When it comes to relocating your home, boxing up the kitchen is usually one of the most complicated tasks in the whole process. Because many people stress about how to pack dishes for moving, we have created this ultimate guide to help you out during your relocation. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Why It’s Important To Know How To Pack Dishes for a Move Properly?
When you start preparing your moving abroad checklist for relocating to one of the best countries to live in, you’ll realize that the kitchen falls under the most challenging rooms to pack and prepare for shipping overseas. It has plenty of appliances, both big and small, and a lot of fragile items that require your full attention. Whether you want to finish this task first or save it for last, you’ll need to learn how to pack dishes when moving in the best possible way.
The last thing you want happening to you is coming to your new home, unpacking the kitchen inventory, and realizing that your favorite things are broken or damaged. To prevent that from happening, we’ve provided you with our excellent guide to packing dishes for moving.
Start by Decluttering Unnecessary Stuff From Your Kitchen
Before you start boxing up everything from your kitchen, think about what is worth relocating internationally. Get rid of things that are old, chipped, and easily replaceable. Because preparing and boxing up these things takes a lot of time, you want to make sure you only carry the most important and valuable pieces. Consider donating things you don’t need to organizations such as GoodWill.
Especially if you’re relocating abroad alone, you don’t need to carry too much stuff. Pieces you’re not planning on relocating can either be thrown away or gifted to your friends, family members, or neighbors. It can be a nice gesture before you’re off to a new country.
Prepare Materials Needed for Packing Dishes
Preparations and organization are a must if you want to relocate efficiently and unproblematically. Before you start preparing things from your kitchen for overseas shipping, be sure you’ve gathered all the required materials. Because you’re going to be boxing up fragile items, make sure you’ve gathered the following supplies:
- Cardboard boxes in different sizes. Figure out what appliances you need to carry and calculate how many containers you’ll require.
- Original dish boxes that are specially designed to protect fragile pieces.
- Packing paper and bubble wrap or alternatives such as t-shirts, blankets, newspaper pads, and anything that could protect the items.
- Tape for securing the dish packages and preventing them from opening.
- Markers and sharpies that you’ll be using for labeling the dish packaging.
All of these things are necessary for preventing things from breaking while moving overseas. You can either purchase these, borrow them from your friends and family, or even get them for free from local shops. The decision should depend on your budget and how you’re trying to balance your finances abroad.
Figure Out Where To Start
Once you’ve figured out ”what to use to wrap dishes in when moving?”, the next move is finding a good starting point. The usual saying is that ”the kitchen is always the last room to box up and the first one to be unpacked”. The best way to box up kitchen inventory is to opt for boxing up the most fragile pieces first, such as china, glasses, and all the similar things that take a lot of time and energy.
Although you can never overdo protecting these while boxing up for relocating abroad, keep in mind that the heavier stuff should always be on the bottom of the container. Also, be sure to check whether the boxes are too heavy – they shouldn’t be over 45 pounds each.
Save the Box With Everyday Dishes for Last
Standard things in the kitchen you use every day can be the last on the relocating day preparations list. Since you’ll probably be using these things often the first few days in your new home once you move to another country, it’s good to keep them in one container and label them properly.
Organizing Plates and Glasses for Packing
When relocating across the world, the best way to pack dishes is to organize everything as well as you can. Be sure that all of the available space is used in the smartest way possible, without overcrowding the boxes. Since platters are one of the bulkier pieces, you need to find the best usage of space for them during boxing.
Use the ”Wrap and Stack” Technique During Packing
You should be wrapping each of your plates separately and stacking them on top of each other by their size. Boxing them up this way will save you a lot of space in the containers. Ensure you’ve protected each dish with lots of packaging paper or bubble wrap. You can also apply bubble wrap, towels, blankets, and other similar things.
Be sure the glasses and mugs are not bumping into each other when you gently shake the box. If the items inside the container don’t feel secure enough, put some more paper into them. Proper packing when relocating abroad and putting time into securing each one of your belongings will save you from relocating stress once you arrive at your new home.
You Can Also Stack the Plates Vertically
One of the tips you can consider applying when boxing up is stacking plates vertically. This will reduce the pressure on the frail things, and there will be a smaller chance of them getting broken or damaged. Remember to fill the spaces between the plates with packaging materials. Everything should be secured well, so there is no movement inside the crates during transportation.
Packing Glasses for Moving Internationally
If you have tons of delicate glasses and mugs, boxing them all up can be quite a stressful job. With that in mind, you’re probably wondering, ” How do you pack glasses for moving?” Since there are so many different sizes and shapes, you shouldn’t be putting them all in one box or stacking them on top of each other. The best way to protect them is to wrap each one separately, place them in the box, and fill it up with paper or any other alternative supplies.
Be Extra Careful When Protecting Stemware
Since stemware is one of the frailest tableware, you should be extra careful when putting them in boxes and securing them. Stemware will need extra padding and a few layers of protection, as well as bubbles on top. Before you wrap the stemware, gently stuff some cotton balls or balls of paper into the glass to support it. Then you should lay the glass in one corner of your paper, roll the glass to the opposite corner, tuck it and crumple it around the glass.
The boxes where you keep super frail glass need to be labeled correctly. Write sentences such as ”Handle With Care”, ”This Side Up” or just ”Fragile”. This way, anyone who gets in contact with the containers will know to be cautious and handle them with care.
If you’re still not sure how to handle the task of securing the stuff made out of glass for shipping, you can always search for some youtube videos. It will be much more helpful to master protecting glass for shipping with a visual explanation, like in the video below.
Preparing Other Kitchen Appliances for Shipping
With delicate items made of glass or porcelain, wrapping and protecting them individually is necessary. However, when it comes to some other kitchen objects, such as pots and pans, there are other tips you should consider. Since you’re relocating overseas and you’ll require relocation services, your number one priority should be saving up space.
Pots are great for saving up space since you can stack them in nesting groups. You can place two or three sheets of paper in a pot, insert a smaller pot or two inside it, and line them with more padding. You can also apply this method to preparing pans for shipping. Always make sure you’ve sealed the bundles with a piece of tape before putting them into containers.
When it comes to boxing cutlery, usually, the knives require more attention than other items. They should be handled with care and wrapped individually. This should still be relatively easy, as you only require some paper to protect them from damage. It’s essential to label the bundles with knives, so when you’re unpacking, you remember to be careful with how you’re handling them.
Hire an Overseas Shipping Company if You Don’t Know How To Pack Dishes for Moving
If you’re still not sure how to pack dishes for shipping and prepare everything for transportation, or it just feels like such a fuss that you don’t feel like getting involved, there is a solution to that. You can always contact an international moving company to help you with the whole process. It’s especially helpful if you’re busy with kids or relocating with a dog, so you have to take care of them instead of handling the boxing-up process.
Their packing services can be of great advantage if you’re too busy to be handling the relocation work, or your reasons for relocating require you to box up everything in the shortest amount of time possible. If you have some valuable China that you’re not sure how to protect, they can offer you custom crating services, and you won’t have to worry about it getting damaged.
It’s always a great idea to hire a reputable company’s assistance since they can answer all your questions you may have on transportation, shipping, or items movers won’t move, so you’re prepared well for the relocation. They can handle all of the challenging tasks, while you can enjoy researching about living in another country or even study with tips for learning a new language.
With Good Organization, Relocations Don’t Have To Be Stressful
Whether you choose to handle the whole relocation process on your own, or you decide to hire an overseas moving company to help you out, the organization is always important. Planning out everything in advance will help you handle even the most time-consuming tasks, such as boxing up kitchen inventory.
When your packing is done correctly, unpacking will be even more accessible. Your belongings will be safe and sound and, most importantly, undamaged. That means you’ll settle down in your new home much faster and start making new friends abroad and exploring the city in no time.
