Moving is stressful enough without the worry of your favorite glasses, plates and other fragile items getting chipped or cracked along the way.
You want to make sure your glassware is safe and secure, even if you’re moving across town. Let’s take a look at the packing items you’ll need and how to pack everything to ensure it all arrives at your destination in one piece.
Packing Supplies
Sturdy boxes: The best boxes to use for glasses and stemware are the ones with dividers in them. You can pick these up from a local liquor store. It’s how wine bottles are shipped.
If you aren’t able to get your hands on a divided box, you can use extra newspaper or bubble wrap between and around the glasses for added protection.
Bubble wrap: Bubble wrap provides more protection than newspaper for dishes and glassware. Most department or big box stores sell bubble wrap. If you work in a place that receives a lot of items packed in bubble wrap, save it instead of throwing it away.
Newspaper: Newspapers have been the go-to wrapping supply for decades, and it’s easy to find. According to these moving companies in Denver, the downside to wrapping with newspaper is the news ink that seems to rub off on all of your glassware. Once you get moved and unpacked, you’ll probably find you have to wash everything that was wrapped in it before putting it away.
Packing tape: Once your boxes are packed, secure them with packing tape to keep them from opening up during the move. Make sure the bottoms of the boxes are securely taped too.
Markers: The last thing you need when you move is to get to your new place and not know what’s in the box. As you close and tape up each box, mark it with its destination room. Also, write “FRAGILE” on all boxes that have your dishes and glassware inside.
Packing Your Dishes and Glassware
Start with layering the bottoms of the boxes with some bubble wrap or bunched up newspaper to cushion the bottom for your items.
Glasses: Nesting your glasses gives them extra protection against breakage. Start with your largest glass, cup or mug. Wrap the inside and outside with your paper or bubble wrap. Take the next largest glass, wrap it and nestle it inside the first item.
If the box is large enough, you may be able to nest three glasses at a time. Then place them into the box either standing up or on the side. Be sure to put plenty of wrapping between the stacks of glasses and around the inside of the box.
Stemware: You don’t want to open the box at your new place and find all of the stems on your wine glasses broken off, so be sure to put extra wrapping on the stems. A sturdy box with dividers is ideal and recommended for fragile wine glasses.
After wrapping the insides and outsides, with extra padding around the stems, stack them upright in the box, one in each divided cell, so they ship safely.
Dishes: Once you wrap your dishes and bowls, stack them into the box on their sides, like you would if you put them in a dishwasher or dish drainer. Like with the glasses, put some extra wrapping between the stacks to prevent breakage.
By following these steps, nothing should move inside of the boxes and everything will be secure for your move.