Tips for Packing Upholstered Furniture for Moving and Storage

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One of the biggest frustrations associated with moving is in handling your furniture. This can be especially stressful if you don’t have additional help. You want to get these items moved or stored as efficiently as possible, but, at the same time, you don’t want to risk damaging anything. Here are a few simple tips to help you ensure your furniture makes it to its final destination undamaged.

Measure Twice, Move Once

This apartment moving company says most important thing you will need to do is to measure everything. This means measuring all of the dimensions of each item of furniture you plan to move and writing down the accurate measurements for future reference. Whether you’re moving into your new place or a storage unit, you will also need to measure the widths and heights of the doorways, as well as the dimensions of the rooms. Don’t forget to measure staircase dimensions as well.

Clean the Upholstery

Even if you don’t realize it, upholstery collects dust and debris all of the time. It gathers food particles, as well as other contaminants, through regular use. Cleaning it with a high-quality steam cleaner and carpet shampoo can get it looking like new. Additionally, that will keep mold and mildew from forming in the upholstery, while the item is in storage.

Wrapping Your Furniture

The second most important part of preparing your furniture for a move is to wrap it up. This goes for tables, chairs, sofas, and anything else. If you don’t think that upholstered furniture needs to be wrapped, think again. Even if there are no exposed wooden surfaces to protect, the upholstery can be damaged by some elements. It may rain on the day of your move, or there may be flooding in your storage unit. For this reason, it’s a good idea to wrap each item up with moving blankets, covering as much of the item as possible.

Buy Some Shrink Wrap

Once you have the item covered with blankets, tightly wrap the item in industrial strength plastic wrap. Wrap your furniture as tightly as you can, securing it under several layers of the wrap. This type of plastic wrap, otherwise called shrink wrap, is typically sold in large rolls, so one roll should be enough to wrap up all of your furniture. In addition to holding the blankets in place, this will keep dirt, rodents, and insects from getting at your upholstery.

Make Use of Furniture Sliders

You can buy furniture sliders if you prefer, but it may be cheaper to create your own. All you need is a moving blanket and a few Frisbees or the covers from plastic containers. The plastic covers or Frisbees can be placed on the floor with the blanket forming a barrier between the floor and the furniture. In this way, your upholstered furniture can be moved without damaging the floor or doorways. Additionally, this will prevent the upholstery from gathering dirt and grime from the floor.

Keeping your furniture in the best possible condition takes some planning and the physical preparing of each item. This is especially true for upholstered items that can become stained or torn, if not properly wrapped. Spending the extra time to clean and wrap your furniture will be worth it in the long run.

Best Strategies to Wrap Your Furniture for Moving & Storage

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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.

 

How to Protect Your Furniture When Moving it to a Self-Storage Unit

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A self-storage unit is a lifesaver when you need storage space. Perhaps you have a family heirloom to save for future generations. Or maybe you’re temporarily living in a smaller home, and want to keep your old furniture. No matter the reason, self-storage can provide the space you need. Here are some tips to help protect your furniture during storage.

1. Preparing Fabrics

Cleaning fabrics help protect against mildew and mold. Sofas and chairs covered with fabric and mattresses are most likely to need this protection. An antibacterial cleaner should provide the protection you need.

Depending on product directions, you will spray or wipe the furniture surface with the cleaner. Do this at least a few hours before storing the furniture so the cleaner can completely dry. Cover the furniture with thick blankets or padded covers for further protection.

If you don’t want to purchase a cleaner, then you can make your own antibacterial spray.

2. Leather Furniture

Never apply plastic shrink wrap directly to a leather item. Wrapping a leather sofa or leather chair with plastic can trap moisture. It can also result in mold and mildew. Instead, wrap the leather in blankets to protect from dirt, scuffs, and scratches. After the blankets are in place, you can then secure them with plastic wrap.

3. Storing Wooden Furniture

First, clean and wax your wooden pieces. The moisture will help protect the wood from the heat and cold. This is especially important if the storage unit isn’t climate controlled. It’s also best to dissemble wooden furniture when possible.

Disassembling items reduces the chances of damage. For instance, it’s easier to store a wooden table if you remove its legs safely. You can also remove chair legs, and detach headboards and footboards from bed frames. Make sure to store screws and extra parts in labeled plastic freezer bags for easy reassembly.

To further protect wood, cover with a blanket or cloth. This will keep dust and dirt at bay. And place wooden items away from the door. Items farthest from the door are less likely to receive damage should water seep into the unit.

4. Protection from Critters

In addition to the elements, critters can pose a problem as well. Shrink wrap or plastic wrap can serve as a protective layer for stored furniture. A secure layer of protective wrap will keep rats and wood-burrowing insects away from your furniture.

5. Securing the Storage Unit

Moisture-proofing the storage unit provides an extra layer of protection. This step is possibly unnecessary if the unit is climate-controlled and well-insulated. But if the storage unit is in a location that’s often foggy, you’ll want a vapor barrier.

Create a barrier by covering the floor of the unit with plastic sheeting or a tarp. After the barrier is secure, carefully move your belongings into the unit.

The steps mentioned here will help protect your furniture from critters, moisture, mold, mildew, and stains, for both residential and commercial moving and storage. Check out this website for more helpful storage tips.

Moving & Loading Furniture into a Moving Truck Like Professional Movers

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Unless you’re in the professional furniture moving business, packing personal belongings into a truck or van isn’t something you do every day. So using professional methods is a good idea, especially if you’re moving furniture cross country. One thing you don’t want to do is start stuffing items of dissimilar size and weight haphazardly in the truck, with no thought given to efficient space usage. Taking a more logical and systematic approach to this task should result in a lot less aggravation, and minimize the possibility of your possessions being damaged en route. If in doubt, think through what real furniture movers would do!

The following list of timely tips represent the orderly sequence that most professional furniture movers use to load a truck:

1. Pack Uniform Boxes & Containers

Start by packing all small and semi-fragile items in solid, sturdy moving boxes of the same size, to make stacking them in the truck a lot easier. Try to avoid any containers that will leave gaps, such as trash cans and plastic bins. Prepare the packed boxes for loading by separating them according to weight and marking them accordingly.

2. Move Heavy Furniture Into Truck First

The first things to go into the back of the truck are heavy, bulky items like furniture and appliances. Removing space inhibitors, like table legs, will help a lot. Longer items like mattresses, carpets, and sofas need to be lined up against the sides. Having the heavy articles located in the middle of the truck’s wheelbase will stabilize the load, and make handling more predictable.

3. Load Your Boxes

Next to load the heavy stuff should be the aforementioned packed boxes. Make certain they are fitted tightly – floor to ceiling, and side to side. The heaviest of your weight-separated boxes should naturally go on the bottom, with the lightest ones on top.

4. Add Lightweight Furniture & Irregular Items

The last things to load will be odd-shaped and light-weight articles that aren’t fragile. Finding the right spot for these might pose a challenge, but keep in mind any left-over gaps can be filled with anything soft and flexible, like pillows, blankets, and towels. Properly arranged, they can act as excellent buffers and space fillers.

5. Make Sure Everything is Secured – Like Pro Furniture Movers Do!

Once everything is onboard the truck, check for any excessive side movement in the packing and tug on your hold-down straps one last time, before locking the ramp and backdoors.

Additional Tips

  • Keep anything super-fragile, liquid, or perishable out of the truck entirely, and plan on putting them in your vehicle, nicely wrapped and secured, of course.
  • All furniture and anything with sharp edges should be wrapped with blanket pads or their equivalent. Pay particular attention to glass items such as mirrors and paintings. One of the best ways to keep them from breaking is to create a protective wooden cross frame, isolated and suspended in packing material that prevents any side impacts from cracking the glass. This may seem like a lot of bother, but not if you happen to be superstitious, or just don’t like cleaning up glass shards!

Moving day doesn’t necessarily have to be a major hassle if you plan, and have lots of extra help. Just knowing that everything you own is safe and secured for the trip, literally allows you to move on to the next exciting chapter of your life! For additional moving tips, check out these other helpful furniture moving resources: