Your have your new place and the movers will be here in a few weeks. You think you have plenty of time to get things packed for the move, but you don’t. Moving is a process and it takes time. Don’t put it off.

When you are finally at the stage where you’re putting items in moving boxes, you have a choice. You can take the time to pack them right at the start, or you can spend the time cleaning up broken items on the other end. Invest the time and money into proper packing and avoid the frustration when you start unpacking.

The two biggest considerations when packing are protecting items and the weight of the boxes.

Packing Material Options

Proper packing will protect everything from fragile items that can break easily to things that might just get scraped or scratch. The material you use can vary, but professional movers prefer you use actually packaging material designed to fill space and absorb shocks. You can find these at most office supply stores and many moving and storage companies sell them as well.

If you are inclined not to buy the material, then you’ll want to gather items that you can use in their place. Some of the items that you can use for packing and that you’ll ship anyway are:

1. Pillows

2. Towels

3. Blankets

4. Socks

You’ll also want disposable items like newspaper to fill gaps.

Packing the Box

When packing boxes, me sure to eliminated “open space”. Everying thing should be held snugly in place, filling the empty space with material like newspaper. Empty space allows items to move around and they  will get damaged. A snug box is key to minimizing damage.

For items that are fragile, like mirrors or china, add layers of padding to the box prior packing your items the added padding will help absorb shocks and decrease the breakage.

Not to heavy

It can be tempting to just stuff boxes completely full and use as few boxes as possible. This seems to save money and make moving go faster. But, experience tells us these heavy boxes tend to get dropped more often, and people tend to hurt themselves while lifting them.

Do yourself and any friends who are helping you a favor, opt for more boxes that are lighter. You may have more of them, but you’ll be able to move more quickly and have less chance of getting hurt during your move.

Here are other considerations when looking at the number of boxes for your move.

When it comes to packing your moving boxes, take your time and do it right. You’ll save yourself headaches on the other and make your move go more smoothly.

If you’re wondering what to do with all those boxes once your done moving, here are some ideas from a mover.