Moving house can be an exciting and stressful time. It’s likely you’ll have many things to think about – however, it’s important to ensure packing doesn’t take a backseat. This useful guide will advise you on the importance of using packing supplies for moving home and how you can utilise everyday household items into quality packing supplies. We’ll even delve into how you can make the most of them after your move. So, read on to discover some creative ideas for packing supplies when moving on a budget.
The importance of using quality packing supplies for moving house
When it comes to moving house, you will have a lot of tasks to juggle. Amid finding a removal company and sorting out final contracts, you may find that packing can take a backseat. However, this is definitely not a job that you should leave to the last minute – you should expect packing your whole home into boxes to be a time-consuming endeavour and should treat it accordingly.
Another factor to consider will be the packing materials themselves. While cardboard boxes are an obvious choice, there are numerous benefits of using household items and other quality packing supplies to ensure your belongings are as safe as possible. Here are just a few of these advantages:
Prevent your items from getting broken
This is undoubtedly the most important reason for using quality packing supplies – moving house can be a turbulent process and it’s common for incorrectly packed items to get broken or damaged along the way. Simple materials like bubble wrap and packing paper will make sure that everything is suitably protected during the move – you can also look forward to less disruption when unpacking in your new home too.
Ensure furniture doesn’t get damaged
In the process of moving home, many people forget to protect their furniture. It can be common for large items such as sofas and mattresses to get loaded into vans with nothing around them – this increases the risk of them getting dirty and damaged. This is why it is important to use covers on large pieces of furniture, saving you the headache of costly cleaning, repairs and refurbishment.
Protect the property itself
When moving home, you’ll want to avoid damaging the floors of a property. You should ensure carpets and hardwood floors of both your new and old home are covered with plastic floor protection – this avoids any issues with the new owners.
Simplify the unpacking process
Unpacking can be just as tedious and time-consuming as the packing process, and so you’ll want to make this as easy as possible for your convenience. The better you pack your boxes, the less time unpacking will take. Not only will labelling your boxes correctly help make items easier to locate, but using specialist supplies like wardrobe boxes and suction bags will also greatly simplify the unpacking process. After a long day of moving, you’ll be grateful you took the time to pack up your house properly.
Reduce the amount of waste
Throwing away packing materials generates harmful waste and is incredibly bad for the environment. When you use household items and quality materials to pack up your house, the amount you need will be significantly reduced and you can rest assured these materials will probably also be recyclable or primarily recycled too.
More affordable than you’d think
People often avoid investing in quality packing materials due to the perceived high cost. However, most items are usually more affordable than people realise and are ultimately cost-effective in the long run. Plus, when you use existing household items like clothes and towels to pack up your belongings you won’t have to spend any extra money at all!
Creative uses for household packing supplies
There’s no need to break the bank on packing supplies – most of what you need you’ll already have at home! Whether you’re interested in learning how to utilise home materials for the packing process or want to know how to make the most of them after your move, here are some of our favourite creative uses for household packing supplies:
Clothes
When it comes to protecting fragile items, clothes are your best bet. Wrapping a vintage plate in a T-shirt is a cost-effective way to make sure your favourite items don’t get broken – in addition to serving as a clever way to pack up your clothes themselves.
Towels and blankets
Towels and blankets make a great buffer and can be used to keep items safe in bags and cardboard boxes. For example, using a towel as extra padding in a box filled with crockery can avoid your items getting smashed and broken.
Bags
Every single bag in your household can be used as a container. Backpacks, gym bags, tote bags, clutches and any kind of fashion bag you can think of can all be used as useful transportation methods that effectively keep your things together.
Grocery bags
When you run out of cardboard boxes, grocery bags can make a cheap replacement. Particularly useful for storing small items, shopping bags can be a safe haven for belongings such as tools, games, jewellery, stationary, clothes, shoes and hangers. Just make sure you label these bags to avoid confusion when unpacking.
Socks
Socks can have many uses in the packing process. Not only can they be utilised as a great stuffing material, they can also be used to store small items of jewellery such as necklaces, rings and bracelets.
Old newspapers/magazines
If you’re after paper packing materials, reusing old newspapers and magazines is a cost-effective solution. Use these protective materials as layers between items to prevent scratching and other forms of damage – while this is a relatively simple step, skipping it could cause you extra hassle in the long run.
Suitcases
Suitcases are fantastic means to store and transport multiple belongings, so you’ll definitely want to maximise your use of these.
Cardboard boxes
You are inevitably going to be left with an abundance of cardboard boxes after your move. There are several ways to put these to good use:
- A play area for children or pets – a discarded cardboard box makes a great space for your little ones to enjoy playtime. You could even paint and decorate it to enhance the magic.
- Storage containers – stuff your cardboard boxes with your seldom-used items and store in your loft or garage.
- Recycle them – reduce the amount of waste your move generates by ensuring items can be recycled and reused.
- Keep them – you’ll never know when you’ll need them again!
Get packing assistance with a professional removals service
Preparing to move house or office can be very time-consuming, with much of that time being spent on packing and unpacking all your belongings. With a reliable packing service and high-quality packing supplies, you can streamline the process considerably and free yourself up to focus on the excitement of moving. Essex Removal Service & Co are on hand to help you with this. Our team of professional movers are well-equipped to ensure that your possessions can be safely transported to your destination, providing not only the packing service itself but also all the packing materials necessary to keep fragile items in great condition.
In fact, we’re proud to offer four different packing solutions:
- Platinum Packing and Unpacking Service – Our team of expert packers will come in the day prior to the move to pack all your effects we will label all cartons on removal day we will unpack essential items to get the kitchen functioning etc. Our unpacking team will return the following day to complete your unpacking and take away all used packing materials for recycling.
- Gold Packing Service – Our team of expert packers will pack all your effects the day prior to moving and label all cartons. We will place all the boxes in the correct rooms, garage or shed for you to unpack.
- Silver Packing Service – Our team of packers will pack all your china glassware and breakable items. We will provide packing materials for you to undertake the remainder of your possessions.
- Bronze Service – We will provide all new packing materials for you to undertake your packing – we would provide boxes, tape, bubble wrap and paper. There is no limit to how many boxes you can have – they are yours to keep to unpack at your leisure.
So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with our highly experienced team of movers today.
