expert Packing Tips for Moving House (From Professional Removers)

Why Good Packing Matters

Before You Start

• Declutter ruthlessly first. There is no point packing things you will throw away at the other end. Sort every room into keep, sell, donate and recycle before any box is taped up. Charity shops across Birmingham will happily take usable items.
• Start at least three weeks ahead. Packing always takes longer than people expect. Begin with the rooms and items you use least, such as the loft, spare room and garage, and leave the kitchen and bathroom until the final days.
• Pack one room at a time. Finishing a whole room before moving on keeps boxes organised and stops you spreading half-packed clutter across the house.
• Create a packing station. Set aside a clear table or corner with your boxes, tape, marker pens, bubble wrap and scissors all in one place so you are not hunting for supplies every five minutes.
• Keep important documents separate. Passports, birth certificates, the tenancy or completion paperwork and any valuables should go in a clearly marked folder that travels with you in your own car, never on the van.

Boxes and Materials

• Use small boxes for heavy items. Books, tins, tools and crockery should always go in small boxes. A large box full of books is almost impossible to lift safely and is the most common cause of a split base.
• Use large boxes for light, bulky items. Bedding, pillows, cushions and soft toys fill big boxes without making them heavy, which keeps them easy to carry.
• Buy double-walled boxes for anything fragile or heavy. They cost a little more but hold their shape and protect the contents far better than thin single-wall boxes or supermarket cast-offs.
• Reinforce the base with extra tape. Run a strip along the central seam and then tape across it in an H shape. A few seconds of extra tape prevents the most common packing disaster of all.
• Do not overfill or underfill. An overfilled box will not close flat and will not stack, while a half-empty one will crush. Fill gaps with scrunched paper, towels or bubble wrap so the contents cannot shift in transit.
• Keep a roll of packing paper and bubble wrap to hand. Plain newsprint is ideal because, unlike newspaper, it will not leave ink marks on your crockery and glassware.

Room by Room: Kitchen

• Wrap plates vertically, not flat. Stand plates on their edges like records in a box, each one wrapped in paper. Plates packed on their side are far stronger and far less likely to crack than a flat stack.
• Pack glasses and mugs individually. Wrap each one in paper or bubble wrap and use a box with cardboard dividers if you can. Fill the inside of glasses with scrunched paper for extra support.
• Use tea towels and oven gloves as padding. They are going in the van anyway, so put them to work cushioning your crockery and saving on bubble wrap.
• Empty, drain and dry appliances. Defrost the freezer at least a day before, and drain the washing machine and dishwasher so they do not leak in transit.
• Bag up cutlery and small utensils. Keep drawer organisers intact by wrapping them whole, or bag loose cutlery so it does not scatter across the box.

Room by Room: Bedroom

• Leave clothes in the drawers. If the drawers come out of the unit, you can move them as they are with a little wrap over the top. There is no need to empty and repack folded clothes.
• Use wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes. These tall boxes have a rail so your suits, dresses and shirts travel on their hangers and arrive ready to hang straight up, with no creasing or refolding.
• Vacuum-pack bulky bedding. Duvets, spare pillows and winter coats compress down to a fraction of their size in vacuum bags, freeing up valuable box space.
• Keep one set of bedding aside. You will be too tired to dig through boxes on your first night, so set aside fresh bedding for each bed and pack it with your essentials.

Room by Room: Bathroom

• Seal all bottles before packing. Unscrew the cap, lay a small square of cling film over the opening, then screw the cap back on. This simple trick stops shampoo, lotion and cleaning products leaking in transit.
• Throw away near-empty toiletries. There is no sense moving half a bottle of out-of-date sun cream. Bin or recycle anything you will not realistically use.
• Keep a small toiletries bag aside. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, toilet roll and any medication should go in your essentials box, not buried in a moving carton.

Room by Room: Living Room

• Photograph the back of your electronics before unplugging. A quick photo of the cables behind your TV, router and games console makes setting everything up again at the new home effortless. Bag and label each set of cables too.
• Keep original boxes if you have them. Televisions, speakers and computers travel best in their original packaging. If you no longer have it, wrap screens in bubble wrap and a blanket and never lay a TV flat.
• Wrap furniture corners and legs. Use bubble wrap or moving blankets on table corners, sofa arms and chair legs to protect both the furniture and your walls and door frames.
• Bag small remote controls and parts. Remotes, stands, screws and shelf brackets should be bagged and taped to the item they belong to, so nothing goes missing.

Fragile Items

• Never let fragile items touch each other. Wrap each piece separately and make sure there is padding between every item in the box. Direct contact is what causes chips and cracks.
• Line the box top and bottom with padding. Crumpled paper or bubble wrap above and below the contents absorbs knocks from being set down and from items stacked on top.
• Pack mirrors and pictures upright. Tape a cross of masking tape over glass to hold it together if it breaks, wrap the frame, and stand it on its edge between mattresses or padded items, never flat where it can be sat on or stacked.
• Mark fragile boxes clearly on all sides. Write FRAGILE and THIS WAY UP on the top and at least two sides so it is obvious however the box is picked up. Keep these boxes light so they are easy to handle gently.

Labelling and Organisation

• Label by room and number. Write the destination room and a box number on each carton, for example KITCHEN 3 or BEDROOM 1. This tells everyone exactly where it goes the moment it comes off the van.
• Keep a master list. Note roughly what is in each numbered box on your phone or a notepad. If you need the kettle in a hurry, you can find which box it is in without opening five others.
• Use coloured stickers or tape for each room. A quick colour code on every box and a matching sticker on each doorway at the new home lets the team unload at a glance, even without reading a word.
• Label the side, not just the top. Once boxes are stacked you cannot see the tops, so writing on the sides keeps everything readable in a loaded van or a pile in the hallway.
• Pack a clearly marked first-night essentials box. Kettle, mugs, tea, snacks, toilet roll, phone chargers, basic tools, medication and a change of clothes. Mark it ESSENTIALS and keep it in your own car so it is the first thing you reach for.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Do not use bin bags for clothes or bedding. They tear easily, look like rubbish and get thrown out or lost. Use proper boxes or vacuum bags instead.
• Do not leave packing until the last night. A frantic late-night scramble is how things get broken, lost or forgotten. Spread the work over weeks, not hours.
• Do not pack prohibited items. Removal firms cannot legally carry petrol, gas bottles, paint, aerosols, fireworks or other flammable or hazardous materials. Dispose of these safely before the move.
• Do not forget to check access at both ends. Narrow doorways, tight stairs and restricted parking on Birmingham streets in Moseley and Kings Heath can catch you out, so plan the route for big items in advance.
• Do not assume you have to do it all yourself. If time is short or the property is large, professional packing is often cheaper than a day off work and a weekend of stress. It is well worth a conversation before you commit.

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