20 Efficient Moving Tips to Pack and Move like an Expert
Efficiency is critical to the success of your relocation project.
The dictionary defines the word EFFICIENT as “doing something well and thoroughly with no waste of time, money, or energy”. And that is exactly what you want your upcoming house move to be, isn’t it?
Regardless of whether you’re planning to move house soon or you’re already way into the pre-move preparations, you’ll definitely want your move to be as efficient as possible.
To help you reach and maintain a high level of efficiency throughout your move, we’re offering below a total of 20 efficient packing and moving tips: 15 efficient packing tips + 5 efficient moving tips for increased efficiency when moving into a new home.
Efficient packing tips and tricks
Being efficient when packing for a move is all about being able to save time, money and/or energy. Here are 15 packing tips that will let you do just that.
#1. Follow a good packing calendar
Save loads of time when packing for a move by following a good packing timeline – a to-do list created specifically for the packing task. Packing is the most time-consuming task in your moving schedule, so you just have to find a way to finish that job as fast as you can.
Following a packing calendar will also keep your motivation high enough as you’re marking each mini packing goal as completed.
#2. Start packing ASAP
You may be wondering when to start packing, and the right answer is IMMEDIATELY. There’s no such thing as “too early” to start packing for a move, and the thing to remember here is that the packing job always seems to take more time than you think it will.
As soon as the house move is confirmed is the ideal time to start thinking about the packing process in terms of who will pack up your things, where to start packing and where to get the necessary packing supplies.
#3. Start packing from the storage areas
Your storage areas should be the first premises to pack when moving house.
One of the most practical moving tips is to know what to pack first when moving. Think about this: initiating the packing process from the easiest rooms to pack is still better than postponing the task altogether. However, this way you’d find yourself more and more exhausted and demotivated when you reach the toughest room to pack for a move.
The storage areas in your home – garage, basement, attic – is where you should start packing for a move, followed by the kitchen.
#4. Pack in logical stages
Packing for a move can take a lot of time to complete – you can’t possibly expect to start packing up your home today and finish it tomorrow. Clearly, that’s impossible. So, how do you organize the entire process of packing so that you still finish that all-important task before moving day?
Consult your packing calendar and notice that you’re supposed to pack in logical stages – that is, room by room. Start from one room and pack a few hours each day until you’re done, then move to another room.
#5. Pack only the things you’ll need
Go through all your belongings and decide on the spot whether you’re taking each item or not. Moving into a new home is the ideal chance to reduce the number of your possessions in order to make the packing task more efficient than ever.
Sort out your things and set aside the ones you’re definitely taking with you. To be able to pack quickly and efficiently, you’re going to have to pack only the essential items you do plan to use in the future.
#6. Decide what you’ll do with the furniture
Most furniture pieces you have in your home will be large and heavy, which automatically means that they will cost plenty of money to be moved to the new home. In addition to the transportation costs, packing your furniture for a move will require time and packing supplies as well.
When looking for some efficient packing and moving tips, one such advice is to be ruthless when it comes to deciding which pieces of furniture to move. Oftentimes, selling your old furniture and purchasing new furniture after the house move is the option that makes the most sense.
#7. Sell the items you don’t need
Get rid of anything you no longer want and need.
Some tips for packing when moving house will just be more useful than others. And when moving on a budget, is there more useful advice than to sell some of the things you no longer need and transfer that fresh cash to your own moving budget?
Organize a profitable moving sale to get rid of all useless items and pocket much-needed cash. If you have time and you know how to do it, you can also sell online some of the more valuable items.
#8. Secure all necessary packing supplies
Efficient packing will be possible only when you manage to find the packing materials required to complete the job. You’ll need plenty of cardboard boxes of different sizes, enough bubble wrap for all breakable items you own, a lot of packing paper to protect your more delicate items, and packing tape to hold things together.
To save money when packing for a move, you should definitely consider getting some of those packing supplies for free – that is, without paying for them.
#9. Get free moving boxes
Moving house is an expensive affair, at least most of the time, so you’re going to need some frugal moving tips to make your own move as affordable as possible.
One good way to save money when moving to a new home, and specifically during the task of packing, is to find free moving boxes. A single cardboard box won’t cost much, but when you need around 50 of them, those packing boxes become a major moving expense.
#10 Observe safety when packing
You’ll surely want to finish the packing task fast but any attempt to speed up the most time-consuming task should not be at the expense of the general safety rules. Here are a couple of easy ways to pack for moving while maintaining a high level of safety:
- Use large boxes for lighter things and medium to small cardboard containers to heavier items;
- Always double-tape the bottom of each box prior to packing it;
#11. Use sufficient padding materials
When it comes to expert moving tips, one thing you should always do when packing your items for a move is to use plenty of padding materials when filling up each box.
In addition to placing a few sheets of clean packing paper on the bottom of each box as an initial layer of protection, fill up any empty spaces inside the boxes with pieces of bubble wrap, pieces of clothing or crumpled paper. This added padding protection is especially important when packing breakable items.
#12. Pack clothes in garbage bags
Use plenty of bubble wrap to protect your breakables on the road.
Here’s one quick packing tip that will save you hours of packing your clothes: take a clean and durable garbage bag, poke a hole in the middle section of its bottom and insert through it the metal hooks of a few hangers with the clothes still on them. Then, pull the plastic bag down until you cover the whole bundle of hanging clothes to save valuable time and protect your clothes during the move.
When packing more expensive designer clothes, consider arranging them and moving them in special wardrobe boxes for maximum protection.
#13. Use plenty of bubble wrap to protect breakables
Packing efficiency goes hand in hand with packing safety. So, if you do happen to find some of your items broken due to improper packing, then it’ll be no real comfort that you’ve packed your home in 3 days, for example.
Bubble wrap is the best protective material there is so make sure you use it as often as you can whenever packing breakable items. Wrap in bubble wrap any glass articles and porcelain items, including all sensitive electronic devices you’re taking with you. The good news is that bubble wrap is fairly inexpensive too.
#14 Label your cardboard boxes
Speaking of clever packing and moving tips, one good piece of advice is to label a moving box as soon as you fill it up. Unfortunately, labeling moving boxes is considered by some people to be a waste of time – they tend to think that all of the boxes will need to be open upon arrival, so what’s the point of labeling them prior to the move?
Be a smart packer and label your boxes with their content and destination room. Also, mark down any important handling instructions, if necessary.
#15. Don’t make any common packing mistakes
Packing on your own can help you save valuable money, but self-packing can also be risky if you fail to acknowledge your packing limitations. In fact, one of the most serious packing mistakes you can make is to assume that you can handle any packing task regardless of how delicate or complex it is.
Yes, packing your books, clothes, and shoes is usually a no-brainer, but packing oversized furniture, electric appliances, a pool table or a piano are all specialized tasks that you should seriously consider leaving to experienced packers and movers.
Efficient moving tips and tricks
A high level of efficiency when moving house is the ability to do things quickly and easily without compromising the overall safety in any way. The following 5 essential moving tips will help you do just that.
#16. Follow a good moving checklist
Did your moving checklist remind you to change your address prior to moving away?
Even though packing is only one task out of many during the relocation process, it requires its own packing calendar because that very task takes forever and you can easily lose track of what needs to be done next.
Similarly, you’re going to have to follow a good moving checklist to manage all the things you need to do in addition to packing up your stuff.
Change your address? Check.
Transfer the utilities? Check.
Take your pet to the vet’s office for a thorough medical checkup? First thing tomorrow morning.
#17. Disassemble large furniture
The sooner you realize that furniture is big, heavy and awkward to carry, the sooner you will start looking for the best ways to move your furniture to the new home. And provided that you’ve already made up your mind which pieces to move and which ones to sell, let’s take a look at one of the most efficient furniture moving tips.
Disassemble your large furniture pieces – beds, dressers, wardrobes, armoires, desks, couches and so on – so that you can wrap them in furniture blankets first and then move them more safely to the moving truck to be loaded.
#18. Use furniture sliders
You’re going to need a number of smart moving tips as well to turn your house move into a stress-free and problem-free experience. One great trick you should definitely take advantage of when moving heavy furniture around is to use furniture sliders.
Furniture sliders are very convenient (round) pieces of durable plastic and rubber that enable you to slide really heavy furniture almost effortlessly across a room with no damage on the floor. Simply place one slider beneath each furniture leg or side and start pushing slowly the big household item toward the doorway.
#19. Use adequate moving equipment
When moving without the assistance of a professional moving company, then you could surely use some efficient do-it-yourself moving tips. In practice, self-moving tips only work well when you’re moving locally – that is, moving only a short distance away within the same state.
When using without movers, make sure you have the right type of moving equipment – an appliance dolly to wheel heavy and bulky items out of your home, furniture sliders as explained above, and moving straps to keep your items securely fastened.
Rent the furniture dolly from a local moving company or consider buying one from a local hardware store.
#20. Find a good moving company
A good moving company will bring a high level of efficiency into your move.
One thing is clear – good packing and moving tips will boost the efficiency of your home move. Getting your friends to help you pack and move will give you that extra dose of productivity you may be looking for.
However, to have a 100% stress-free move, your best bet is to find a good moving company and thus let experienced professionals handle the toughest stages of the upcoming move across the country.
Start the hunt for a reliable moving company by getting free moving estimates from top-rated movers around you. Then, request in-home surveys to have the moving cost estimated accurately. Finally, compare the moving quotes in terms of pricing and conditions and choose the mover that fits your budget, requirements, and expectations.
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