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The Most Efficient Way to Pack Moving Boxes
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The Most Efficient Way to Pack Moving Boxes

How to pack moving boxes efficiently with the help of qualified professionals so that your next California relocation goes smoothly.

Mateos Glen Hayes

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6 min read

March 09, 2023

If your next move is on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about how to pack boxes for moving. It might seem trivial, but the most efficient way to pack for a move isn’t always easy to master, particularly if you’re moving with children. Indeed, efficient packing of empty boxes can be the difference between a messy moving process and a seamless move where everything goes well. So, it’s important to take the necessary steps with the best boxes for moving and the most efficient packing methods. 

When you know how to pack boxes efficiently for moving, you can help to disperse the weight across boxes so that they don’t break or collapse. This means you won’t lose or damage your valuables and will reduce the risk of injury. Smart packing your empty boxes is not just about practicality but also safety. Let’s look at how to pack boxes for moving with some simple hacks and answer frequently asked questions. 

What Is the Best Thing to Pack First When Moving? 

Make your next move trouble-free by packing things in the most efficient way possible.

Whether staying in California or moving across the country, we recommend packing away the easy stuff first. This means packing away photos into moving boxes for pictures and other small items. You can also start with the least used room in your house. This can depend on your home configuration and what kind of rooms your home has. One good place to start is with your decor and books. Simply grab some book boxes for moving and fill them with knickknacks and books on your shelves. 

These things are easy to pack first because you aren’t going to need them any time soon so you can just get them out of the way. We also recommend starting with items that are in storage. You might not even need wardrobe boxes for moving or moving boxes for pictures since many things in your storage room will already be packed in a box, making packing that much easier.

Alternative Hack

Having said all that, it’s also worth considering the opposite approach, meaning you start with the most demanding room first. This could be especially helpful if you have a large kitchen or a cluttered bedroom. If so, it’s best not to leave these rooms to pack last as this can introduce avoidable complications. On the other hand, if you go through your hardest room early, you’ll have time to figure out how to pack boxes for moving the items in this room efficiently.

For one, you’ll be able to sift through your belongings, get rid of anything you don’t need , and set aside any essentials to be packed separately to access them easily. Starting with the hardest room allows you to figure out, just like consummate pros, which custom moving kit best suits your needs since you’ll know how many empty boxes and other supplies you need. 

Avoid packing dangerous items including harsh cleaning chemicals, gasoline, and gardening chemicals such as fertilizer.

What Should You Not Pack in Boxes When Moving? 

There is a list of hazardous items you should avoid packing in boxes. Many of these items are illegal to transport in moving boxes. You’ll want to avoid packing cleaning products, particularly anything with bleach, as these can leak and damage clothing and other items. Additionally, garden chemicals such as fertilizer and fuel for grills should not be packed as these items can also leak and pose a fire risk. Finally, avoid packing beauty products such as aerosols or nail polishes, as these items are flammable. An experienced professional moving company can give you guidance on what specifically to pack or not to pack,   

What is the Hardest Room to Pack? 

The kitchen tends to be the hardest part of any home to pack.

While each home differs in its challenges, the kitchen tends to be the hardest place to pack. Many things need to be considered when it comes to how to pack boxes for moving kitchen items. For one, you can only pack some things because you might still need to use your kitchen in the last few days before you move. Some essentials will need to be set aside. For the most efficient way to pack for a move, catalog your kitchen items so you know what you have and what kind of moving kit you’ll need. 

Most kitchens are full of heavy and oddly shaped dishware, kitchenware, silverware, and other implements that are fragile and hard to pack. The average kitchen will also contain many different appliances that can also be fragile or hard to pack. This means that you’ll need a mixture of long shipping boxes and small moving boxes to pack everything adequately. It’s also worthwhile to get some extra padding in the form of bubble wrap and old newspaper so that all your kitchen items are well-protected. 

How to Pack Boxes For Moving Efficiently With 5 Simple Hacks

Follow these five hacks to make packing and unpacking straightforward.

To pack efficiently, hire only trustworthy local  movers and stick to tried and true methods that guarantee moving success. If you want to know how to pack boxes for moving in the best way, follow these five simple hacks and you’ll be well on your way. By following these methods, you’ll not only make your packing more organized but you’ll also make unpacking faster and easier and reduce the chance of setbacks during the moving process. Plus, an efficient move allows you to focus your attention on other important issues, such as sorting out real estate questions

Sort Before Packing

We cannot stress this enough: effective sorting is essential for efficiently packing for a move. An adequately packaged moving box is one where every item has been placed correctly and has enough packaging to protect it from jolts during the moving process. To prepare your home for the move, go through each room and figure out what you’ll need to get everything packed. This will allow you to determine whether you need mostly big cardboard boxes or smaller ones and allows you to get rid of any junk as well. 

Put Heavy Items on the Bottom 

As a rule, you should pack the heaviest items first so that they go at the bottom of an empty box. This will help give the box a solid base and protect lighter, more fragile items since they won’t get crushed. The best moving boxes are designed to be quite strong from the get-go, but it is nonetheless recommended that you follow this hack to give them more stability. Top-heavy boxes are more prone to tip over and can damage other boxes. 

Always pack heavy items at the bottom of the box and lighter items towards the top, and wrap fragile items individually.

Wrap Items Individually 

When it comes time to pack fragile items such as dishware or picture frames, we recommend wrapping each item individually in its padding. You never want to wrap two fragile items together as they could easily smash into each other and break. However, you also don’t want to pack these items without wrapping them, as a single bump could smash your valuables, especially if they have a lot of room to shift in extra large moving boxes

Place Cushioning at the Bottom of Your Empty Boxes

This step tends to be overlooked but can make a major difference in whether your items arrive in one piece or many. Before placing anything into your empty boxes, line the bottom with cushioning material. You can do this with newspaper, packing peanuts, blankets, or bubble wrap. This gives your box bases a buffer so that no matter what surface you set them down on the items inside will be protected. 

Use Strong Tape and Labels  

A good policy is to use only the best materials for your move, and that means getting a moving kit that comes with strong packing tape. Inferior tape may not hold the box together adequately, causing the boxes to come apart, open, or even fall over and spill out all your items. Finally, the easiest way to speed up unpacking is to have all of your boxes labeled according to the room they come from, so be sure to buy some labels and permanent markers.  

Planning to move to Los Angeles? Check out the most affordable Los Angeles neighborhoods with a high quality of life and excellent services. 

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