How to pack for a move

In this article, we will go through how to best prepare for a move. What materials are used for which items?

Standard Furniture

Dismantling of large furniture

As a general rule of thumb, furniture that is too large to be comfortably carried by two persons and also wouldn’t easily fit through a hallway or staircase, should be dismantled.

Furniture like IKEA beds or wardrobes can be taken apart, but one needs to be careful as the thin wood can easily crack. Also it’s important to lay down blankets on the floor to avoid scratches to the flooring.

Any screws should be stored into a zip-lock bag and taped to a large piece of the furniture to make it easy to find it later. A pro tip: Taking a picture of the furniture piece before starting the dismantling can speed up returning the furniture back into it’s prior state once it’s time to reassemble it!

Preparing for transport

It’s recommended to wrap any large pieces with blankets. To ensure the blankets will stay in place another layer of shrink-wrap is used by the experts.

When loading the truck, also make sure that no screws stick out that could rub against other pieces during transport and lead to ugly scratches.

Expensive furniture

Covering the edges

With expensive furniture, it makes sense to invest some more time and materials to cover also the edges for additional protection. This is especially advisable for large and heavy pieces, like table-tops, marble tables, headboards, etc.

Using a multi-layer approach of:

carton to cover the edges
corrugated cardboard
shrink-wrap
blankets
another layer of shrink-wrap

..will ensure maximum protection. The different layers ensure that even when moving the piece not perfectly there’s a low probability of damage. Furthermore the shrink-wrap will keep all the materials in place.

Kitchen ware

Better safe than sorry

The best resource for packing kitchenware like glasses, cups, and plates is packing paper. These can be bought pretty cheaply in packages of 1kg. As you see in the picture each item should be packed individually and then placed into a larger box. The box should be marked “fragile” so it’s not at the bottom of a stack of boxes.

Paintings

Have the right box

With preparing paintings some key remarks are:

Never place a blanket on paintings as it will leave residue. Always use plastic wrapping to protect paintings.
The more expensive the painting, the more expensive will be the packing material. We have prepared paintings where just the packaging was 1,000€ per painting. For a regular painting, 20€ of the right materials will do the job just fine.
Think of the dimensions when shopping for packing material.

Mattress

Get a cover

Especially when the distance and move duration are longer, it’s nice to know that a mattress is hygienically stored in the truck. For this purpose, there are mattress covers that can be used. They are one-time use and made from plastic and will ensure no insects or dirt will get to the mattress.

WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE WITH US

With eight years of experience and thousands of moves, we can confidently say that we have seen and managed it all.

We ensure Quality

We gather all move related data in a structured process and plan your move to leave nothing to chance. Our teams on the ground are very experienced and can quickly take decisions when the need arises.

Perfect Planing

No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one. Our ambition is to create the best possible plan before the team even arrives at your place.

Additional Services

With Smoover you can get any service that you might need when moving houses: Packing, painting and cleaning.

No Parking Zone

Additional services, like evaluating the parking situation and ordering a No-Parking-Zone permit with the city and then setting up temporary signs are also something we offer.

Digital communication

We like digital and asynchronous communication via WhatsApp. But you can also find us on E-Mail and the good old telephone.

Privacy First

All data is encrypted and not accessible to outsiders.

What our customers say

SMOOVER is all about providing the best possible moving experience: low stress, perfect planning and execution while maintaining transparent communication via WhatsApp. Our customers appreciate this – a lot. See for yourself our latest reviews here:

5
5/5

I relied on Smoover‘s services at the beginning of August for a 600km move. I was very satisfied. Big plus to Jon‘s reactivity when I asked him tons of questions, Bart and Co. for their kindness ... Read More

I relied on Smoover‘s services at the beginning of August for a 600km move. I was very satisfied. Big plus to Jon‘s reactivity when I asked him tons of questions, Bart and Co. for their kindness and their ability to move furniture around WITHOUT touching the freshly painted walls, to XX who disassembled and assembled a complex bunkbed without breaking it, and to the seamless user interface that can be used for administration of the move online. Will definitely call them again for the next one, but for now let’s unpack boxes. Read Less
5
5/5

I am very happy with my moving experience with Smoover Moving. I will explain my experience here in detail because I was nervous myself when looking for a moving service and found that I wanted to hav... Read More

I am very happy with my moving experience with Smoover Moving. I will explain my experience here in detail because I was nervous myself when looking for a moving service and found that I wanted to have as much information as possible! I had to move a few pieces of furniture and a number of boxes from Berlin (Germany) to Dublin (Ireland) - not enough for a full load of a typical moving company, and for a bye-load, this was too unusual as a destination. So I was delighted when I found Smoover Moving. As soon as I reached out to Smoovers, a few months before the planned moving date, Jon set up a Whatsapp group regarding the move, which made it very straightforward to communicate. However, additional information was (also) sent by email. I was quickly given a quote, which I considered a fair price for the volume of items I had asked to be moved, and we agreed to confirm closer to the move to finalise the agreement and the date. I reached out again about six weeks before the move and confirmed the order. I opted for the service to have my items removed from the apartment and loaded by the Smoover team, and unloaded/brought into the apartment at the destination. Pickup time was confirmed the day before the arranged moving date. The movers arrived at the agreed time and swiftly loaded my items into the van (note, I had packed my own boxes but requested that the team take care of furniture items). It turned out that I had underestimated the volume of my items (entirely my fault, as they were in storage and I had to make a guess rather than being able to measure), but the Smoovers office quickly reached out with an updated offer, which I again considered fair given the actual volume of items. The pickup was on a Monday morning; delivery then happened as agreed on the following Wednesday morning. Again, I was informed via Whatsapp. The moving team then unloaded my items and brought them into the apartment as agreed. I am attaching photos here of the delivered items, because I was pleased how neatly they were stacked and how carefully handled. Overall, this went as smooth as could be, from the communication to the paperwork to the actual moving of the items and timekeeping. I think this was very good value for money, and will be happy to recommend this to friends and family as well. Read Less
5
5/5

We had a great and smooth moving experience from Berlin to Barcelona. The movers were fast and careful with the stuff, adding extra wrapping to furniture and bikes to prevent any possible scratches. T... Read More

We had a great and smooth moving experience from Berlin to Barcelona. The movers were fast and careful with the stuff, adding extra wrapping to furniture and bikes to prevent any possible scratches. The communication before, during and after the moving was fluid, allowing us to coordinate everything and keeping us informed once the things were on their way. Highly recommended! Read Less

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