Nearly every breakage we're ever called about comes down to the same two mistakes: not enough cushioning, and boxes packed so loose the contents rattle around. Fragile packing isn't complicated, but it does reward doing it properly rather than fast. Here's how we do it, and how you can too if you're handling the delicate bits yourself.
Start with the right box, not the biggest one
The instinct is to grab the largest carton and fill it, and it's exactly the wrong one for anything breakable. A big box full of crockery gets heavy enough that someone lifts it badly, and the sheer weight pressing down cracks the pieces at the bottom. Small, sturdy boxes are the friend of fragile things, you want to be able to lift the finished carton comfortably in one go.
Double-walled boxes are worth it here. A single-wall carton flexes when you pick it up, and that flex is what lets the contents knock together. If you've kept any of the thicker boxes from a delivery, those are the ones to use for glass and crockery.
Cushioning is about filling gaps, not just wrapping
People wrap each item beautifully and then stack them in a box with air between them, and that air is the problem. A wrapped glass with room to move will still move, and it'll find the wrapped glass next to it. The job is to wrap each piece and then pack the whole box tight enough that nothing shifts when you give it a gentle shake.
Line the bottom with a crushed layer of paper or a folded sheet of bubble wrap first, then work from heaviest at the base to lightest at the top. Fill every gap as you go, the sides, the corners, the space above the last layer. When you close the flaps there should be a slight resistance, not a hollow give. If the box rattles, it isn't finished.
The pieces people always get wrong
Plates travel on their edge, not stacked flat. Stood upright and wrapped individually, they behave like a row of records and take pressure far better than a flat pile, which cracks straight through the middle. Wrap each one, stand them in a well-padded box, and pack paper down the sides so they can't lean.
Glasses and stemware need paper stuffed inside the bowl before they're wrapped, the hollow is where they cave in otherwise. Mirrors and framed things get corner protection and a cross of tape over the glass so a crack doesn't spread, then they travel flat against a wall of the box or on their edge, never laid down where something can be set on top. And the TV, if you've still got its original box that's ideal, if not it wants a foam sheet over the screen, corner guards, and to travel standing upright the way it hangs, a screen laid flat is asking for a pressure crack.
Lamps come apart, base, stem, shade, and each part is packed separately. The shade is more fragile than it looks and hates being squashed against anything.
Electronics have their own rules
Screens, speakers and anything with a circuit board don't like three things: knocks, moisture and static. The knocks you deal with the same way as glass, corner protection and a snug box. The moisture is worth a thought if you're moving in the rains or toward the coast, a sealed wrap keeps the damp out while cartons sit at the new place.
Take a photo of the back of your TV, router or PC before you unplug anything. It sounds fussy, but when you're staring at a tangle of identical black cables in a new house, that one picture saves you half an hour and a bit of swearing. Coil the cables, bag them, and tape the bag to the device it belongs to so they don't wander off into another box.
Double-box the things you truly can't replace
For the pieces that would genuinely hurt to lose, a wedding gift, an heirloom, something one of a kind, the safest trick is a box within a box. Pack the item snugly in a small carton, then sit that carton inside a larger one with a good few centimetres of cushioning all around it. The outer layer takes any knock; the inner one never feels it.
It's more materials and a few more minutes, so save it for the genuinely irreplaceable rather than the whole kitchen. But for those two or three things, it's the difference between arriving intact and arriving in pieces.
Label it, and know when to hand it over
Mark every fragile box on the top and at least two sides, and note which way is up. It sounds obvious, but a box that isn't labelled gets treated like any other, and This Side Up only helps if it's facing out where someone can read it. Write what's in it too, Kitchen — glasses tells the person carrying it to take the stairs slowly.
One honest note to finish on. The reason movers pack this way every day is that it's genuinely quicker and safer with the right materials and a bit of practice. If you've got a lot of glass, a full dinner service, or anything you'd hate to lose, it's usually worth letting the crew do it, it's included in the quote, and it comes with the packing done to survive an actual move rather than a careful drive across town.
Rather leave the packing to someone else?
Our crews do this every day, materials included, with a firm quote after a free survey. Tell us about your move and we'll sort the rest.
