Wichita Falls Moving Blog - Tips, Tricks, and Insider Info
July 22, 2019

Moving Casualties in Wichita Falls: How to Protect Your Most Difficult-to-Move Items

Packing & MovingBy Julie DeLong, A-1 Freeman Moving Group 

When packing and moving your household to a new location in or around Wichita Falls, some items probably won't endure the move. This is what's called a moving casualty, a tragic amount of damage or total breakage which can happen on move-out day, move-in day, or whilst the moving van moves along from one house to the subsequent. No matter how meticulously you pack, most households have a minumum of one minor moving casualty over the transfer, nevertheless you do not have to.

Being a professional moving company in Wichita Falls, we pack a lot of sensitive pieces for our clients to make sure they reach the destination undamaged. So, today, we're here to share tips on avoiding the most frequent moving casualties when you are packing yourself and approaches to protect your most challenging-to-move items.

Delicate Glassware, Fine China, & Collectibles

There's a justification that professional movers have a great number of special packing materials for moving your kitchen items. Glassware and ceramic dishes are hard enough to transport without damaging them, much less fine china and delicate collectibles. Many households discover a minimum of one crack or broken glass item in a move with numerous delicate things in boxes.

You will want to take special care packing, stuffing, separating, and padding your most sensitive pieces. 

  • Make use of cardboard dishware partitions
  • Pack plates vertically, this reduces the chance of breaking
  • Fill every empty place utilizing newsprint, bubble wrap, or peanuts
  • Don't allow glass to contact other glass
  • Never pack too tightly, or pressure/bumps may cause damaging
  • Pad extra room and the outside of each carton with fluffy packing material

Decorative mirrors & Picture Frames

Sizeable panes of glass tend to be tough to pack since they have a great chance of getting damaged or smashed in the move. This means mirrors and glass-covered framed artwork has to be packed with additional care. What is important will be to protect the glass surface and decrease the possibility of an impact against the glass. 

  • Stack picture frames with each other in a carton utilizing cardboard partitions in the middle
  • Attach a blanket or cloth covering the whole area of the glass
  • Use a large piece of cardboard over every glass surface to reduce strikes
  • Store vertical, like the dishes
  • Don't let packed glass to lay flat

 Wood Home furniture

Wood furniture is a common moving casualty, although not the full furniture piece itself. Instead, wood is likely to endure scrapes, scuffs, in addition to harm to the finish when being disassembled or carted by means of narrow corners and doorways of the property. It's very typical for once-pristine wood furniture to reach the new house needing refinishing or repairs. Here's how to prevent damage to your home furniture (and wall surfaces) along the route: 

  • Remove hardware such as handles and feet to help make the pieces of furniture more rectangular and even.
    • Keep all removed parts with each other inside a clearly labeled bag or box.
    • Small packages of removed hardware could be stored in a drawer of the furniture it came from
    • Stow multiple groups of taken off parts in the same container for convenient reconstruction
  • Tape All drawers and cabinets closed
    • Make use of paper tape or masking tape which will not ruin paint, stain, or finish
  • Take sizeable home furniture apart if you can.
    • Cover each piece on its own and load up into a single box or bundle.
    • Visibly label everything you disassemble, including the location where the items need to be reconnected in the future. Colored tape may help.
  • Wrap all things in furniture pads or blankets to decrease the chance of scuffs
  • Ask for assistance or hire professional movers to move large or awkward household furniture 

Musical Instruments

For those who own any musical instruments, you realize that moving can mean serious peril for these types of carefully tuned and sensitive pieces. From grand pianos to oboes and everything in between, instruments tend to be breakable and need to be addressed with the maximum care.

For sizeable instruments like pianos, harps, and acoustic bass, you may want to make use of a professional instrument moving team. Talk to your moving company in Wichita Falls on what they can do or providers they're able to connect you with who are experts in moving sizeable musical instruments securely across short or long distances.

Pertaining to more compact personal musical instruments, these tips will allow you to keep your musical equipment protected and in good condition throughout the move: 

  • Loosen the strings of stringed instruments like guitars, violins, cellos, and small harps. The temperature and humidity changes throughout a move or when in storage could cause strings to break or sometimes warp the wood of your instrument when the strings are extremely taut.
  • Pack mouthpieces individually and think about carrying your mouthpieces together with you instead of packaging them in a carton.
  • Pack instruments inside their own designed and padded cases if possible.
  • If practical, wrap musical instruments in bubble wrap, even inside their cases, to provide extra padding in addition to protection.
  • In the event that you do not have a case wrap the musical instrument in several layers of bubble wrap and then package in its own carton with nothing more inside.
  • Pad your box with newsprint, bubble wrap, or peanuts to prevent moving and bumping.
  • Do not ever put 2 instruments within the same box in the event they harm one another on the move.
  • When it's a possibility, contemplate moving instruments in your car or truck rather than within the moving truck. 

Artwork

Packing & MovingWhether you have posters, painted canvas, or sculptures, preparing art can be tough. There is a pretty good possibility your artwork will certainly endure the move without special moving services, as long as you pack it the correct way and are vigilant regarding exactly where it will be positioned in the moving truck. For extremely high-priced pieces, talk with your moving company in Wichita Falls regarding when you should evaluate moving them within your vehicle or sending with an fine art transportation service.

However, if you have just got a couple of delicate pieces of art to pack and take along, here's how to prevent them from turning into moving casualties:

Canvas & Posters 

  • Decide if it is okay to roll up your artwork and store in poster tubes. Vertical, strong poster tubes are often the soundest strategy to use.
  • If storing flat, take into consideration continuing to keep inside picture frames that happen to be presently loaded carefully to reduce bumps.
  • If keeping flat, use a thin flat box about the measurements of your art
    • Lay your canvas or poster in between sheets of cardboard to ensure that they're both flat and secured
    • Give consideration to plastic wrap, wax paper or perhaps a rapid spray of paint-sealant for unsealed paintings or perhaps sketches 

Delicate or Oddly Shaped Statues 

  • Like dishes, fill every crevice, cavity, and handle with fluffy packing material
  • Like instruments, spot in a bed of packing material and encompass with more packing materials to shield from bumps or compression
  • Metal and wood may be placed in the same carton
  • Generally, never put two glass or fragile statues within the same container

 Exercise Gear

Last but not least, we come to the toughest but maybe most challenging packing undertaking of all: your workout equipment. Dumbbells, weight benches, stationary bicycles, and specialty exercise machines are often a massive concern to move. The weighted and structural items can be very weighty while the gear by itself can be sophisticated and/or clumsy to move. In reality, significant workout machines are often the cause of moving casualties.

Sporting equipment, however, can be quite delicate. Rackets and skis, snowboards in addition to surfboards, as well as other carefully wrought sporting gear can take severe hurt from the wrong kind of jostling throughout a move. These are items you ought not merely toss in a container and set off.

Here is how to move your home gym and sporting gear correctly without any breaks, losses, or too-heavy boxes:

Weights 

  • Load up a couple per container
  • Pad firmly and pack into small now-heavy cartons
    • Search for or assemble cartons smaller than a book carton
  • Package disc weights in workable piles
    • Wrap in moving pads and secure with shrink wrap
  • Do not ever package some weights heavier than it is possible to carry
  • Lift up with your legs 

Workout Gear 

  • Retain and load up the assembly instructions
  • Take down everything you can and load up in bundles of bars and bench sections
  • Tag each and every piece and also screw once you disassemble and keep within labeled bags along with the workout gear pieces
  • Shoot pictures before you take down to aid with reassembly 

Sporting Equipment (Rackets, Skis, etc.) 

  • Store rackets in their cases with an additional layer of padding. Never allow to fold.
  • Bubble-wrap skis and snowboards then pack in cases or vertical cartons.
    • Consider extra cardboard or struts to keep boxes impact-resistant and inflexible
    • A professional mover can supply cartons, when you need them
  • Pack groups of gear collectively within the identical box.

 ----

Relocating to a new house in Wichita Falls doesn't have to include the usual moving casualties such as furniture scratches or cracked plates. No matter if you are relocating sizeable everyday stuff or special sensitive belongings, these suggestions will allow you to enjoy a tragedy-free move with every one of your favorite items making it safe-and-sound to your new residence. If you need further smart moving advice from a professional moving company who's seen it all or you are concerned about packing special things in your house, call us today!

 

Request a free quote

 
REAL PEOPLE. GREAT EXPERIENCES.
The Mickelson Family
review-couple
review-map
The Mickelson Family
Best. Move. Ever!
Very pleased with the overall respect and care the men gave to my possessions. Even mailing me very quickly the only thing lost in transit. Would recommend to anyone needing a long distant move.
Read more

Almost there...

Tell us a little more about yourself!
(Contact information is required to submit form.)