The Moving Planner Blog

Some things are easy to pack and can safely be left to packers and movers or just placed in a box and sealed away. Others are more difficult, and it pays to give careful attention to packing materials and methods. The best way of dealing with a fragile item depends on its shape, and on just how delicate it is.

Packing up glassware is one of the most common problems. It’s important to support and cushion fragile glass walls from both inside and outside, so fill each glass with lightly scrunched newspaper balls before wrapping up the whole thing. Do make sure to wash all crockery before using it in your new home, though, because newsprint ink is slightly toxic. Make sure glasses and fine china cups won’t rattle around in the box- pack them fairly tightly together. Special care should be given to cup handles and the long stems of wine glasses.

Lampshades are difficult too. It can be very tempting to wrap them up as they are, but in almost all cases it is possible to separate the stem of the lamp from the shade. This is usually a very good idea, as it allows you to pack the inside of the shade just like you packed the inside of your beautiful, fragile wine glasses.

Glass lampshades, glassware, and china can be placed in the centre of a box, and the space around the outside made up with clothing, towels, curtains and other soft materials. This will make sure the fragile things don’t shift or knock against each other in transit and it also provides an extra shock absorbing layer. Don’t just pack fabrics around the sides of a block of glasses or china cups- line the bottom and the top of the box too.

The biggest glass item in many homes is a fish tank or a goldfish bowl. The fish themselves will need to come with you. Even the more careful packers and movers can’t be expect to handle live animals. Leave them where they are until the last moment, then either transfer your fish into a plastic bag or a small plastic moving tank. The bag solution is only suitable for very short distance moves as it doesn’t allow airflow and the water contained in there only has so much oxygen. Your local aquarium store will be able to provide everything you need and some expert advice.

The tank itself should be snugly packed with softgoods. Fabric items, soft toys, or inflatable packing pouches can all be used. The inflatable pouches are particularly good because they don’t add any weight to the tank. Once it’s filled with whatever material, run heavy duty packing tape around the outside of the tank. It’ll help reinforce the glass panels and in the event of a breakage, the tape will prevent shattering.

The last step when packing up delicate items is to label the box properly. Long distance movers need to know whether or not a container contains glasses, vases, china or lampshades so they can pack fragile items on top of the boxes filled with more robust items like clothing, books, and soft toys. The more information they have, the more likely they’ll be to take proper care of delicate and easily breakable items.