Hi everyone,

As professional movers, we pride ourselves in our ability to control whatever we can while helping our customers move: timing, safety, delivery, etc. When customers choose to do their own packing, they’re in control of what goes in the boxes, and how they’re packed. That’s why I’m dedicating this month’s newsletter to packing. The right approach to packing can go a long way towards a successful move!

I truly hope you’ll find this information to be helpful. If you’d like additional packing tips, please download the “Your Packing Guide” from our website. Also, be sure to check out our Facebook for updates and moving ideas—plus some very nice comments from our customers.

Have we already helped you move? We would very much appreciate a positive review on Facebook. You canalso fill out a customer feedback form on our site to let us know directly. Your feedback and recommendations help us make sure we’re always making improvements.

Again, thank you for your continued support.

Jay Vandroff,

President of Yarnall

One of the best ways to reduce the stress of moving is by packing correctly. By following a few proven guidelines and using some easy-to-add techniques, you can help prevent damage and reduce the chance of injury during the move. Here are four tips to optimize your move through better packing:

1. Boxes

Moving boxes come in a variety of sizes, and for good reason. The heavier the objects —books are the best example—the smaller the box. Extra-large boxes, on the other hand, work well for larger but lighter-weight items such as stuffed animals and bedding. When we look at stacking later on, having boxes in uniform sizes will make additional sense.

It’s tempting to re-use old boxes as a way to cut costs. With fragile items in particular, that sagging old cardboard box could spell trouble. Once a box has lost its flatness on all sides, it loses the ability to support weight. One more quick tip: Avoid storing boxes in high humidity, as this can weaken the cardboard.

2. Marking

You might think that marking every single box with a big, bold “FRAGILE” would help guarantee extra care for your entire move. Actually, marking too many boxes as “fragile” can complicate the move and slow things down. Boxes that contain truly fragile items need to be placed in a certain order when loading a moving truck, so it makes sense to make those special boxes easy to pick out of the crowd. Adding “this end up” arrows is a good idea, too.

It does make sense to mark every box with the room it’s going to in the destination and some indication of its contents. This speeds things up on the other end of the move, too.

Long story short, a professional mover already knows how special your items are to you, and they’re trained to avoid damage every step of the way. Whether it’s for your own benefit or for your movers, marking your boxes will save time and effort during the move.

3. Overpacking

Just a word about overpacking: don’t! While an overweight box is dangerous to everyone—even to professional movers—it’s actually not the only problem created by overpacking. The other risk of overpacking comes from compromising box strength. Even if a box isn’t too heavy, stuffing too many items into it can weaken the box and reduce its ability to protect the contents throughout the move. A good box to move is one that can be lifted and placed without straining and has all of its sides straight and strong.

4. Stacking

Stacking is part of packing. Even if you’re using a professional moving company to help you move, you may be getting your own boxes ready before they arrive. Hopefully, you will have a set of uniformly sized boxes that will stack neatly onto a truck or into a moving van. Odd-sized boxes can cause headaches in transit.

If possible, avoid stacking any boxes on top of each other before the move at all. Loading a moving truck is part science and part art, and keeping boxes on the floor will make it easier to plan and place them in the truck. If you are pressed for space and have to stack boxes, always keep especially fragile items toward the top of stacks with the lightest ones going on top. That’s how the boxes will travel in the moving truck, anyway.

If you’re planning a move, please feel free to download our new ebooklet with dozens of other ways to pack more effectively. Or contact us with any questions you have about your move.

As always, if you need help from a professional mover, call Yarnall for a free quote!

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