How to Pick the Right Packing Material

By Scott Boone

Image courtesy of Pxhere

Last week I ordered a wood-fired outdoor pizza oven online, only to have it arrive broken in half.  When I looked inside the box I discovered the manufacturer had chosen to protect a 30-lb clay oven with a single sheet of bubble wrap.  As a result, the distributor was forced to give me a full refund.  This incident also made me consider how many times people have items broken by movers, not due to negligence on the mover’s part, but because they didn’t know how to properly pack these items. In today’s high-tech world, there are many choices when it comes to packing materials.  Everything from newspaper and blankets, to bubble wrap, peanuts and packing foam are available to help you protect expensive and/or fragile items that you intend to move.  The secret to success is knowing what material to use with which item.  Below is a list of packing common materials along with their intended uses.

Blankets – When you are looking to shield furniture from getting scratched or that plasma TV from being cracked, it’s hard to beat moving blankets.  Especially if you can no longer put your hands on the box that your TV, computer, video game console or DVD player originally came in, these tough-as-nails blankets are built to be able to shield valuables from getting beaten up during transit.  Better still, you can rent them from most any moving company.

Image courtesy of wikimedia

Boxes – When it comes to boxes, I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that cardboard boxes are terrific when it comes to packing books, silverware, tools and toys.  The bad news is that they are terrible when it comes to protecting fragile items such as glasses, dishes, figurines, and lamps.  Anything fragile requires padding of some sort.  Depending upon just how fragile an item is, you might be better off opting for either plastic crates or specialty boxes designed to better shield glasses, paintings, your wardrobe and more.

Another thing you need to be aware of when you are using boxes is how much weight they can safely contain.  While you can pack books in cardboard boxes, be aware that paper is heavy and any box packed beyond 20-30 pound runs the risk of exceeding the ability of tape to contain it.  The last thing you want is to have a boxfull of books come crashing down on your feet or those of your movers.  That is why less is more when it comes to packing boxes.  Heavy boxes also have a tendency to shift during transit and/or to crush the boxes loaded beneath them. Therefore, it is wise to stack heavy boxes as low as they can go.

Bubble Wrap – While bubble wrap beats paper when it comes to padding, as the clay oven manufacturer found out, it is not the be-all end-all solution for protecting fragile items.  He would have been better served by using foam peanuts over, under and inside the oven.  That being said, bubble wrap is excellent for protecting artwork, glassware, dishes, many collectibles and more, provided you use enough of it.  Sometimes you need to use a double or triple layer to shield fragile items like lamps and knickknacks.   Better a little more padding than a broken heirloom.

Image courtesy of Pxhere

Foam – Packing foam comes in a variety of materials, including soft foam sheets, rigid foam blocks, and injectable foam padding.  Depending on the fragility, weight and cost of the item in question, there is a packing foam designed to shield it.  Cushioned foam sheets are great for protecting china or wrapping around furniture legs.  Foam blocks are terrific for shielding plasma TV screens, or cladding the inside of boxes meant for lamps.  If you are looking to move a priceless piece of glass sculpture, nothing beats the protection of injectable polyurethane foam that will form fit itself to any contour.

Paper – While newsprint has been used for decades to shield fragile items from breakage, it isn’t always the best solution nowadays.  In the first place, newsprint has a tendency to rub off, which means you could inadvertently ruin artwork by wrapping it in newspaper.  Even packing paper, while ink-free, isn’t always the best choice for protecting fragile items since it provides little in the way of padding.  This means that while it can keep dishes and glasses from clanking together, if the box or crate that they are packed in were to receive a sudden jolt, or something heavy is loaded atop it, breakage is inevitable. 

Image courtesy of wikimedia

Peanuts – While bubble wrap provides enough padding to shield your dishes and glasses from harm, when it comes to fragile items with more bulk, bubble wrap is not the best choice.  The problem with bubble wrap is that the bubbles are air-filled.  This means they can both compress and pop when sufficient weight is placed upon them.  Foam packing peanuts on the other hand also have a certain amount of give, but they are far less compressible, That makes peanuts better suited to protecting lamps, statues and heavy ceramics (like fire pits and pizza ovens) than bubble wrap.  The best way to employ peanuts is to start with a 1-2 inch thick base (depending upon the weight of the item).  Then fill the remaining space inside the box or crate with peanuts.  Give the box a good shake to settle them and refill to the top with more peanuts. 

Unorthodox – Did you know you can use a wine shipper to shield your glassware?  Running out of bubble wrap?  Try stuffing a glass inside a sock to shield it against breakage?  You can also repurpose luggage to protect small electronic components.  Bath and dish towels can also be employed to pad and protect breakables. 

With over 4,000 moves, Scott's Discount Movers has handled moves of all sizes, including local and cross country. If you are looking to move your home or office, you can depend on Scott's Discount Movers to provide a stress-free relocation.