We can help guessing how many crates you will need for your move and we can also recommend a removalist, however, what is the best way to pack your moving crates? Here are some helpful clues:
Eat, Drink – (and Be Merry?) – Packing up your belongings is as much an exercise for the brain as it is for the body! It is hard to do an efficient job if you feel tired and woozy. So, keep up the fluids (we mean water!) and munch on a nutritious snack every couple of hours.
Listen to your favourite tunes – Music will increase your productivity and decrease your stress. Find your favourite beats and sing along. Make packing fun, not stressful!
Mind the floorboards – before you start packing consider placing your crate on an old towel or mat. This will reduce the likelihood of scratching your lovely hardwood floors. NEVER drag or slide filled (or even empty ones) Crates across hard or soft wood floors. You will be fine if using a Dolly, they have non-marking wheels.
Create a packing station & gather your things – Find a spot in the room you are packing up & gather all your stuff. Make sure you have plenty of medium and large crates on hand as well as some recycled packing paper, bubble wrap, the supplied labels and a marker pen. If using a dolly, pop the first crate on and open the lid.
Evaluate your items – Before you start popping everything into the first Crate, assess your items. Do you have lots of heavy things? We’d advise you to spread out the weight across a few medium sized Crates. Our Crates are sturdy and strong, but that also means they weigh approximately 3.5kg when empty. If you fill that Crate to the brim with heavy books, you could hurt yourself or your mover.
Pack carefully – Try and keep the weight of each medium or large Crate to a maximum of 15kg. Mix it up and pack in layers. Heaviest items go in first, followed by some padding (if breakables use some scrunched up recycled packing paper or bubble wrap, clothes and towels work great too), then a layer of lighter items, followed by another layer of padding (paper or bubble wrap). If you still have some space on the top use this for very light items. TIP: Always use the medium sized crate for kitchen items and pack plates sideways, they’re stronger this way!
Keep things together – pack room by room for ease of unpacking. We’d recommend packing one room at a time to avoid stress and running around like a headless chook during unpacking. Don’t forget to affix a label to a packed crate immediately, after all, they do look identical. ?
Pack a ‘First Night’ Crate for each family member – you don’t want to be hunting around for your toothbrush the first night in your new home so pack smart, pack a first night crate filled with all essentials. Toiletries, clothing, medication, snacks, gadgets etc. And most important: that favourite toy or cuddle bear for the kids (and maybe yourself?) that they just can’t sleep without.