Moving day tips

On the Move? Forget the dread and prepare ahead.

Moving House Soon? From January to March and in spring Kiwis are much more likely to be on the move to a new residence, staggeringly over one thousand people on average shift every day throughout the country! Did you know that there are also around 5,500 permanent and long term departures with people migrating overseas every year? These people are often moving back home, are due to start new work contracts, or are overseas students moving back home after their studies/summer holiday and others move from New Zealand to live with family or friends abroad. Moving house and transporting personal effects overseas can be a real stress physically, emotionally and financially. There are many things you do can do though to combat this unavoidable hassle before, during and after your move. Not only can we give you a hand packing and/or moving household items nationwide and overseas we’ll give you some savvy tips below in case you’re doing the lion’s share yourself! Moving day tips Get prepared weeks in advance Start as early as possible. Even though moving day is yet to come, you can start getting organise weeks before. Clear your schedule early on, and before your shift date get an early night beforehand as it can be a long slog. Begin packing away the items you rarely use months or weeks before your set moving day. You might want to box up what you have in storage such as infrequently used exercise equipment (yes perhaps you better sell that cobweb covered AbCircle Pro on Trade Me!). Then look at boxing up your winter clothes and bedding etc. This is the perfect time to declutter, do a dump run, get on the phone or online and get your mail redirected, book in cleaners and set up power and wifi/broadband disconnections and reconnections. Get your gear sorted Make sure you put money aside for the cleaning products you’ll need, they can really add up! Alternatively you can use a cleaning service if you’ve got some spare funds but contact them way in advance, and don’t book them to come in when everyone’s in the way on moving day. Ensure you’ve an ample supplies of boxes, packing and or masking tape, scissors, unpacking knives, labels or markers. You also may want to take some cash with you, to pay the carpet cleaners, moving company or perhaps shout your mates who helped you some beers. It may just come in handy when you really don’t have the time to go to a bank or ATM nearby. Get up early and get your playlist ready! Shifting can be an ultra long day, or weekend. Rising not long after the sun’s up not only extends your day and the light hours you’ll have at the end, but you’ll have an extra hour or so at the end of your move for a well-deserved tipple or takeaway meal. Have your favourite songs ready to get you in the mood, just like some good music assists the drudgery of housework – it can do wonders for your motivation on your move date/s. Overnight essentials and fuelling up Prepare as you would for a motel or camping stay! Pack a bag or suitcase with a change of clothes, toiletries, chargers etc. Speaking of charging, shifting takes a lot of effort and you’ll rip through the calories and will need to hydrate regularly. Some of us have the worst luck, it tends or rain or snow or it’s swelteringly hot right on moving day, Murphy’s Law aye?! Be sure to make meals ahead, and pack them and snacks in a lunchbox or chilly bin, also take an adequate amount of water with you and consider an electrolyte drink to keep you hydrated throughout the weekend. Take a chill pill Things can often go wrong, you get behind schedule or the cleaner cancels, but try to relax, be mindful of what needs to be done in the moment and be as flexible as possible. Deal with any issues as they rise and keep focused on the end goal, your new home! If you’re using a moving company be right on time so you don’t hold them up or incur extra costs that may be involved. You’re getting up earlier remember, which hopefully will offset any potential headaches. Our top packing hacks Put heavier items such as books, in smaller boxes and lighter items such as clothing and bedware in bigger ones. A bugbear of professional movers is that people often pack large boxes with heavy items. This can make the move more difficult for them and they’re more likely to have problems. It’s important to place heavier items at the bottom of the box, and lighter items on top, this reduces the chance of breakages. If you’re doing a DIY shift, pack heavier boxes first, and pack them toward the front of the moving truck, for balance. Pad out the empty space in your packed boxes. Again this helps to reduce any damage so fill in gaps with clothing, towels, or bolster with packing paper to stop items rattling around the box. Moving companies often won’t relocate boxes that feel loosely packed or unbalanced as any carnage is usually on them! Keep each box room specific and label accordingly Try to avoid mixing things from different rooms in the same box, as you come to unpack it will quicken the process – it’s so frustrating when you’re looking for that one item you use all the time and can’t for the life of you find it. Mark moving boxes with their contents in writing or use a label with a summary of their contents and it will make life so much easier! If you’re super organised add every item to a notebook or spreadsheet, and allocate a box a number so you can correlate its allocated list with the relevant box. Seal your boxes properly Before you pack anything be sure to tape up the bottom of the box, ideally with a tape gun. If you don’t support the under side, and only fold the bottom of the box flaps over each other, the box could collapse when lifted. Do you really want your favourite vase or wine glasses in pieces all over the place?! The top and bottom edges bear the most stress so reinforce the areas where weight or pressure is concentrated the most. Use what we call the ‘H’ method – its used by moving professionals to strengthen boxes with tape in an ‘H’ pattern along all seams. This is also a great technique for sending boxes in general to detect any possible box tampering, as the ‘H’ pattern will be disturbed if your package has been opened in transit. Key takeaways here are to use a tape dispenser which makes the process a breeze, tape in an ‘H’, secure stress points further and never interlock the flaps of the box as it reduces the overall strength and rigidity of the box. Moving valuable items such as art? Ask about our custom crating Packing one’s own artwork can go pretty pear shaped without the right packing materials. Oil paintings are particularly tricky and basic packing materials just won’t cut it. Pictures with glass behind the framing need to be reinforced with masking tape in an ‘X’ pattern right across the glass. If it does get dropped somehow this can reduce the chance of it shattering. Make sure you also put your picture frame hooks in a special place, they’re one of the worst things for getting lost when you move homes! Bubble wrap is your friend when packing pictures, place them in a frame box and make sure you add large pieces of cardboard between each one to add further protection. Pack & Send specialise in packing and transporting artwork so if it’s valuable we recommend to steer clear of the DIY approach in this particular scenario. We can build tailor made crates for your artwork and give you the security of a warranty to make the process as low stress as possible. Pack & Send specialise in small and one room moves, professional packing and removalist services to get personal effects and household items to your new abode in pristine condition – locally or internationally.  We can handle the entire job or just help with fragile, valuable or special stuff that means the most to you sentimentally. Don’t need the hassle? With Pack & Send we’ll make it a ‘moving’ experience! Get a quote today from your closest service centre.