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Get a Move On

Two tips for protecting your possessions when moving house

25 September 2017

Hazel Bailey

One of the biggest worries many people have when moving home is that their belongings might end up getting damaged during the moving process. If you're moving in the near future and would like to keep your possessions safe, here are a couple of tips which you should help you to keep your possessions safe.

Use the best packing supplies you can afford

Moving to a new home can be very expensive. As such, you might be tempted not to bother buying high-quality packing supplies and to instead simply wrap up your things in sheets of newspaper and pop them into some flimsy second-hand cardboard boxes.

However, this attempt to save a few dollars could end up costing you a lot of money, as it is likely to result in a substantial proportion of your belongings being destroyed or significantly damaged during the drive to your new property. You will then have to incur the expense of either replacing or repairing these items.

Newspaper is not a particularly good material in which to wrap fragile things like glassware and dishes, as it offers little in the way of shock absorption; this means that these goods are likely to shatter or crack if they are accidentally dropped or knocked over.

Likewise, second-hand, single-walled cardboard boxes cannot hold heavy loads and as such, are likely to break open if you unintentionally pack too many hefty items into one of them.

As such, if you want to ensure that your belongings remain safe and undamaged throughout the moving process, it's crucial to use the best packing supplies you can afford. Instead of newspaper, opt for thick bubble-wrap; this will offer far more shock absorption. Similarly, rather than using old single-walled boxes, purchase double or triple-walled ones, which will remain stable and secure even when loaded with heavyweight goods. 

Don't try to move large items by yourself

Moving is a lengthy process. Given this, on the day of the house move, you may find yourself tempted to speed things up by helping your removals team to load and unload the van.

Whilst there shouldn't be any issues with you putting a few lightweight boxes into the vehicle's storage container, it is not a good idea to attempt to lift any heavy, large items (such as pieces of furniture) by yourself, as this is likely to end badly.

Because you don't have the same level of expertise when it comes to lifting and moving heavy objects, two things might occur.

Firstly, you may end up dropping the item on the ground or scraping it against a wall as you try to manoeuvre it out of the property. If the item in question is fragile (for example, if it is a large mirror or an antique piece of furniture), this mistake could result in it sustaining serious damage, which will be expensive to fix.

Secondly, you could quite easily end up with a severe back injury. As such, it's best to leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.

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