Packing FAQ's Moving Heavy Boxes and Furniture If you're not able to pick the box up yourself, here is a simple way to move your box to another area of the room (if your floors are covered with anything but carpeting): Place an old towel on the floor, directly in front of the box. Squat down in front of the box and tilt the box away from you. With your other hand push the towel under the box leaving enough to pull the box while standing in an upright position. Release the box, allowing it to settle. While standing in front of the box, tilt it back toward you. This will allow the towel to release itself to a stretched out position. You've created a slide pad for easy handling of your box. Simply, push or pull the box to a free area. Note: this is good for repositioning a few boxes until someone can assist you in placing the box in its proper place. You can either remove the towel by just reversing this exercise or just keep the towel under until you get assistance. Preparing a Work Space First and most important is to establish a work surface. This enables you to pack in an upright position. Packing without a workable surface could cause severe back pain over extended periods. Your work surface can be an existing surface in your home or we can create a portable surface on which to work. An existing surface can be a tabletop, counter top, workbench, or bed (if necessary). The surface should be large enough to lay out the wrapping paper, strong enough to support the weight and tall enough so that you are not bending over. It's important to be careful when utilizing your furniture as a work surface. Always place some sort of protection on the furniture; towels, blankets, or sheets work great. The Rule For Moving: If you're moving over 40 miles within your state or moving across state lines, you're being charged for every pound you're shipping - at an average of 65-cents per pound (although that amount will vary depending on the distance and weight of your shipment). For those of you moving within the regulated states, beware… the cost will increase significantly! Keeping The Boxes Sealed During The Humid Months When taping the box closed, it is important to connect the bottom tape to the top tape up along the side of the box. During humid months, the tape has a tendency to come off if it is stuck to cardboard. It will stay locked if it is taped to another piece of tape. Placing Boxes Into Storage Keep in mind that when you place items into storage that there could be infestation issues. The best way to protect against bringing bugs into your new home is to tape all of the seams of the box. When loading the storage unit, when possible leave aisles to enable you to get at boxes stored in the back should you need something later. Wrapping Tips Sharp Knives - If the knives are stored in a knife block, they can remain in the block and wrapped all together. This helps to protect the blades. If they are not stored in a block then you will need to separate each knife with paper when wrapping several together. Items with lids that have handles - If wrapping with the item (pots and pans, canisters, covered serving dishes) always invert the lid placing the handle down into the item. Fragile items - Paper is your cheapest form of insurance. Always wrap the item with several pieces of paper. Stemware - When wrapping stemware it's very important to keep in mind that the stem of the glass is its weakest point. Before placing the glass on the paper to wrap, prepare a separate support for the glass. This support will help strengthen the stem and thicken the stem area, which makes wrapping easier. Simply roll the packing paper into a tube about the width of the stem. Wrap it around the stem to create the support it needs. Depending on the size of the globe it may take several pieces of paper the make the stem the same thickness as the globe. Once the stem is supported, wrap as usual in paper or bubble wrap. Packing Tips Dishes - Always place wrapped dishes in the box on edge, much like books on a shelf as opposed to how you place them in your cabinets. A plate is much stronger on its side than flat. Think about this - a 1/4 " piece of plywood turned on it's edge could hold the weight of an automobile but laying flat or horizontal it can't hold the weight of a wheel barrow full of dirt. The same physics hold true for your dishes and plates. Bowls - Place bowls in the box the same way you would in your cabinet. Open space creates shifting which results in damage! Fill the spaces with packing paper (much cheaper and just as effective as bubble wrap). Loading Tool - The packed box is a loading tool, supporting other pieces in the load. You need to pack each box up to the top filling in any open spaces. This prevents the items from shifting and the box from crushing under a heavy load once in the truck. Labeling the box - Spend the time when packing to label each box with your name, the room it is going to and items packed in each box. This preparation at the beginning will make you unpacking process much easier. Professional Assistance There are many items in you home that will require the assistance of a professional. For instance, disconnects and reconnects of gas appliances, water lines and anything electrical like chandeliers or ceiling fans. If you have hired a professional mover to ship your household contents, they will not do this for you the day of the move. You may also have disassembly and reassembly of items like pool tables, jungle gyms or hot tubs. These are items that would be ruined if not disassembled and packed properly. It is well worth considering crating a grandfather clock, glass table tops, antiques to ensure that they will arrive safely. Items That Are Illegal to Transport or Hazardous to Pack In general, any fuel, flammables, aerosols, firearms and ammunition, cleaning chemicals, live plants and perishable goods are either not recommended to transport or are illegal to. Below is a partial list of items to get rid of before moving day. Aerosols Ammonia Ammunition Car batteries Charcoal Charcoal lighter fluid Chemistry sets Cleaning solvents Liquid bleach Loaded guns Matches Motor oil Paint thinner Nail polish remover Paints Pesticides Fertilizer Fireworks Gasoline Kerosene Lamp oil Poisons Pool chemicals Propane tanks Sterno Weed killer The Right Away Plan "When your last items come first." This box is filled with the items you will need when you first move into your new home. Toilette paper Paper towels Flash light Coffee and/or tea pot and all the makings Hand soap Shower curtain Snacks Scissors Paper plates, cups and flatware Important papers Tools First aid kit

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