Packing for a move is the most dreaded task in the moving checklist – there’s no question about it. In fact, no other task comes even close when it comes to the time, energy, and effort invested in the house packing process.
Can you think of another moving task that starts weeks or even months prior to the move-out date and ends on Moving day itself? You can’t, can you?
Luckily, there are a number of fantastic packing tips and tricks that will enable you to save packing SPACE, increase packing SAFETY, save TIME when packing for moving, and even save MONEY in the process.
The truth is that not many people are familiar with those packing hacks for moving… but those who are, can benefit greatly from using them, whenever possible, in their respective moves.
Here are the top 12 packing tips and tricks for moving so that you can also make your own move easier, faster, and safer.
1. Nesting Dolls packing trick [SPACE]
One of the best ways to pack for a move is to use proven techniques for saving space. Think about it – when you pack efficiently by using all the available packing space that you have, then you won’t need as many cardboard boxes, which in turn will bring down the packing costs.
How to maximize packing space? Use the Nesting Dolls packing trick.
In its essence, the idea of this packing hack is to place items into one another whenever that’s possible. Remember how the traditional Russian Matryoshka dolls are nested into each other? Well, do the same with some of your items when packing for moving.
Smaller kitchen bowls can fit into larger ones, some hats can be nested into another as well. Basically speaking, if a household item has enough hollow space inside it, it can often hold some other items inside that space as well.
Be creative and don’t let perfectly usable packing space go to waste. Just remember to add protective layers of wrapping paper between the nested items to prevent contact and subsequent damage during the haul.
2. Clothes rolls, anyone? [SPACE]
Another hack when packing clothes is to roll up some of your clothes instead of neatly folding them. It may come as a surprise, but when rolled, clothes can take up to 50% less packing space than when folded in a traditional way. What’s more, the roll should keep most of your clothes wrinkle-free, which is a nice bonus when packing clothes for a move.
If you can, try nesting the small rolls into the larger ones so that you can pack up your clothes even more efficiently. It’s the combination of two packing tricks – nesting and rolls that should turn most of your clothes in tight round bundles that will go into clean cardboard boxes. When you’re done with one roll of clothes, use hair ties or elastic rubber bands to hold the roll in place.
Thus said, you should be careful about which clothes you choose to roll up in order to save packing space. Don’t roll your pricey designer clothes – instead, hang those inside special wardrobe boxes.
How to pack clothes for moving
3. Space management in wardrobe boxes [SPACE]
Remember that wardrobe boxes have extra packing space at the bottom.
One important question when getting ready to move out is how to pack efficiently for moving. Your aim should always be to maximize packing space while also observing all safety packing rules.
As mentioned above, the best way to move your expensive designer clothes is to pack them inside specialized wardrobe boxes. It’s easy enough – you just keep your clothes on their hangers and hang them onto the metal rod inside those boxes.
And here’s another packing trick that may have never occurred to you – to utilize the space at the bottom of each wardrobe box.
Once you arrange hanging clothes inside a wardrobe box, there will be, at least in most cases, enough room at the bottom to pack other lightweight items – usually boxed shoes, stuffed toys, or various soft goods such as pillows, comforters, winter coats, and so on.
4. Vacuum bags to the rescue [SPACE]
Interestingly enough, one of the best packing tips for moving often gets underestimated by people who are quite busy packing up their things for a move.
Oftentimes, super-voluminous yet lightweight household items such as pillows, quilts, comforters, and winter clothes take too much space that you just don’t have. For example, using one extra-large packing box to hold a couple of pillows is not a great idea no matter how you look at the issue.
And here’s the packing trick to solve this problem: use vacuum seal bags.
The moment the air gets sucked out of a vacuum bag, the latter will shrink down tremendously, usually reducing the original volume of the soft goods packed inside it by up to 80%.
Vacuum seal bags are excellent space savers, so don’t hesitate to use them when packing for a move. You’ll also save some money by using fewer large cardboard boxes as well.
5. Double boxing [SAFETY]
When packing to move out, safety becomes critical. You surely want the items you pack up to arrive perfectly intact in the new home, and that’s only possible when you come up with and use packing ideas that increase the overall packing safety.
If you happen to be transporting extra-fragile items, then one clever packing trick is to use double boxing. In its essence, double boxing means to pack the first box (where the delicate item has been safely packed) into another larger box that’s been either pre-filled with packing peanuts or pre-lined with bubble wrap.
That way, the super-fragile object will be surrounded twice by multiple layers of padding materials and will be extra protected against direct hits, shocks, or vibrations that are likely to happen on the road.
How to pack fragile items for moving
6. Travel suitcases for books [SAFETY]
Pack your heaviest books in a travel suitcase.
The best packing tricks are the ones that let pack up your stuff faster, easier, and safer. And here’s one packing hack that can let you manage all of that at once: packing up your heavy books in travel suitcases.
It’s a bad idea to move your suitcases empty – after all, aren’t they super-sturdy moving boxes on wheels?
Travel suitcases are ideal for moving books – especially the heaviest books you own such as encyclopedias and dictionaries. It’s no secret that books can become extremely heavy when packed for transport, and your suitcases need to be moved either way, so it’ll be a win-win situation in the end.
If there’s still packing space in the suitcase after you’ve packed up your books, you can fill it up with pieces of clothing.
7. Plastic wrap to avoid spills [SAFETY]
The next few packing tricks and tips are all about ensuring a high level of safety during the house packing process. The packing advice here deals with how to pack half-empty (or half-full) bathroom bottles that contain liquids of some sort.
A clever packing trick to prevent nasty spills of bathroom liquids such as shampoos, hair conditioners, shower gels, etc. is to open the cap of a half-empty bottle, place a piece of plastic wrap over the opening, and then screw back the cap. As you can guess, the plastic will keep the liquids from spilling over during transport.
For extra insurance, pack such bathroom bottles into resealable Ziploc bags so that even if there were a spill during the move (unlikely to happen), it would be contained inside the plastic bag.
How to pack a bathroom for moving
8. Shoes stuffed with paper [SAFETY]
Some packing tips and tricks may not sound jaw-dropping at first, but their effectiveness is likely to exceed all your expectations. Such is the case with this packing idea that seems simple enough but can protect your shoes from untimely damage during a house move.
Stuff crumpled paper – soft packing paper, not newsprint – into your shoes to help them keep their shape during transportation. Without such additional paper support, some of your shoes may get crushed if accidentally pressed down by something heavy.
Take a sheet of clean packing paper, crumple it into an oval shape, and get it inside each shoe. Use more pieces of crumpled paper if necessary. For winter boots, it’s best to fill them up with wrapping paper to the very top.
In some cases, using socks instead of wrapping paper is also fine, but the recommended way to keep the shape of your shoes is to use white, clean, acid-free, and ink-free packing paper.
9. Jewelry untangled [SAFETY]
Keep your earrings untangled during a move.
Here are a couple of tricks when packing jewelry – creative packing ideas that will protect your necklaces and earrings, and keep them from getting tangled into one another.
When packing a necklace with a thin and delicate chain, take a drinking straw and cut it to match the length of the necklace. Slip one end of the necklace through the straw and then clasp it at the other end. Then, wrap the secured necklace with plastic wrap for extra protection.
When packing a necklace with a thick chain, then use a clean toilet paper roll (or kitchen paper roll) instead of a drinking straw.
Packing earrings for a move can be tricky. Cut a cardboard piece that’s roughly the size of a business card, then, using a safety pin, poke two holes in it, at the top and slightly apart. Slide the hooks of a pair of earrings through the holes, then wrap the entire bundle in plastic wrap to secure it.
This way, your earrings can never get damaged by tangling into each other.
How to pack jewelry for moving
10. Stretch-wrapped drawers [TIME]
The best packing hacks for moving will let you save an enormous amount of time as well. After all, packing for a move will be the most time-consuming task in your moving checklist, so anything you can do to cut down on that time will be more than welcome.
A great time-saving technique when packing to move out is to leave all lightweight items in the dresser drawers, exactly as they are. Those are usually soft items such as clothes and linens. Also, leave any small yet non-breakable things in desk drawers as well.
So far, so good. Now, what should you do with those full drawers? It’s easier than you think: just wrap stretch wrap over the open parts of the drawers and you’re done. Fast enough, right?
What you just did is use drawers as packing boxes, saving tons of valuable time in the process.
11. Hanging clothes on hangers [TIME]
One of the most incredible tricks when packing clothes is to use trash bags to pack hanging clothes straight from the closet. And yes, it works great!
Use a zip tie or a strong rubber band to tie up the metal hooks of several hangers with the clothes still on them. Then, poke a small hole in the bottom of a clean and sturdy trash bag (those garbage bags must be brand-new) and insert the bundled metal hooks through the hole.
Afterward, pull the trash bag down to cover the whole length of the hanging clothes and finally, secure the loose end of the plastic trash bag with packing tape to keep the clothes protected from dust and dirt during the move between the two homes.
Feel free to use two bags if the trash bags you have look too thin to do the job safely.
12. Free or alternative packing supplies [MONEY]
Accept only free cardboard boxes that are in good condition.
The above packing tips for moving will enable you to save space, increase safety, and speed up the house packing pace. This last clever packing hack will help you save money by bringing down the packing costs.
The idea here is simple and straightforward: why should you pay for overpriced cardboard boxes when you can get good moving boxes for free?
Luckily, there are various ways to get hold of free moving boxes for all your packing needs: from friends, online, or from local businesses that deal with cardboard boxes on a daily basis.
Where to get free moving boxes
Be smart and use all the free containers you already have in your home: buckets, baskets, trash cans (clean!), suitcases, drawers, bags (trash bags, vacuum bags, Ziploc bags), jewelry boxes, and so on. Also, speaking of alternative packing materials, towels, blankets, bed sheets, pieces of clothes, and even socks can serve as excellent padding and filling materials.
When you have clothes in hangers, you can just pull a plastic bag over them, covering the clothes and tying a knot on it. This way you can cover up and pack the clothes along with the cloth hangers, and it becomes easier to unpack as well. All you have to do is hang them in your closet and take off the plastic bag. Good as new!
thank you for this useful post. whenever i shift my house the main problem i face is packing of by things. this post really gelped me well.
Taking pictures of packing boxes and travel bags is indeed a great idea. I’ll definitely implement this practice the next time I move to another address. Thanks for sharing!
To take photos of each box you have packed after it is labeled seems a really good idea. It would be much easier to find what you need after the moving.
I’d definitely agree with the rolling your clothes instead of folding! You’d be surprised at how much space that saves. Thanks for all of these great tips!
I have always rolled my clothes to save space but I’ve never thought of using socks to pack socks. Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
It's really important not to have empty spaces in your boxes especially when we're talking about fragile items such as vases or glasses. Your tips are good, I must admit. I've worked as a mover in Redhill, Surrey for quite some time and still managed to learn a couple of new tricks.
Rolling your clothes instead of folding them sounds interesting. Does it really make that much of a difference? I'll try it the next time I get an item packing job.
I'd like to share a detail I rarely see on any self help packing or moving guides. Arrange parking space for your movers. You just have to call your local council and let them know of your move. Then you need to acquire a parking permit unless you already have one. When you hire other services it's easy to have the company van parked several blocks away as it won't be needed. However when you're moving house it's important to park the van as close to the client's property as possible.
Chris Reese of Removals Redhill http://www.smremovalsredhill.co.uk/
These are great packing tips for a short vacation or a permanent move. I’ve heard about rolling your clothes to save space, but I’ve never thought about photographing boxes or using clothes to fill up space. Thanks for the advice!
When it comes to packing your fragile items, you should try and wrap them in such a way that they have sufficient padding and that they don’t move around in the boxes. You can wrap them with several layers of newspaper or bubble wrap. You should then use packing peanuts or foam to fill up the box and help keep your wrapped belongings in place.
My husband and I will be moving out of state in a few months are we are really struggling with figuring out the whole packing situation. Neither of us have very much experience with moving so getting certain things into certain boxes has proved to be a real challenge for us. We are really considering hiring some packing services to do the job for us until we can figure it out for ourselves. I will definitely use these tips in the meantime.
It was a very informative article which has clearly shown how the packing has to be performed and how many days before your move, a hearty thanks to the writer of this content.