How to Wrap Furniture for Moving

Every large piece of furniture is known to have substantial weight due to its enormous size. Plus, their delicate frame means that when exposed to hazardous environmental elements like sunlight and rugged surfaces, they easily spot dents, scratches, and several damages that mars their pristine exterior. 

If you’re planning to change homes, you need to learn how to keep them safe during shipping. Our tips on how to protect furniture when moving will show you how. 

1. Get Supplies for Wrapping

It’s no hidden fact that a furniture, whether small or large is delicate. So, before placing them in the mover’s truck, you need to get protective materials, also known as packing supplies to wrap them. These protective materials should include bubble wrap, stretch wrap, mattress covers, cardboard boxes, and sealing tape. 

2. Prepare the Furniture Before Packing

Wrapping, loading, and arranging the furniture in the moving van will be challenging without preparing them for packing. Your sofa, bedstand, or desk may have hard-to-reach edges where debris accumulates. You don’t want to pack your large fixtures with this dirt in them. So, before anything, make sure you use a fresh rag, mild cleanser, and lukewarm water to wipe its surface and hard-to-reach corners of your large furniture. If you have large wall cabinets, detach them from the wall and clean them. 

3. Dismantle Every Piece of Furniture Before the Big Day

As we mentioned earlier, you won’t find it easy to lift the furniture through the doorway, stairs, or hallway in its fully assembled form. Plus, arranging them in the moving truck fully assembled may not be possible as they take up space and make proper placement a hassle. For this reason, it’s important you dismantle furniture pieces before packing them for transit. But, how do you go about dismantling massive home fixtures like an armoire? Our tips below will show you how. 

■ Push the large furniture far enough from the wall so you have a full view of their frame.

■ If you’ve got the instructions booklet, get them and use the instructions to dismantle large furniture. Otherwise, study the furniture before dismantling it. 

■ Check for bolts and screws that hold the furniture. Then, loosen them to separate the entire body from the arm and legs. 

■ Place small screws and bolts on a Ziplock bag. 

■ Only dismantle components like with screw holding them together. 

■ Carefully note how they look before dismantling for reference when reassembling them.  

4. Learn Proper Furniture Wrapping Techniques

Now, it’s time to learn how to wrap your furniture for moving. Our furniture movers’ Chicago base recommends the following tips:

a. Use furniture pads or blankets to cover the furniture

Whether old or new blankets, make sure you cover every large fixture to keep out elements such as dust and sunlight that leaves them dull. 

b. Secure the blanket with a plastic wrap

Once you’re done covering the wooden appliances with a blanket, use plastic wrap to secure the cover. Make sure to roll the plastic wrap tightly around the furniture. 

c. Use plastic wrap to protect the legs of your chair and table

While it is best to detach the legs from the body before hauling them to your new home, some large fixtures aren’t detachable. In such cases, you need to secure the legs with plastic wrap. 

d. Use cardboard paper to protect wooden, table and glass-top items 

Your glass tabletops will break easily without additional support on the edges. Even dressers and tables can easily get scratch marks from collisions on their edges. A cardboard box secured with tape on the edges will prevent this mishap. 

e. Secure fragile stuff with bubble wrap

Furniture pieces like mirrors, upholstered beds with mirrors, or wooden cabinets with glass can break easily. The best way to protect them is to add a protective layer of bubble wrap before then using a plastic wrap on it.

f. Use mild clothe to cover the television and secure it with plastic wrap. 

The difference between other furniture you cover with a blanket and a TV set is that the Television has wires. So, after covering them with cloth and using plastic wrap to secure the clothing, ensure you tape the wires at the bottom. 

g. Use masking tape and cardboard for wrapping mirrors

Before hauling your mirror, get a masking tape and create multiple X shapes on the glass surface to prevent glass pieces from falling off when they shatter on the road. Then use cardboard on the edges as a cushion and secure it with packing tape. 

5. Plan How to Arrange Furnitures 

Once you’re done packaging every item, it’s time to move them to the truck. If you’re considering renting a van and shipping your belongings yourself, make sure you already have a plan that allows you to distribute weight evenly in the truck. This way, the bulk of the weight won’t fall on one part of the truck, and driving will be easy. Some good placement plan to consider include:

■ First thing, load heavy items sited on the four walls of the truck for proper weight distribution.

■ Make sure the heaviest items sit on the wall before other weighty stuff. 

■ Place every glass fixture and art picture in-between a mattress and another soft article. 

■ Avoid placing coaches horizontally. Instead, use vertical placement for them.

■ After loading the truck, always use the straps in the van to secure furniture. 

Conclusion

Wrapping your large home fixtures, whether with a glass top or without, is not an easy task. But it is not impossible. Hopefully, this guide on how to pack furniture for moving will help set the pace. 

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