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Moving and Packing Tips

Moving Tips to Survive—Even Thrive—During Your Next Move

Excited about your move but dreading the relocation process? Karvin Van Lines is here to help you. Let these insider tips—from a company that has been moving families and businesses for over 35+ years—help you make the moving experience a good one.

Get a head start – If you would like to start planning and organizing in anticipation of your upcoming move, you can start by packing items that are not used on a daily basis.

Start with new boxes – Whether you decide to pack yourself, or ask us to pack for you, Karvin Van Lines can provide you with moving boxes. Reusing old boxes is tempting but can easily result in damaged goods.

Pack your boxes right – All boxes should be packed to their capacity. Half-empty boxes or overfilled boxes are most likely to break apart during the move.

Label well – Labeling your boxes enables you and our expert movers the ability to track all items of content. For example, you can label all pertinent boxes with the content in each box, the room that it belongs to, and an arrow showing which direction is up.

Treat fragile items with care – Glassware, china, and other fragile items should have a layer of packing material between each piece to prevent any breakage during the move. If you are trying to save money, use towels or white paper instead of purchasing dedicated packing material.

Know what cannot be packed – Never pack explosives, combustibles (gasoline), hazardous liquids, aerosol cans, flammable paints, propane tanks, perishable food or pets. These items can cause potential damage to your possessions or could lead to a serious accident.

Packing Reminders

  • The heavier the item, the smaller the box
  • Fill up all boxes to capacity
  • Pack smaller boxers with heavier items such as canned food, books, tools, all dishes, glassware and electronics
  • Fragile lamps should be packed in a dish pack
  • All glasses and dishes should be stood in an upright position. Do not use newsprint because it will make all your items very dirty. We recommend plain white paper.
  • Hanging clothes should be hung in professional wardrobe boxes. You can put shoes and miscellaneous items on the bottom of the wardrobe while hanging shorter items inside. If you have very long items such as coats and dresses, do not put anything in the bottom of the wardrobe with those items.
  • We also recommend that if you have a stick lamp, unscrew the top section and stand the stick lamp inside your wardrobe and pack around it with your hanging clothes. It will protect the lamp during the move.