Moving to a new place or setting up a new office often requires the transportation of your personal belongings via shipment services. While packing goods for the new place you will inevitably come across things that are highly fragile such as glassware, delicate electronics and other high value items.

These items must be handled with the utmost care or you run the risk of damage during the shipment process. Fortunately, there are tried and tested ways of packaging these items while transporting to a new residence, self-storage unit or a new workplace.

Finding the Right Packaging Material

Conventional packaging materials will not do enough to protect fragile items, and so there are specialized packaging materials that are available to protect such items from damage. Make sure you have the following before deciding to pack any fragile items:

• Bubble Wrap
• Crockery packers
• Newspaper or any packing paper
• Styrofoam packing material (peanuts, slabs and so on)
• Plastic covers
• Rags of soft cloth

When packing fragile material, make sure that the box you are using is as close to the dimensions of the individual item as possible. This will make sure that the item inside will not move around to minimize the risk of cracks which can result in serious damage.

Electronics often come with their own protective packaging and it’s always a good idea to repackage any electronics that you might be moving in their original packaging. The original packaging was designed specifically for that product and will most likely provide the greatest level of protection.

Packing Fragile Items Together

If you need to pack boxes of fragile items in a larger box, you will need to make sure that the box is ready to handle these sensitive items as well. The following steps will help make your box more fragile-item-friendly:

• Line the bottom of the box with Styrofoam packing material and/or bubble wrap (better combined)
• Wrap each small item/box with bubble wrap. Make sure to tape the bubble wrap so that it does not come off during transport.
• Make sure to place the heaviest items in the box first
• Fill empty spaces inside the box with packing peanuts, bubble wrap, newspapers and soft cloth rags. This will make sure that the items/boxes do not move around and the risk of damage caused due to movement is reduced.
• The moving company will have a checkbox on the box asking for fragile items. Make sure to mark it. If the items are very fragile don’t hesitate to make a short note on the items and the care they require.