22 June 2010- Moving furniture is one of the most important challenges involved while moving to a new home. There is every chance of your furniture being damaged while moving if proper precautions are not taken. Actually the right time to start preparing is much before the actual date of moving so that you get ample time to take steps to minimize scratches or damage, disassembling parts of furniture and collecting sufficient cushioning material for packing.
Steps Before Moving
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First off all, get some idea on which are the furniture pieces to be packed and moved. This will help you to have an idea of how many packing materials are required.
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Applying a fine finish on your wooden furniture is a good way to protect it from scratches.
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Take pictures of your furniture before you pack. Though this is not mandatory, this is helpful when your furniture might get damaged and the photographs serve as proof for insurance claims.
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Disassemble the furniture. This is not possible for all furniture pieces. Certain parts of furniture that can be disassembled are bed frames, dining table legs, shelves in cupboards and so on. But remember to keep the pegs, screws and other hardware properly so that your don't face any problem in reassembling them once the movement is done. Shipping the furniture in pieces may reduce the risk of damage.
Moving Furniture
Packing the Furniture
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There are different packing materials or packing supplies used in the furniture packing like stretch wraps, sofa covers, furniture blankets, protection bags, bubble wrap, packing tape, corrugated cardboard, and filling materials like crumpled paper, towels, torn blankets, foam peanuts, styrofoam pellets are useful.
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Wrap your furniture using fine packing material.
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Always remember, when you use bubble wraps to pack furniture, secure both the ends of the wrap, tape them to each other, not to the furniture. Cover the furniture in pads. Use wraps to protect the legs of chairs, beds and tables.
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Furniture blankets can be used to to protect dressers, headboards, and chests and secure it with heavy-duty packing tape.
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Use protection bags to keep cushions and mattresses clean.
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Mirrors, frames and other fragile items should be wrapped in corrugated boxes or bubble wrap.
For details, check out
Tips for Moving and Packing
Moving the Furniture
There are certain equipments available for moving and carrying furniture such as follows:
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Furniture Slider or Moving Pads: If the furniture has to be moved from one area of a house to another, furniture sliders or gliders can be used. These are small square moving pads which can be placed under the four corner feet of your furniture. You just need to slide the furniture across the floor to its new position.
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Dolly: This is a flat apparatus equipped with four wheels. Just lift and place the furniture on the dolly and then roll it down a ramp.
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Shoulder Straps: Hand straps or shoulder straps can also help in carrying furniture, specially the small and light ones.
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Loading in Truck: The truck or van where the furniture is loaded should have boards or hooks so that the furniture may be tied down and held secure. Cushion the furniture inside the moving van with blankets, sofa cushions, pillows and similar items.
