How to pack household appliances

With the moving day coming up, your belongings need to be prepared for the move. Clothes, furniture, artwork, everything has certain specifics tied to its packing. The same goes for your household appliances. Ranging from pieces of technology you use daily to useful little gadgets, your household appliances are something that you will surely need in your new home. So, read through these tips to find out how to pack household appliances in a way that will ensure their safety and avoid any damages occurring.

Planning

A common theme for all kinds of moves is the importance of planning. Do it right and the move will go smoothly. However, if you neglect this aspect, your move can turn messy. By this, we mean forgetting important items or even having them damaged in the moving process. As every aspect of the move takes time, it’s a good idea to break up the packing process into groups. Packing artwork, for example, will require different supplies and consume a different amount of time than packing cutlery. The same applies to making sure you pack household appliances correctly. Therefore, practice good organization, by setting time aside for every group of items you will be packing. Also, make a list of packing supplies you will be needing for that group of items, so when the move day comes, everything is packed well and ready to be moved.

De-clutter

Another fact that goes for almost every kind of move is that the move is a chance to de-clutter. Reducing the number of items you move will reduce the packing and moving costs and free up some of your time. After all, you don’t need to pack the items you don’t plan to take with you. The same principle applies to household appliances. Therefore, go through the list of the appliances you own. Then, rationally think about which ones of them you actually use and need. Additionally, think about the space in your new home and what can realistically fit in there.

Maybe you like that bread making machine, but have never actually used it, and it won’t easily fit in your new kitchen. Instead of overstretching yourself, consider selling excess items such as this. Not only will you save the time and money on packing it, you’ll get some money on the side to cover other moving expenses! It’s always smart to consider the moving costs and how you can reduce them.

The specifics of packing household appliances

Alright, now that we’ve covered the general tips that apply to most aspects of moving its time to dive into the specifics of how to pack household appliances. Depending on who will be conducting the move, there are different things to consider:

Having professionals pack your household appliances

First off, if you’ve hired a professional moving company to help with your move, they’ll probably be packing the appliances themselves. Having professionals, with years of experience, do it is one of the safest ways to go. However, it’s also more expensive than choosing to pack household appliances yourself. The extra cost will be stemming not only from having to pay the moving company for the labor itself but it can be further compounded by the need to pay for extra moving supplies depending on what kind of appliances you’re moving. An added bonus of using a professional moving company for this is that you can get moving insurance for your items. However, this too adds more to the moving cost.

Pack household appliances yourself

Another, more cost-effective, yet more complicated approach is packing the appliances yourself. While it can save you money, it will mean more time invested in moving preparations. If you do decide to take this path, here are some tips to keep in mind:

The optimal situation

The optimal situation here would be that you’ve kept the original packing. You can then simply disassemble and clean the parts of the appliance you’ll be moving and pack it in its original packaging. We consider this optimal since the manufacturer will have prepared the packing material with shipping over long distances in mind. Therefore you should have everything you need to safely pack household appliances for moving. Additionally, make sure to check that you pack the instructions in the box with the appliance too. You will need them to assemble it once the move is done.

The sub-optimal situation

You might have thrown away the original packaging to reduce clutter in your home. We don’t judge, after all, we’re guilty of the same. However now that the moving day is upon you, you need to prepare the appliances for moving from scratch. This will mean acquiring the right packing supplies which will take time and possibly money. Therefore we consider this situation sub-optimal in comparison to simply using the original packaging. Which doesn’t mean that it’s some sort of a tragedy. Just approach it rationally. Same as above, disassemble and clean the appliances. Then consider any fragile parts that it has and how you can protect them. depending on their shape and size you could use packing peanuts, Styrofoam or just wrap them in blankets or cloth.

Next up is acquiring the box for your appliance, depending on its size. When you do this, make sure you add the instructions to it (if you haven’t thrown them away), to help you with assembly later on. When packing the appliance in the box, use crumpled paper or packing peanuts to make sure the appliance doesn’t shuffle inside the box during the move. To save you some money there are several options for getting cheap moving boxes. Look into these as well. Yes, it will mean more time invested, but it will also reduce your moving costs.

Being ready to pack household appliances like a pro

No matter if you decided to hire professionals to pack household appliances or you decided to do it yourself, reading through this guide should leave you ready to take on that task. So, once again, plan well in advance, keep your cool and pay attention to individual appliance parts and how fragile they are. Soon, your move will be done and you’ll be enjoying your favorite pieces of household technology in a new home!