As rewarding as moving can be, it’s also one of the most stressful things you will ever do. As a
homeowner, when the time comes to sell your home and relocate somewhere new, it’s down to you
to pack up your belongings and get them from your old home to your new one.
When it comes to packing, the kitchen is one of the most difficult rooms to pack. Not only is it one of
the rooms you use most frequently, it’s also one of the rooms where you store plenty of fragile,
expensive, and essential items.
When packing the kitchen for a move, it can be tempting to throw all your items in an old carboard
box with a little bubble wrap, seal it, and hope for the best. This is not the route to go. Packing in this
manner will result in broken and damaged items, and will wind up costing you more money.
To help you get to your new home as smoothly as possible, here are several kitchen packing tips
when moving.
Invest in Packing Essentials
While it can be tempting to use old storage boxes and containers, this is a recipe for disaster when
packing.
Older boxes and containers are likely to be weaker, and the last thing you want is for a box full of
fragile crockery and glassware to collapse halfway through your move. This is where it pays to
purchase sturdy packing essentials.
Before you begin packing your kitchen, invest in new storage boxes and containers, as well as bubble
wrap, labels, tape, and any other essentials you can think of. By buying new items, you know you’ll
definitely have enough, plus it means you can organize your kitchen essentials into categories, rather
than mixing everything together and hoping they reach their new home in one piece.
Get Rid of Perishables
While it can be tempting to wrap up ready-opened perishable goods and take them with you, take it
from us, this is not a good idea when packing up your kitchen for a big move.
Spoiled milk or rotten meat does not smell nice, and if it’s contaminated other kitchen essentials,
cleaning up when you reach your new destination is the last thing you’ll want to be doing. Because of
this, make sure you get rid of any perishables before you begin packing up food items.
Either throw them in the trash, or maybe gift them to somebody else. Regardless, don’t try to pack
them because you’re asking for trouble.
Pack Valuable China and Glassware Separately
If you’re packing valuable china, glassware, crystalware, or any other similar products made from
similar materials, make sure you pack these separately.
These items are fragile and breakable and could become damaged or broken during the move. This is
why it’s so important to wrap each item separately and carefully. It takes time, and requires a lot of
packing material, but it’s worth it.
Carefully wrap each item separately, and give a generous layer of bubble wrap and/or packing foam.
Make sure the items inside cannot move. When you place them into the storage box or container,
again make sure they can’t move around inside and bump into each other, even if they are well
packaged.
If you can, pick up pre-sectioned boxes for glassware, as this will help prevent the glassware from
bumping into each other in transport. Always add a layer of protection at the bottom and the top of
each box. Ultimately, your goal is to prevent the items inside from moving around too much.
Wrap Pots and Pans Separately
When packing up a kitchen for a move, it’s important to give your pots, pans, and cooking vessels the
same care and attention you gave to your fragile breakables.
Just because they’re metal, that doesn’t mean that they’re immune to damage. Far too many people
simply stack pots and pans on top of each other, with no wrapping or protection whatsoever. When
they reach their new home and open these boxes, they’re disappointed to find that these pots and
pans are scratched, damaged, and even ruined. Good quality pots and pans are not cheap, and are
hard to come by, so need looking after.
Before you begin packing up your pots and pans, wrap each one with a protective layer of bubble
wrap. This will protect it from being scratched by the other metal objects in the box with it. To help
prevent the pans from rolling around inside the box, use crumbled up cardboard or paper to fill in
any gaps in the box itself.
Prepare Electrical Appliances
Before you start packing your electrical appliances such as food processors, rice cookers, crockpots,
and so on, make sure you prepare each item first.
To begin with, remove any sharp blades or accessories and wrap them well in bubble wrap to prevent
them from scratching or damaging the other items in the box. You should also tie and secure any
electrical cables or cords, and remove any loose lids or fittings before securing those as well.
The same goes for knives, cutlery, and other sharp utensils. Wrap each item generously with bubble
wrap and make sure any sharp edges cannot pierce the insulation or damage other items in the box.
Label Boxes and Items Clearly
While it may seem like extra effort, labelling boxes and items clearly only takes a few seconds, and
will make your life so much easier when the time comes to unpack.
With fragile glassware for example, as well as labelling the box and each individual item, you should
also clearly label the box as ‘fragile’ just to ensure that the movers, or anybody else handling the
boxes, knows to take extra care.
Hire a Moving Company
When the time comes to move, one of the best decisions you can make is to hire professional movers
to take care of the move for you.
A moving company will transport your belongings to your new home in a safe, speedy, efficient
manner. They have all the necessary insurance and paperwork in place, not to mention the
experience and equipment that goes with it.
Movers will save you a great deal of time, effort, stress, and money as well. They do the heavy lifting,
figuratively and literally, so you don’t have to.