Packing up an entire home for a move requires a lot of hard work. Even if you don’t have previous experience in moving from one home to another, you should be well aware that the packing task in your personal moving calendar will be the greediest pre-move job as far as time, energy, and efforts are concerned.
Interestingly enough, you will soon realize that there are various packing projects within the major one – projects that will you need to organize and execute in a way that makes perfect sense. For instance, packing up your storage areas should come much earlier in your preparation stage than packing up your bathroom items.
Still, regardless of how much time you have until your move-out day, the different packing jobs ahead of you should never be underestimated, even if it’s about items which you already feel comfortable packing and unpacking on a fairly regular basis. Like clothes, for example.
Take a good look at the following tips for packing clothes to move out, and learn some excellent clothes packing tricks to save time and finish the packing task faster and easier.
What to know before packing clothes for moving
When it comes to packing clothes, everyone has a certain degree of experience – after all, who hasn’t packed garments in suitcases and hand bags for long vacations or short trips? Or what about filling up storage boxes with pieces of clothing which you don’t intend to use anytime soon? At first glance, packing clothes in boxes does not seem like a hard task at all – rather, it seems like a fairly straightforward process where nothing can go wrong.
In fact, there are 2 things you should already know about clothes and their upcoming placement in boxes as part of your house relocation:
It seems like there’s a lot of packing work ahead of you.
As a rule of thumb, individual pieces of clothing are not heavy so you should not be worried about how you will handle the packed boxes all by yourself. Thus said, a large cardboard box full of well-packed clothes can still become fairly heavy to lift and carry, especially up or down a flight of stairs.
Clothes are surely not fragile, so there are no safety concerns about what will happen if you accidentally drop a piece on the floor (just pick it up) or fears about the condition you will find your garments in when you start unpacking the clothes-filled containers after the move (they won’t be broken, maybe only badly wrinkled).
What you may not realize, however, is that when packing clothes for a move,
Some clothes are rather voluminous and will take a good deal of space when placed inside a moving container. And that, of course, can be too unfortunately for you, especially if you haven’t prepared nearly enough cardboard boxes or other types of containers for your garments. The best piece of advice in such situations is to always prepare more boxes in advance than you think you will need. Additionally, there are other good tricks to save precious time when you pack clothes for moving such as sorting and vacuum bags, so read on to learn how you can use them to your advantage.
An important thing to keep in mind while you’re packing up your clothes for moving is that your more expensive designer clothes have no earthly business inside ordinary cardboard boxes together with your everyday clothes. In reality, you will not only wrinkle your costly attire that way, but you also run the risk of ruining them forever. Remember that clothes that you do value need to remain on their original hangers and then neatly placed in special wardrobe boxes. Learn more details below.
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Now that you’re aware of some basic principles when packing clothes to move, it’s time to get your packing project under way. It’s important to follow a few preliminary steps before you actually reach the point of placing your wardrobe items into suitable moving containers.
Sorting your clothes
One of the most essential rules before initiating the packing process of your home is to go through your possessions in the form of a house inventory and decide what you will take with you, and what you will leave behind. Following this rule will make you a multiple winner – not only will you save loads of packing time by having to pack fewer household items, but you will also save big from the transportation costs (fewer items = less weight, and less weight = lower transportation costs).
The sorting out process is a must when you’re about to pack your clothes in moving boxes as well. You’re not seriously considering taking all of your clothes with you, are you?
Let the clothes sorting process begin now!
No longer relevant clothes. Depending on the city and area you’re moving to, you may not need to pack and transport some types of clothes. For example, if you’re moving to a much warmer climate, you can decide to leave your warm winter clothes behind as their relocation will only cost you money and time. If the pieces are still in good overall condition, you’d better donate them to charity or give them to good friends as farewell gifts.
No longer fashionable clothes. Sometimes fashion trends change too quickly for you to keep up, so you will most likely have items in your wardrobe that will be severely outdated. Don’t pack out-of-fashion clothes that you just know you won’t wear anymore.
No longer wanted clothes. In addition to fast changing fashion trends, personal tastes tend to alter fairly quickly too. So, if you own some pieces that are still fashionable but you don’t like for one reason or another, then here’s another reason to cut down the moving cost by transporting fewer possessions to your new residence.
No longer wearable clothes. Should you find some clothes that are too worn out or even damaged to be worn again, then the logical option is to get rid of them before the move UNLESS a piece has a high sentimental value for you, in which case you should probably keep it.
In any way, be sure to sort out your clothes before getting down to packing them. And if the prospect of saving money and time does not seem appealing to you, then at least you should think about how the transportation of unnecessary clothes will take up valuable space in your new home.
Pre-packing and moving day clothes
Pre-packing some of your clothes long before Moving day is a good tactical move to reduce the notorious moving stress that may become a problem the less time there is until your removal company knocks on your door. A typical example of a pre-packing decision is when you do the sensible thing and pack your winter clothes early in your preparations simply because you’re moving in the summer and you surely won’t need warm clothes until after the move. Save valuable time by boxing all the winter clothes such as wool sweaters and fur jackets even before you’ve managed to complete your household inventory checklist.
Oh, and just days before the actual move, don’t be quick to put away the clothes you plan to wear on Moving day. For the Big day, opt for your most comfortable set of clothes that will give you enough freedom of movement and will keep you safe during those chaotic hours.
You have sorted out your entire wardrobe, you have reduced the number of your garments to their absolute minimum, and have pre-packed the pieces which you surely won’t wear until after the relocation. Now it’s time to begin the clothes packing marathon without further delay.
Wardrobe boxes will provide the best protection for your clothes on the road, but they can be rather expensive as well.
So, how to pack clothes for moving? Do consider the following clothes packing tips to make your house moving adventure so much easier:
Clothes packing tip 1: Believe it or not, one of the most important aspects when packing clothes in boxes is… the moving containers. As you’re transferring your clothes directly from your wardrobe or dresser, most of them will already be neatly folded and stacked properly, so all you need to do is just arrange them into appropriate boxes. So, the effectiveness of the entire operation comes down mostly to having the right packing materials. Read on to learn about your available choices.
Clothes packing tip 2: Your best bet is to use special wardrobe boxes for your best pieces of clothing. They are tall, convenient, and have a dedicated rack inside where you can hang your formal clothes /expensive suits, boutique dresses, etc./, thus answering the puzzle of how to pack clothes to prevent wrinkles. Besides the higher price, the only other disadvantage of using such wardrobe boxes is that they will take up more space in the moving vehicle than ordinary packing boxes. All in all, they are a good investment, so consider purchasing such convenient boxes from your local removals company.
Clothes packing tip 3: Of course, standard cardboard boxes are suitable to hold most of your clothes until the moment when you will need to unpack your belongingsin your new home. Since most pieces of clothes are not particularly heavy, you can opt for medium to large size packing boxes. And if you can afford to purchase brand new moving containers, then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you are forced to find cheap or free moving boxes, then make sure they are clean, sturdy, and in good overall condition.
Clothes packing tip 4: A good way to have your clothes safely packed and protected during the move is to use all the suitcases you own. Suitcases and most travel bags are actually designed to safeguard clothes, so this is an excellent opportunity to transport two types of household items (clothes + suitcases) at the same time.
Clothes packing tip 5: Alternatively, vacuum bags can prove to be useful because when the air is sucked out of them, they will take as little space as possible. However, such vacuum seal bags may not provide sufficient protection for your clothes while on the road, and accidental contacts with other items can tear them and render the entire operation useless in the end. So, make sure you arrange such seal bags inside boxes with nothing else but soft packing papers as additional cushioning.
Clothes packing tip 6: Before you pack clothes in a moving box, or any other moving container for that matter, don’t forget to place a clean sheet of packing paper on the bottom of the receptacle as an extra level of protection for your garments.
Clothes packing tip 7: A good trick when packing clothes when moving house is to use casual pieces of clothing as space fillers. Soft fabrics are ideal for protecting fragile and breakable household items, as well as for immobilizing already packed boxes as an additional safety feature.
Travel suitcases are great for packing clothes (and books!) when moving house.
Clothes packing tip 8: Another excellent trick to pack clothes efficiently is to use the bundle technique – it will save you time, space and will prevent wrinkles. The first step is to place a large piece of clothing on your bed (a jacket, for example), then place smaller items on top of it such as sweaters, dresses, skirts, trousers, shirts, and finally lay a pre-made pouch of smaller wardrobe items such as socks or underwear on the very top of the bundle. Slowly, wrap all the layers in one big tight bundle and secure it with pieces of string.
Clothes packing tip 9: Keep hats into separate medium to large size boxes, pack various smaller clothes accessories in smaller packing boxes, use clean soft paper as padding whenever necessary, and remember to place heavier pieces of clothing first inside a box, and then lay your lighter clothes on top of them.
Clothes packing tip 10: After you’re done packing up your clothes for a move, it’s important to label the boxes properly, so that you don’t lose additional time later in trying to guess what’s inside each container. Don’t just write CLOTHES, but be more specific and save extra unpacking time by marking down the type of clothes as well /SWEATERS, UNDERWEAR, DRESSES, etc./.
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Packing up an entire home for a move requires a lot of hard work. Even if you don’t have previous experience in moving from one home to another, you should be well aware that the packing task in your personal moving calendar will be the greediest pre-move job as far as time, energy, and efforts are concerned.
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