Adequately protecting your furniture to ensure that it doesn’t get damaged during transport is a significant packing challenge. The risk of damage to your furniture increases with every movement and mile driven, so careful packing is particularly essential when you’re moving long-distance or from one state to another. Follow these packing tips from trusted movers, and you’ll be able to safeguard your furniture throughout your move.
Moving Supplies You’ll Need to Pack Your Furniture
- Pieces of cardboard
- Utility knife
- Moving blankets
- Movers’ stretch wrap or Kraft paper
- Tool kit
- Large moving box for loose pillows
- Plastic zip-top baggies or packing paper
- Packing tape
- Permanent black marker
Steps for Packing Furniture for a Move
1. Take measurements
Before hefting your sofa to the doorway only to find out it won’t fit through, measure the sofa’s height, width, and depth, plus the height and width of doorways, hallways, or stairways. If you find out that your sofa won’t fit unless you take off the legs or remove the door, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration. Repeat this process for any large pieces of furniture that won’t obviously fit through a doorway.
2. Disassemble what you can
Disassembling furniture into smaller components will make navigating through the house easier, help prevent damage to your furniture, walls, and stairways, and save space on the moving van. Examples of items that may require disassembly include recliners with removable backs, bed frames, table legs, and certain types of shelving units. As you disassemble items, put the hardware in a zip-top baggie or wrap it in packing paper and label. Secure the hardware pouch to a piece of the furniture using movers’ wrap, so it doesn’t get lost or misplaced during the move.
3. Pack furniture pillows and cushions
Loose chair and sofa cushions and pillows can easily get damaged or lost if they aren’t bagged or boxed correctly. You can easily pack these items in a large moving box. Also, cushions and pillows make great padding for fragile things like lamps and vases. It’s a good idea to place paper between the pillow and the item you’re padding, ensuring the cushion or pillow stays clean. Don’t use your furniture pillows to cushion items with sharp edges.
4. Secure drawers and bundle items
Cabinet doors and dresser drawers can easily fly open when moving. Prevent a calamity by securing doors and drawers with movers’ stretch wrap. Also, bundle table legs and removable shelves together with Kraft paper, so they stay protected during your move.
5. Protect corners with cardboard
The edges of your furniture are at the most risk for ripping, tearing, scratching, and other damage. You can fold a piece of cardboard to fit over furniture corners, then secure in place with movers’ wrap.
6. Wrap furniture in moving blankets
Who doesn’t love a soft, cozy blanket? Wrap your furniture with clean moving blankets to protect pieces from damage. Take the blankets outside and give them a good shake to make sure they’re dust-free. Then, wrap each piece with as many layers as necessary to entirely cover the furniture. Secure the blankets with movers’ stretch wrap or packing tape.