First thing to understand here is that pre-packing is not a requirement. Some folks do no pre-packing, and others like to pre-pack everything that they can. It is all a personal preference. Before we get started with the tips lets clear one thing up. The current Claim Liability Business Rules do not allow for the infamous “Packed by Owner” to be used on the inventory sheets. In the past this phrase would void the liability on those items packed by the owner. However, current regulations are that if the moving company takes possession of the item, they are responsible for it.
Now, my pre-packing is not packing is not packing boxes full. It is prepping items to the best extent possible to be packed in boxes. If you do pack any boxes or totes, know that the moving crew will need to open them to verify the contents for the inventory and to also add any packing paper that may be necessary. Also important to note here is that they are allowed by regulation to repack anything necessary to include repacking plastic totes into cardboard boxes. It is all at their discretion since they are liable for everything, and to ensure every precaution is taken to avoid a claim being made.
If you want to pre-pack, here are my tips!
Bag up your hanging clothes! Using large trash bags, you can tuck your clothes inside and tie them around the hanger tops. Now if your clothes slip off the hangers, they are caught in the bag. Also, this keeps your clothes clean from having many hands touching your items directly. Take it one step further with colored zip ties to organize between summer and winter clothing.
Use Velvet not slip hangers - This keeps your clothes safely on the hanger. Bonus is they are sturdy and thin, so they take less space and last a long time!
Ziplock Flex Totes size XL for your folded clothing. The best part is that two them easily stack on top of each other in 1 box! Again, this keeps all of your clothes organized and folded during your move, but also keeps the dirty hands off!
Use Ziplock Flex Totes size Jumbo for all of your linens and blankets.
*BONUS* add a couple dryer sheets to each fleet tote to keep them smelling fresh!
Using the Flex Totes keeps your items folded, clean, and protected!
Large 2 gallon bags make it easy! They are perfect for that junk drawer, craft supplies (don’t let that glitter end up opened in a box!), office supplies and more! Also, if you are packing a suitcase, label a bag a day for each kid/person and pick their daily clothes into it! When overnighting at a hotel it’s easy to grab the bag and not dig through a suitcase!
Plastic shoe boxes are a life saver! Of course, you can always use them for shoes, but they also work great for the random dresser top items, closet items, or toys! My daughter has one for all of her Hatchimals, Barbie accessories, and doll clothes which then stack neatly on her closet shelves. Again, it will keep everything together inside the box.
Room Labels are key! Each box gets one to their corresponding room. At delivery, put a sign on each door with a list of what furniture goes in each room along with the colored room label. This will make it easy for the crew to know which room to put it in!
Personalized Self inking stamp with your contact info makes sure if your items are lost, they can easily reach you! The stamp makes it easy and won’t fall off like address labels. Include your name, number, and email.
Security tape for that little bit of extra protection. A small piece across the top and bottom and can make sure your boxes aren’t tampered with!
Use an identity theft stamp to easily roll over all your contact info! This helps to sanitize boxes and makes sure that your info is not floating around on boxes across the country after your move!
Inflatable couch -Ok, so not really a pre-packing thing, but this makes it easy for us older feeling folks who might not make it up and down from the floor so easily! Bonus is this can be packed up in your car and easily taken with you! Extra Bonus Points- get an inflatable couch that converts to a bed!