When you are moving, you try to pack everything carefully so that it is in decent condition when you unpack it. This even applies to furniture. It may not always occur to you to wrap furniture to protect it as you might do for, say, your dishes. Your furniture, however, can be damaged in a move as well as anything else can. More importantly, it can damage other things. Here are some tips on how to wrap your furniture to protect it during moving and storage.
1. Blankets and Padding
Most moving companies have padding which looks like large, heavy blankets. This is excellent for placing between larger items to prevent them from rubbing against each other. You can also use them to wrap individual items to prevent corners and edges from gouging other furniture. If you have an extra large piece of furniture to cover, you may need more than one pad. The moving company will allow you to use these for the duration of the move. Instead of furniture pads, blankets work just as well. Pads and blankets also help to keep dust off of your things during the move.
2. Shrink Wrap Dos and Don’ts
Movers use shrink wrap to hold things together. For example, if you want to prevent the drawers from coming out of the dresser every time the moving truck hits a bump in the road, you might wrap your dresser in shrink wrap. You might also wrap it around the same furniture you placed a blanket or pad over to keep them from slipping off during the move. One caveat: Do not place shrink wrap directly on leather or vinyl. If it is hot in the moving van or storage facility, the shrink wrap could adhere to your furnishings.
3. Bubble Wrap
Bubble wrap is a great choice to give an added layer of protection to fragile items. If you have a glass top table or other delicate items, you may decide to cover it in bubble wrap to protect it. If you do have a glass top table or glass surfaces anywhere else, it would also be a good idea to put a masking tape ‘X’ across the surface to prevent the glass from shattering.
4. Cardboard Corners
If you decide against furniture pads, you may try affixing cardboard to furniture with hard corners. Imperial Movers (www.imperialmovers.com) says to bend the cardboard around the corner and use tape or shrink wrap to keep it in place. If you use tape to keep the cardboard in place, you might put it on furniture that is already shrink wrapped so as not to risk getting adhesive on your furniture.
When you are packing your things to move, you will probably not be able to box larger items like furniture and major appliances. When that is the case, you should probably wrap them. Wrapping your larger items prevents them from getting damaged. It can also prevent them from damaging other items. Keeping your furniture covered will also keep dust and debris off of your things when they are being transported or kept in storage.