Moving tips

My daughter is moving apartments in a couple of weeks. From her small studio to a nicer one bedroom. She has been there for several years (stability after moving places every 6 months during college.) We haven’t moved in 32 years and her moves from dorm to dorm to apartment were pretty easy (no furniture, limited kitchen stuff, etc.)

We will be hiring a moving company. Just looking for any tips and suggestions for moving and packing to make it easier.

The usual stuff doesn’t apply (clean out first, get rid of stuff) as she doesn’t actual have too much (all her “excess stuff” is still in my house). Also, the apartments are very close (less than a mile) and she will have access to the new place before the move (so she can bring those emergency things - like toilet paper - before the actual move.)

Yes or no to getting a garment box (I know I used them when I moved). I just read somewhere to pack the breakables with towels and linens (to protect them instead of using lots of bubble wrap).

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A couple of years ago, I moved my daughter from one apartment in a complex to another. In our case, some stuff was getting packed for storage.

But for the stuff getting moved to the new apartment…

  1. Clothing. Things like shoes, purses, etc just got tossed in a box.

  2. Clothes in the closets got moved from one closet to the other in a car. Movers didn’t touch that stuff.

  3. Linens and other soft goods were tossed in bags and moved by me.

  4. Ask your movers what they want done with things in the dresser drawers. They might want them emptied. If so…again, anything not breakable just toss In a box. Let them move that box.

  5. Have her get some bubble wrap and medium size boxes at Home Depot. Pack all dishes and breakables in these size boxes and wrap well. Movers can move those. Trust me…she doesn’t have enough towels to pack all her breakables.

  6. Let them move all furniture. They will wrap it properly and carry it.

Make sure you label every single box. We found it helpful to put the destination room on the box as well as the contents.

Anything that is valuable or breakable that she would worry about, she should move herself.

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For moving day it helps to put signs in the new apt where you want each piece of furniture to go. Also pack a weekend bag for the move so you have everything you need for a couple of days just in case you can’t immediately unpack your boxes.

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Buy packing boxes that are uniform in size. That makes it easier for movers to load. You can get a few sizes. If you have many books—book boxes are great. Buy more bubble wrap and wrapping paper than you think you need. (You can use it later). I purchased supplies from a U-Haul store. Also, get lots of strapping tape to close and reinforce the boxes. Even if you are going a short distance, accidents can happen. If your D has lot of hanging clothes, use the garment box. Last advice—label every box and tip the movers.

I just wasted a lot of time running through 5 different how many boxes do you need to move sites and the answers are all over the place? Any tips to figure this out?

We haven’t moved in forever, but when I helped w/ my mom’s last move, I found the garment boxes cumbersome. Hanging “rod” was not very strong & bent easily. Boxes were very large to handle. I’d personally just use boxes or even bags for clothes that can stand a small wrinkle.

If you run out of boxes, Lowes & Home Depot have inexpensive ones as well, and are open longer hours than a U-Haul type facility.

I’ve ordered moving boxes and supplies on Amazon, if you don’t need them today. With everything else on my to-do list when moving, it was nice not having to go get boxes.

Regarding clothes - if it’s a local move, I’d probably move them myself. We had a local move 1.5 years ago (just did a several-state move in early November) and I put down a clean sheet/blanket in the car, then laid the clothes still on their hangers, then carried them in and put them in the closet myself.

If you don’t do this and decide to let the movers move your clothing, be sure to pack a suitcase(s) ahead of the move with enough clothes to last a couple of weeks, just in case you can’t find anything after the move. Our last movers were TERRIBLE about labeling boxes.

If you are doing the packing yourself, then use bed linens, towels, pillows, etc. for padding. If a box isn’t quite full, pad the top with those items so it is full; otherwise when stacking boxes they cave in and the weight can damage items.

If you have electronic connections to make (TV, computer, etc.) take a photo of the connections ahead of disconnecting items so you can re-connect without guessing.

If you need to take beds, tables, or other furniture apart, keep any hardware in a ziplock bag and use packing tape to tape it to the back of the item. Write on the bag with a sharpie what the hardware goes to just in case it is separated. Our last movers took apart furniture and lost most of the hardware en route and it’s been a MAJOR hassle trying to re-assemble items.

If you are packing heavy items, like books, use the small box size, so you can lift the boxes.

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For short moves in the same town, we’ve always moved the small items ourselves and just left furniture for the movers. Saves on money and then you know where everything is straight away.

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With a local move, she might be able to get the fragiles, hanging clothing, and legal documents to the new place herself. If she’s got stuff in tubs, those only need to be taped shut. If she’s got a lot of books, she can measure the book cases and then estimate the number of book boxes. Same thing for files.

Unless her Home Depot/Lowes/Menards/Staples or other box source is miles away, she should pick up a bundle of boxes and some packing tape now, and work on packing her stuff. If she needs more boxes, she can go get more.

I prefer to pack fragiles with kraft paper/newsprint rather than bubble wrap. If she doesn’t have a lot of fragiles, then dishtowels/linens/t-shirts work fine.

She can ask her movers how to estimate the number of boxes, etc. I bet this can be done with a video visit these days.

Both of my daughters moved recently. D1’s move was big. It took them 2 days to move, one day for packing and another day to move. D1 is pregnant, so she had them pack everything, except for fine chinas and crystals. D2’s move was a lot smaller, only few hours. Both of their moves were local (NYC).

Few tips: 1) do not prepay, only give a deposit, 2) no need to move anything yourself, if you hired someone to do move then just let them do it, 3) have enough cash on hand to tip at the end (15-20% excluding materials), 4) make sure they wear PPEs (mask, gloves, cover for shoes)

My whole family (including extended) have used the same mover in the last 10 years. D2 tried to use someone new because they were few hundred $ less. It turned out to be a disaster. I hope your daughter is using a mover through recommendation.

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See Youtube video–“16 Stress Free Moving Hacks and Packing Tips Everyone Needs!!”

-Pack books in wheeled suitcase since they can sometimes be a bit heavy in a box

-use coffee filters between plates

-wrap wine glasses (or maybe any glasses?) in socks

-cut “T” shape on 2 sides of a box to punch in to make it easier to lift in the punched out “T” shape

-put folded clothes in a garbage bag, then use vacuum to suck air out, pack in luggage or box

-put garbage bag around hanging clothes with part that hangs on rod out the top of bag

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To the OP…what did you pay the movers to move? If you are paying them to move clothing that is on hangers in the closets, then wardrobe hanging boxes are easiest.

It sounds like the OP did not contract to have anything packed. What is the scope of the contract with the movers?

My DD did a local move, and I packed everything. The movers knew they were not moving clothing, or things like that.

The second move was a long distance move. Movers were moving everything except the clothing in the closets (which DD put in her car along with valuables and things she absolutely needed when she arrived at her destination). Most things had been packed and put in storage for the first move. The contract with the movers was very specific. They were picking up items at the storage area and at the apartment, and all boxes were packed and labelled by us.

So…check what the moving contract provisions are!

I agree…have cash for a tip for the movers. Ours were terrific, and efficient.

One thing I would suggest…you say this is a local move…but does it involve going up and down stairs? If so, it probably would be easier to have the movers move more things. Ask me how I know!

They are contracted to move. They are not contracted to do any packing (that is up to us to do). The contract is based upon time and is only an estimate until the move is over. They will drop off supplies (boxes, etc.) before and I believe take back any we don’t use.

In previous moves when she was in college, we did the wrap the clothes in plastic bags trip. I think the garment boxes is better for this move. Because her apartment is so small she still has a number of plastic boxes with stuff in them (stored under her bed, etc.). So, those things don’t need to be packed.

We will definitely take the valuables and the electronics ourselves. I think we will limit what else we take. Although my daughter is getting the apartment keys early and could bring over a few things before hand also.

The old apartment is up three flights and the new one is up four flights, neither with elevators.

Be careful what insurance will pay if anything is broken. I read somewhere that if the movers did not pack the items, they are not responsible for those items should they break.
My D did a major move (3 BR condo to a house) last year and the movers took one and a half days to pack. They used 2 big trucks.

Even with my long time mover, I negotiate with them on travel time, stairs extra charges and materials.

If you buy them at a big-box outlet like Home Depot then you can return unopened sets. And from a move a few years back I think U-haul will let you return unused boxes.

I want to reiterate what others have said about labeling every box. Depending on how much she has, you might also want to label some as “open me first”. When we last moved we had a dozen boxes stacked in the kitchen, all helpfully labeled “kitchen”, but we didn’t know which one had utensils and the like so we could start preparing meals.

Label the boxes on two sides each (not the top) with the name of the room they go into. They stack them. You can’t see the tops without unstacking them. They should be labeled on the outside with only the name of the room they go into and if they are fragile. If you want to be perfect about it, Stick an inventory inside the top of every box. If you are paying an extra charge for all those steps leave everything for the movers to move. Yes, use garmet bags or pack the stuff on hangers. I always pack one box I put in my car with the broom, the vacuum, cleaning stuff and toilet paper, paper plates and paper towels.

No clue how many boxes you need. What people squeeze into a studio varies greatly! My last small kitchen (and I don’t cook) took about 20 medium boxes). Oh! Make sure you have enough coolers for food you are planning on moving!

With all those flights…let the movers do it all. That’s why you hired movers, right?

Agree about labeling top and sides of boxes. Because we had things going into storage for the first move, I labeled the boxes very specifically. Funny…my daughter called one day and remarked that it was easy to find her mixing bowls in storage because the box was labeled “kitchen” and mixing bowls were listed as contents. What did she think she would find🤦🏻‍♀️

If the moving company is dropping off boxes and will take any back you don’t use, get an estimate of boxes from them. That’s their business.

I had clean sets of sheets with blankets and pillows in laundry baskets that I moved myself. Moving is exhausting - as soon as her bed is assembled she can make it and even if everything else is in disarray she can get a good night’s sleep!

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  • clothing from closet on hangers… take a bunch and use hair bands or heavy rubber bands around the hangers to create manageable bunches. if moving those yourself, cover in garbage bag or just let the movers carry it- toss it in boxes.