A Complete Guide to Packing to Move Home

There is never a convenient time to move house, but with the right help, guidance and necessary preparation, you can be as ready as possible and stand a better chance of a smooth and fully coordinated move.

Here at Rylands of Manchester, we have years of experience when it comes to packing, so we’ve collated a quick and simple guide to packing that you can refer to when moving house, to help keep you on track and on task!

Notifying

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of organising your move, to the point where other things that are equally as important, slip your mind. One of these is remembering to notify certain people about your move and the change of address. This includes your current utility companies, as well as TV and internet providers you currently use.

Top tip: Take a meter reading on the day you move so you can make sure you aren’t overcharged at a later date.

Measuring

Take the time to measure any current furniture that you have, that you intend to take with you to the new property. If you have to, then arrange another appointment with the estate agent to visit your new home so you can double check that everything will fit where you want it to. If some items don’t, then you could re-jig things around and find a place it does fit, or the team at Ryland’s offer a free of charge charity run service for any unwanted furniture- perfect!

Packing supplies

The fundamental packing materials you will need includes, boxes, bubble wrap, labels, tape and self-seal bags. These are the basic necessities but you may find there are other items you wish to use also.

Removal boxes – Roughly try and calculate how many boxes you think you will need to move all your things. If you know someone who has moved recently, ask them to save their boxes so you can reuse them (providing they are in good condition still).

Rylands Removals can offer an accurate packing materials shopping list for you at the same time we carry out the home site survey, saving you the problem or over or under estimating!

Bubble wrap – Ideal for those fragile and delicate items. If you can’t find any bubble wrap, then tissue paper or newspaper can be used as a good alternative. Newspaper works great as a space filler once the items are in the box. Filling gaps will help keep your belongings safe and secure, preventing any breakages from happening.

Self-seal bags – If you’re dismantling furniture, you will need somewhere safe to keep things like screws, nuts and bolts. Self-seal bags are perfect for this and you can write on the bag which piece of furniture they came from.

Sticky labels and heavy-duty tape – For the all important sealing and labelling of the boxes!

Rylands of Manchester highly recommend Eurobox, a packaging supply shop in Manchester who can cater for all your packing needs!

Address: Maple Industrial Estate, Bennett Street, Ardwick M12 5AQ

Phone: 0161 274 3900

Friends and family

You should never underestimate the difference an extra pair of hands can make. If you aren’t putting them out too much (and you feel you can ask), then ask friends and family to help chip in with your move. But make sure you return the favour when it’s your turn!

Packing

Packing is far from simply throwing items into a box, sealing it up and labelling it as done. It requires a lot more thought and planning.

It’s important to think carefully about what items you are packing. You should aim to distribute the weight evenly. For example: as tempting as it might be to collate all your books together and put them in one box, practically this isn’t going to be feasible, as the box will be too heavy to even lift off the ground!

Your heaviest items should always go at the bottom of the box, with the lightest objects on top. This may seem very obvious, but it is one of the most common mistakes and can lead to unnecessary breakages.

A large variety of different size boxes create problems when loading the vehicle, so we recommend you try to stick to a maximum of only three different size boxes. Small boxes for books/fragile items, large boxes clothes/bedding etc. and with medium size boxes for everything else. You might also want to consider wardrobe boxes for clothes you wish to remain hanging during transit.

Labelling

You never realise quite how much stuff you actually have, until it comes to packing it all up into boxes. And once you’re surrounded by endless boxes, it can be extremely difficult to remember which box you packed what in.

Labelling can help avoid this confusion and also save you no end of time. It may also be worth writing the relevant room the box is for, such as ‘kitchen’ or ‘bedroom 1’, so the removals team will know exactly where to take the boxes to on arrival, and you aren’t left with the headache of mystery boxes all in one room.

Top tip: Make it known which boxes are overly heavy with a clear and noticeable ‘HEAVY’ label. This will help the removals team know how to best to handle these items.

For more information about our expert removals and storage services throughout Manchester, please contact the team at Rylands of Manchester today.