Tips on packing small items around the house before relocation

Everyone who’s ever had to go through the process of relocation knows that it isn’t always as easy as it looks. There is stuff that’s easy to move, or at least to pack. For example, furniture is usually just wrapped in paper or foil. Big items end up in single boxes and are protected by old newspapers or blankets. All in all, big items are pretty easy to pack. However, packing small items around the house can cause quite some trouble. So, let us help you avoid any unnecessary inconvenience with a few useful tips and tricks from this guide.

Size of the box matters when packing small items around the house

It might seem like an insignificant detail to an unskilled eye, but anyone who’s moved their stuff to storage units in DC metro area before will tell you that the comfort of your relocation largely depends on the type of box you use. So, let’s see what are the main types of boxes you should consider:

• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Extra large

These four sizes are the most common ones. In your case, you’ll need only three. Extra-large boxes are way too big and can easily make the move much harder than it has to be. You can’t really hold the box properly because of its size and once you fill it up with stuff it’s too heavy to carry. So, try to avoid them if you can and focus on small and medium boxes. That way the box will suit the size and the shape of the small items you are packing.

Large boxes are great if you have a lot of stuff that isn’t fragile. So, you can put all of your clothes, toys, blankets, and books in large boxes. That way you save a lot of space and also utilize large boxes instead of only small and medium ones.

The material of the boxes is important when packing small items around the house

Don’t overlook this aspect when you choose between boxes. That’s totally understandable since everyone is trying to get cheaper supplies, but trying to save money on boxes can really backfire. A lot of people tend to buy paper or cardboard boxes. Of course, those are much cheaper so you can save a lot of money. However, you’ll need a climate controlled storage Northern Virginia has to offer if you want to use paper boxes. Otherwise, your stuff might end up damaged by mold. That’s why opting for plastic boxes is always a better option. They are far more durable and you don’t need to worry about mold and you can reuse them dozens of times.

What kind of protection is best when packing small items around the house?

A lot of people think that putting the item into a box is enough. Well, that’s not really the case. Often times you will be packing stuff you can easily transport and soft items like clothes or hard-to-break items that are made of metal really don’t need more than a small box to transport. However, most of the items you will move are made of plastic, glass, wood, or ceramics. If that’s the case, you’ll need at least one layer of protection before you put any item into a box.

One of the best solutions for this problem is bubble wrap. A lot of people tend to use wrapping paper and it’s a really good way to secure your stuff from getting stained or dirty. However, it’s not good protection from physical damage. That’s why you shouldn’t try to save money on this one. Give a little bit more money and get yourself a nice amount of bubble wrap. Once you do so, cover each of your items in bubble wrap before you put it in the box.

Make sure you label the boxes properly

Most people like to hire packing services Northern VA has to offer since that way your stuff is handled by professionals. However, there are still people who would like to try to do the packing by themselves. That’s totally fine but in that case, you need to make sure you follow the instructions correctly and label the boxes according to their purpose and fragility.

So, if you pack your house room by room, labels on the boxes will probably read “Bedroom”, “kitchen”, etc. However, some people like to use color to distinguish between boxes. For example, green can mean bathroom. These are all great ways to handle the labeling issue, but you must pay special attention to labeling fragile items when packing small items around the house. You might own a lot of stuff that’s fragile and if you don’t properly label the boxes with fragile items, the movers might handle them in a rough manner. In most instances that ends with a smaller or bigger amount of damage.

In order to avoid this, the best thing you can do is to write a big FRAGILE label on each box on multiple sides. Preferably, with a red marker. Once the boxes are labeled and there’s a visible warning, your movers will be able to pay needed attention to the way they treat your fragile items.

Try to fill the boxes to the top

Sometimes people follow all the previous steps and forget this last one when packing small items around the house. They tend to fill their boxes up to 3/4 of their capacity so they aren’t too heavy. You should avoid this at all costs and always fill your moving boxes to their full capacity. Don’t worry about the weight of the boxes. They are supposed to be heavy and your residential movers are used to that. The reason why you should fill up your moving boxes to the maximum is that otherwise there will be a lot of free space left. That means that, during the transportation, a lot of your items will freely move around the box and that increases the chances of your items crashing against each other by a lot.