How to Dress for Moving Success

By Scott Boone

Image courtesy of Scott's Discount Movers

You’ve done it.  You’ve packed your belongings, you’ve hired a moving company, and you’ve arranged your busy schedule to be on hand the day of the move.  I suppose you think the task is all but complete, right?  Not so fast, Sparky.   While you can organize and supervise a move, what you can’t control are the ways old Murphy can undermine your best-laid plans.   Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will, and at the worst possible time.  One of the best ways for Murphy to get his hooks into you is to dress inappropriately come moving day. 

What should you wear on moving day?

When it comes to dressing for moving success, there are four factors you need to take into consideration: Comfort, Safety, Weather, and Wear & Tear.  

      1.      Comfort – The reason you need to dress comfortably during a move should be obvious. To move a typical 3-bedroom home across town can take the better part of a day. That means you need to dress comfortably.  In the spring and summer, you’ll want to wear clothes with breathable fabric that won’t restrict your movements.  It doesn’t mean to wear a tank top and short shorts.  Remember, even if the movers are handling the bulk of your belongings, you’ll still be required to move cleaning supplies, personal belongings and odds & ends to your car.  That means you’ll need to bend down or even get down on your knees from time to time. Try this in shorts, and you’ll wind up with chapped knees by the end of the day.  Believe it or not, the best outfit for a summer move is a pair of jeans and a tee shirt.  They provide protection without limiting mobility.

      2.      Safety – The only proviso to negating the comfort factor is safety.  Even if the movers tote the lion’s share of your belongings, you’ll still be in and around piles of boxes and heavy furniture, any one of which could get hung up on clothing or dropped on your toes.  Refrain from wearing loose-fitting clothes that can all too easily wind up getting snagged on something heavy.

Speaking of toes, never, ever wear open-toed shoes or sandals on moving day.  Should you or someone else drop something heavy on your foot, you could wind up in the ER in a hurry.  The watchwords for footwear should be protection first, ankle support second, traction third and comfort fourth.  While sneakers usually spring to mind come moving day, high-top sneakers or hiking boots beat them hands down when it comes to ankle support.

Image courtesy of flickr

      3.      Weather – The biggest imponderable during any move is the weather.  Especially if you need to move during the summer, the two givens are sun and potential rain squalls.  Fail to wear sunscreen, and you could spend your next few days slathered in Aloe vera as you try to deal with a painful sunburn.  As thankless a task as unpacking can be, try doing it when every move you make brings you pain, and you’ll really know the meaning of the term.

Then there’s the potential for an afternoon gully washer.  If a storm shows up and you’ve packed your poncho, prepare to squish around for the remainder of the day.  Working in saturated clothing weighs you down and tires you out.  Once the sun sets, expect your knees to start knocking as hypothermia sets in.  If there’s any potential for rain, make sure you keep your rain gear and a change of clothes handy.  You’ll thank me later.

As a rule, if your move is going to continue into the night, you’ll also need to bring along a change of clothing and possibly a windbreaker.  It isn’t uncommon for the temperature to swing 20 degrees between afternoon and evening in the Sunshine State.  After the sun stops shining and you’ve been laboring to carry the belongings that weren’t placed in the truck into your new residence, you can easily become chilled going in and out of an air-conditioned home.  Since evaporation is a big part of the cooling process, don’t be surprised if your teeth start chattering as your sweaty body moves from the humid outside air to the supercooled air inside your dwelling.  The best way to combat the chills is to keep handy a long-sleeved shirt or lightweight windbreaker that you can pull on as the sun goes down.

      4.      Wear and Tear – Another rule when choosing the proper attire for a move is to assume your outfit could wind up as a total loss.  In other words, don’t wear that pair of Air Jordan Seoul sneakers when you move.  There’s a high probability they could wind up stained or scuffed.  The same goes for clothing.  While you don’t necessarily want to wear an outfit that looks as though you were using it as a tug toy for your German Shepherd, you also don’t want to wear anything you recently bought at the mall when making a move.  While your outfit might not wind up being a total loss once the move is complete, chances are it’s going to wind up soiled, sweat-stained and possibly torn.

I’ve got to hand it to you

Image courtesy of pxhere

Another thing most homeowners neglect to have on hand is a stout pair of gloves. Work gloves are essential when hauling belongings or toting caustic chemicals that no mover will transport.  The best kind of gloves for moving are those that allow your fingers to move without having an item slip through them.  Think leather or canvas work gloves such as those you no doubt use in the garden.  If you’re handling drain cleaner or some other caustic substance, use rubber gloves, not latex, which offers little in the way of chemical protection.

Last but not least, refrain from wearing jewelry of any kind, including a wristwatch when moving.  Not only can jewelry all too easily break, they can also get snagged on boxes and belongings or otherwise do you harm. 

With over 5,000 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.