For those who are about to face the first packing and moving journey of their life, the big question is how and what to do? Here are some packing tips for moving from moving companies who do commercial moving for businesses to a higher degree of quality than others, and this article will share a few characteristics of a top-quality moving company or moving and packing service.
Tips from a Top Arizona Mover
Here then are six packing and moving tips for your business or home that will get you organized and save your entire move from anxiety. At Dose Moving, we have a team of moving experts who have helped households and businesses move throughout Arizona, and we have gathered up some of our best moving insights for a best way to pack.
For Moves of All Kinds
No matter how much furniture, clothes, or small belongings you own in your home, we can offer a few tips on how best to save time or save money preparing your possessions and clothes to get loaded into a truck for the move to your new home. Each tip will allow you to estimate the materials you’ll need, the time it will take to get everything packed to load into the truck, and how to keep it organized.
Our Six Top Moving Tips
These packing tips and tricks can help you stay organized throughout the process, allow yourself enough time to pack without creating excessive stress, and will give you cost-effective ways to ensure your belongings are packed properly and securely.
Find out What Your Movers Offer
Negotiate with the movers about included services and ask all the questions before you hire a company or rent a truck. Negotiations aren’t just about cost – find out what’s included and what’s not.
Do they Provide Boxes?
What type of packing boxes will be supplied, and what are their sizes? Small boxes tend to be around $1-$2, medium cardboard boxes 2$-3$, and large to extra large boxes around 3$-4$, with the biggest boxes for pieces of furniture around 8$-$10. It is cheapest to get boxes from the movers rather than from a shipping store, and some may be provided.
Alternatives to Cardboard
You may also use clear plastic bins or containers instead of cardboard. Make sure you are going to have enough of each box to hold all of your belongings (including your heavier items without exceeding weight capacity of the boxes) and organize your rooms properly before you begin the moving process.
What other Packing Supplies are Included?
What packing materials will be supplied (bubble wrap, packing tape, Styrofoam, etc)? Some packing supplies, like garbage bags, grocery bags, paper towels, basic plastic wrap, tape, or whatever you can find around the house can work well as materials to pack with if you must provide your own, although some of these materials can get expensive. Some moving companies offer supplies like packing paper, sturdy plastic wrap like shrink wrap, bubble wrap, and other items.
When to Start Packing: Tips on Timing
The timing of when you start preparing for moving day is important, because you’ll want to be sure you have everything packed up and ready to go by the time moving day and your moving truck arrive. This can be a stressful deadline to meet, and making sure your timing is right is an important tip we can offer.
Size of Your Office or Home
The size of your office or home makes the biggest difference in how much time it will take to prepare for the move. The general formula that is prescribed is the number of rooms multiplied by 1.5. So, if you have five rooms, begin to pack roughly a week before the actual move date. Of course, you won’t be spending the entire day packing. Most folks spend roughly half the day packing and the rest of the day continuing with usual activity.
Who Will be Helping
One of our best packing tips is that the “when” would depend not only on how big an office or home you have, but also on how much help you can expect. Multiple people to help reduces the time it takes to wrap up everything. If you and one other person share the work equally, the process could go 1.5 to 2 times as quickly at best. A larger team of family members to help can reduce the time more, but probably not proportionally.
Heavy Items and Fragile Items
Another tip is that the productivity of each individual tends to be lessened the more people are involved in the same task, and you’re less likely to avoid mistakes throughout the whole process, especially with people who don’t live with you or aren’t as familiar with your home and how to handle certain things like fragile items or heavy items like large tools and appliances. Owning a lot of pieces like this can cause the process to take longer than households with largely light items and clothes.
Order of Packing
When packing up rooms in a home (or even in an office), there is a certain order you’ll want to pack things in to ensure that you don’t accidentally pack away something you need and will have to unpack it in the middle of the process. This tip can also help to ensure you give yourself enough time to pack completely.
What to Pack First
Start with items that are rarely used – this would include things like stereo systems, books, a new couch or extra bed, elements in the guest room, spare curtains, and so on. Try to keep belongings from the same rooms together as best you can, and avoid mixing possessions from different rooms (with the exception of items like books or clothes which you may want to put all together in one container).
Next Ideal Areas to Pack
When you’ve packed the belongings that are rarely used, move on to items and furniture that are infrequently used – specialty kitchen equipment that you rarely use, gadgets that are used only on occasion, large empty containers, etc.
What Parts of Packing Take Longest
Another tip to note is that some rooms tend to take much more time to pack than others. The kitchen is one room that generally takes much longer to pack than any other room. You’ll want to save this room for the end, as it is frequently being used, but allow extra time to pack as it will be more time-consuming than other rooms and you don’t want to run out of time.
What to Pack Last
Two days before the move, start packing everything else, including the small items you use regularly. Putting these items in clear containers can help you to find and unpack them again at your destination as efficiently as possible, ensuring you can get to anything you are going to need right away. While you pack the last thing or few remaining items, one good tip is to set aside one box or overnight bag of clothes for each family member. This will be the first box to open when you arrive at the destination.
Overnight Bag Checklist
Here’s a few items you may want to include in your bag or box for arriving at your new home on the first day to make sure you have everything you need and won’t be stressed out on the first day at the new house. When it comes to moving tips to reduce the amount of belongings that will need to be packed at the last second, we recommend making your last grocery trip about two weeks before moving day and get rid of as much as possible from your home so that you don’t have to move it.
Don’t Forget:
- a change of clothes
- towels and linens
- toiletries
- toilet paper
- paper towers
- trash bags
- basic cooking utensils
- water bottles
- essential electronics
- dishes (paper dishes may be helpful)
- cleaning supplies
- pet needs
Types of “Moving Boxes”
If you are planning to hire commercial movers to move your office, call them up and complete the negotiations and request your moving boxes. It is a good idea to get plenty of these boxes so that you won’t have to go and get boxes more than once as you pack.
Various Box Sizes
Generally speaking, boxes come in four sizes – 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6 cubic foot. You should eyeball all the material you will be moving and arrive at a ballpark figure as to the size of box required and how many of each size, whether large, medium, or small boxes. Remember, it’s a good idea to keep items from the same rooms put together into one box in order to stay organized. Take this into consideration when choosing box sizes.
Amount of Boxes to Get
Once you arrive at the figures, multiple each by 1.5 so you would theoretically have 50% more boxes than you require for your clothes, belongings, and furniture. When you finish packing, you will probably find you’ve used all the boxes! If it turns out that you underestimated the number you would need, it is okay if you have to pick up an extra box or two. You will just want to get as close to the box amount as possible ahead of time so that you don’t need to pick up an extra box to finish your packing more than once.
Moving and Packing Materials
One of our other best packing hacks is the use of organizational materials. Apart from the boxes that the Zoom Business Relocations will supply, you will probably also need self adhesive poly bags, bubble wraps, tape, packing paper, Styrofoam balls/packing peanuts, marker pens and labels. As mentioned before, some of these items may be provided by your movers. Other items are key to organization, and you’ll likely have to grab them yourself like the pens and labels.
Ways to Pack with Labels
You can check your each box for pre-existing labeling, tape, or markings that you should cover up or remove in order to avoid confusion. You will probably also want to use a label rather than marking directly on the cardboard so that it will be easy to reuse or re-label it if necessary.
How to Get Labels
You can use labels provided with the box if they are included, or you can download and print your own labels. Purchasing adhesive labels or tape or creating your own are also options, but creating your own may be the most time-consuming option.
Types of Markers for Moving
You will definitely want good quality markers to work with when labeling so that you don’t waste time with poor-quality markers you are unable to write with easily. Having multiple colors can be helpful, as well as using waterproof or permanent markers to ensure numbers don’t get rubbed or washed off of the labels.
Organized Moving Hacks: Correct labeling
Here are a couple of moving hacks and organizational tips to ensure your belongings stay together and nothing goes missing. Staying organized with a strong moving checklist keeps your move less stressful, and there are several easy ways to accomplish this.
Put Rooms Items Came From on Labels for Each Box
Make sure your label says which room the items came from, who the belong to and what the contents are, and maybe even take pictures of what’s inside. You can attach a list to the box itself that lists the items that are contained inside, or you can keep the list separate and just mark the box and its corresponding list with a number (be sure to label the boxes with numbers in any case).
Put Destination Rooms on Labels if Applicable
Since you probably know which room they should be put into at the destination, insert that information at the very top of the label, because that is something you would need to know immediately on its arriving at the destination, and this will make it easier to get items situated in their new rooms right away for unpacking.
Keep a Detailed Inventory of Contents
The better you keep track of your belongings, the better you will be able to detect if something is misplaced or missing at the end of the move. If you pack in the right order so that you you aren’t unpacking and repacking items in different boxes, your inventory lists will stay consistent and accurate. Be sure to compare the contents with the inventory list upon arrival.
Ready to Start Moving?
If everything is handled systematically, moving commercially or residentially is not a big deal at all – even for a large house or office building. These moving tips for moving customers are sure to set you on the path to success and a stress-free move. Start planning right away, and allow plenty of time throughout the process to de-stress while you progress on the move. These moving hacks are a reminder that the moving process begins long before moving day when the moving company arrives with their moving truck to load up your belongings. If we can provide any helpful moving tips, we want to emphasize that you plan ahead and start early.
Looking for Commercial Moving in Arizona?
If you are moving into a new office building in the Phoenix area, Dose Moving Companies Phoenix is here to help! We have worked with clients throughout Arizona with both residential and commercial moving, and clients everywhere in Phoenix love working with us.
Experts Guiding Your Move
Our team of experienced movers has so many more moving hacks and tips to help you make moving a breeze, and you can find answers to your questions about your upcoming move to your new home or office and ways to save time or money on your move. Check out our blog to find more great moving tips and helpful guides!
Commercial and Residential Movers
Business owners trust our experienced team of movers to transport their office belongings in a timely manner and with great care. We are here to offer you a free moving estimate on your move! Call or contact us today to find out more about the service options we offer!
References & Sources:
Cassidy’s Moving & Storage Ltd. Where, When, And How Do I Start Packing? https://wemovetheworld.com/blog/packing-tips-getting-started/
Consumer Reports. How to Choose a Reliable Moving Company. https://www.consumerreports.org/moving/how-to-choose-a-reliable-moving-company/
Life Storage Blog. Read This Before Moving to Phoenix. https://www.lifestorage.com/blog/moving/moving-to-phoenix/
Moving. How Much Do Moving Boxes Cost? https://www.moving.com/tips/how-much-do-moving-boxes-cost/
My Moving Reviews. How to Label Boxes for Moving: Professional Box Labeling Advice. https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/box-label-system-when-moving/
Ramsey. How Much Does It Cost to Move? https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-move
Square Foot Blog. 10 Must-Have Packing and Moving Supplies and How to Use Them. https://www.sparefoot.com/self-storage/blog/17325-10-must-have-packing-supplies/
The Spruce. What’s an Essentials Box and How do I Pack One? https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-pack-essentials-box-2436477
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