Our Best Tips for Packing & Moving Heavy Items

Protect Your Belongings and Yourself With Proper Packing Techniques

When moving, everyone wants to ensure their treasured possessions arrive safely at their new home. Packing heavy items comes with a distinct set of challenges, including the risk of injury. To avoid breakage or a pulled back, you need to make sure the packaging itself is sufficiently sturdy and protective. You must also be careful about how much each box weighs once packed.

Here are some of our favorite tips for packing and moving your home’s heavier items while protecting them and preventing personal injury.

Choose Appropriate Packing Materials

Heavy items call for appropriate-sized boxes that don’t put a burden on movers or the boxes themselves.

• Choose sturdy, properly padded boxes that are slightly larger than the items you’re packing. The best boxes for heavy items are heavy-duty versions that are double-ply. It’s now possible to get specialty boxes designed to hold heavier items like books, framed artwork, and dishes.
• To reduce the risk of damage if a box is dropped, use thicker wrapping than you do for other, lighter items. Foam padding, moving blankets, and several layers of large-size bubble wrap are ideal.
• Place the heavy item or items in the box to keep some space between them and the box’s sides. Then fill in the gaps with pieces of cardboard, clothing, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, or foam sheets.
• High-quality packing tape reinforces heavy boxes and keeps protective wrappings firmly in place.

The aim is to protect the item being moved and make it easy for you or the movers to carry and stack boxes in the moving truck or portable self-storage container.

Packing Large Household Items For Moving

Preparing and transporting large furniture and bulky items like appliances, workout equipment, televisions, and fish tanks is usually best handled by professional movers who have the expertise and equipment needed for a safe move. And if you need to move a piano, Georgetown Moving and Storage Company is skilled in protecting the instrument and your home.

How to Prep Appliances for a Move

If your larger appliances are in working order, simply disconnect them and remove any parts that could come loose during transportation, such as racks and shelves in microwaves and refrigerators.

• Refrigerators: Remove all food and ice cube trays and drain water in the icemaker. Then tape the doors closed to prevent them from opening during transport.
• Dishwashers: Make sure the machine is empty and remove the lower rack and pack it separately.
• Stoves and ovens: Remove any burner knobs, unplug the stove, and make sure there’s nothing inside like cookie sheets or baking pans.
• Washer and dryer: Unplug both machines and check that there’s no clothing inside either one. Empty or wipe out any water in the washing machine.

Whether you’re moving large items to a new home or putting them in storage, our crews handle each one with the utmost care. Our Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia customers can also depend on us to provide professional packing services that get your household goods from one location to the other in one piece!

At Georgetown Moving and Storage, we want your long-distance move to go as smoothly as possible, so we hope these tips for packing and moving heavy items help make the job of moving a more gratifying experience. To learn more about preparing for moving day, contact us online today or give us a call at 703-889-8899.