Congratulations to Jessica H., the winner of my blog giveaway drawing!
For our most recent move from Colorado to Iowa, we found a treasure! Stretch wrap. Check out this YouTube video for instructions on how to protect your furniture and photos for more ideas.
These are the two sizes we found at Home Depot (Also available in similar sizes at Lowes, The Container Store, Office Depot, and most moving companies.). The bigger size is 19 1/5 inches and helpful for protecting furniture as featured in the YouTube video, and the smaller one is 5
Keeps bubble wrap tightly around these glass plates. Picture taken from http://www.11magnolialane.com.
inches and can be used for securing silverware into the tray, keeping bubble wrap in place, wrapping boards or polls together, and keeping a rug rolled tight. See the picture below for the rug example. We just wrap the six inches closest to the ends for a rug 3 feet or smaller and for bigger rugs we do the ends the same way but add a few extra wrapped sections in the middle as well.
Bigger and smaller options
The stretch wrap kept the doors securely closed on the bottom half of our play kitchen.
stretch wrapused on a small rug
Keeps drawers closed- you might want a packing blanket around it first to protect wood from bumps and scratches. Picture taken from bettermoveonline.co.uk.
Our New Roost 
Chocolate and stretch wrap!
When we moved from NY, someone gave us garment boxes with rods for hangers. No packing clothes, no ironing in DC.
We have only moved together once, but we found it helpful to color code boxes with little sticky dots that help whoever is helping us move know where we want each box. Each dot is a different color that corresponds to different parts of the house, such as kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc. The stretch wrap still wins though – what a great idea!
Rubbermaid boxes! They hold a lot and stack easily.
After moving 5 times in 5 years you learn a trick or two. Never assume the boxes will be handled gently, know something will always be lost by the end of it, and don’t let your brothers have a box unloading race.
I would have never thought of stretch wrap, I’ve always used boxes and suitcases
Bubble wrap is the only way to go to prevent breakage due to mishandling or just a mishap. I wouldn’t use anything else except a newspaper or two on occasion.
I like to use those divided boxes that bottles of liquor come in for packing mugs, glasses and vases.
I love me some bubble wrap, but I also adore newspaper and towels/bedding to cushion 🙂 Thanks for the great giveaway!
We seem to always use bubble wrap, but we also store everything we don’t want damaged at all in Rubbermaid tubs!
I use stretch wrap all the time for shipping my art.
We save up bubble wrap to pack around dishes.
i always used duct tape or scotch tape and boxes….but this looks pretty darn cool!
Love it. I always use bubble wrap, newspaper and cardboard to pad things.
That would be my husband. He’s the best packing tool I’ve ever found! LOL No, really…I’d say newspapers because they are free and you can protect almost anything in a box with it!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
Good one Cori! Husbands are priceless.
newspapers!!
My favorite packing tool i s a tape gun!
I would be lost without a black marker for labelling boxes, bags, etc.
I love using cardboard beer boxes when I am packing because they have the slots on the sides that make them easy to pick up.
Bungee cords for securing items.
a big roll of packing tape and bubble wrap!
Rubbermaid totes. Great for packing everything and they stack nicely.
A hand held packing tape dispenser with cutter!
Kim Reid
I’ve heard of people using styrofoam plates between their dishes to prevent damage. My best packing tip would be to purge as you pack – save yourself the hassle of packing and unpacking items you will likely get rid of anyway!
Sharpie markers for labelling boxes.
recycled boxes and using towels to wrap dishes and other breakables
We haven’t had to move much! I did use a lot of Rubbermaids, that are still going strong, and wonderful for basement storage. I would also note that we had a terrible experience with Uhaul–would not recommend them unless it is a local move with a date that is flexible.
My favorite packing tool is a couple of high school students. For our last move I hired them for a few hours and it was great. They first did random, menial tasks – packing jobs that needed to be done but really didn’t need to be done by me. This freed me up to do other tasks that required me to sort and think. My kids hung around the high schoolers to talk and ‘help’, leaving me free to work alone!! Later I had the teens follow behind me as I finished packing up the last stuff in each room. They gave each room a last cleaning and a final check.
We use all the linens we own as padding when we move. It’s environmentally friendly and saves on packing materials, but it makes it hard to find a towel for a shower right after moving in.
Bubble wrap and tupperware bins are my go-to’s!
2 Excedrin and a glass of water
Our favorite tools are lots of boxes, tape and markers ………..don’t forget to label boxes.
I have always love a tape gun and just boxes. If you make the boxes and use the tape gun to keep it together, it will last through the entire move. Plus the tape/boxes are inexpensive and hold lots of items.
Bubble wrap has always been my favourite packing tool because it always me to keep even the most delicate things safe.
When we moved to Seattle we used a similar (same?) trucking service that you have. The one where they drop off a trailer and you have three days to pack what you need and they charge you only for the number of feet of trailer space you use. In that move we packed into just 6 feet of the trailer (to the ceiling) and also had volunteers (ie. family) on the other end to unload. Both the truck service and the volunteer labour were great!
bubble wrap
I like to use rubbermaids for being able to keep them many times (compared to boxes), and packing things with sheets and blankets as padding.
my fave packing tool is bubble wrap.
I like to use newspapers for many items. I also use bubble wrap and “peanuts” as well.