If you didn’t hire a moving company to do all the leg work for you, do a couple deep knee bends and shake the cobwebs out of your biceps: it’s time to pack.

Packing is serious business.  It’s going to take a long time to do it right, but if you cut corners you will suffer for it in the end with broken belongings, mystery boxes and sweatloads of extra effort.

Boxing, Bagging and Bubble-Wrapping

First things first, you need the right supplies to pack.  If you haven’t already done so, go out and get the right moving supplies for your move.

Putting your possessions into boxes or bags is pretty straight forward. Group them as best as possible, putting like things with like things, i.e. books go with other books, kitchen utensils with other utensils, tools with tools. Because many of these things are stored together or near each other, this will make it easier to pack and unpack.

Wrap fragile things, like china and glass, in newspaper, bubble wrap or something like that.

Cushion-ey things, like blanket, towels and clothes, are good to pack into bags because they are more flexible to pack.

Labeling

It seems excessive; however, labeling is an important task, lest you want to have to open each box to know where it goes and what it contains.

For many of your possessions, labeling will involve writing on the box to indicate what’s inside.  You should also label separable furniture. For instance, if you’re moving a dresser, label the drawers so you know which is the top drawer, middle, etc.

Measure, Organize and Plan

Nothing is worse than loading 80% of your stuff into a truck only to realize, sweating and tired, that the remaining 20% won’t fit without reorganizing. This is especially true for rigid furniture, like beds and tables. Measure everything out and make sure it will fit in the truck. Then come up with a basic plan for loading your stuff into the truck. This might take some time, and a diagram could be very helpful.

When you are ready to begin loading, bring the truck close and back it in so it’s easier to access the trunk. Prop your house’s doors open so you don’t need to fumble about trying to open them with boxes in your arms. Finally, move anything that could trip you up or get in your way while loading.

Next Step: Finding Cleaners

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