Moving is one of the most stressful experiences, whether you are moving locally in Vancouver, BC or elsewhere in Canada.
No matter how many times you’ve moved before, there’s a couple things you’ll always need: a good, reputable Vancouver moving company and as much help and advice as you can get.
Here are twenty helpful moving hacks that really work and can make your residential relocation smooth and efficient.
- Take photos of the rear hookup panels of your electronics before you disconnect them. Getting reconnected in your new home will be much easier with a photo of what cord goes where.
- Use clothing and linens as wrap for breakables. A t-shirt wrapped around a glass dish works as well as costly packing materials. You can also put a pair of rolled up socks inside your glassware. Towels and sheets can also be used as pads inside boxes with breakables.
- Use Saran Wrap and Glad Press ‘n Seal for keeping tiny things intact and in their original trays, drawers and display stands – this works particularly well with jewelry.
- Place a styrofoam disposable plate between breakable plates, stack them up and box them.
- Fill up every container, basket, box and anything with open space. Put your containers to work for you! Fill them with smaller items to space space in moving boxes. Don’t forget about your reusable fabric shopping bags with handles. Filling them up before packing will help to keep your moving boxes organized.
- Use suitcases for heavy items such as books. Suitcases can serves as moving boxes. Large suitcases with wheels are particularly helpful for moving heavy items like books.
- If you’re DIYing the packing, color code your boxes with brightly colored duct tape. Pink for kitchen, Blue for bedroom, Green for bathroom, etc. Specific contents can be written directly on the tape.
- No matter how you color code, label boxes on at least two sides (not the top) so that when they’re stacked, you can see the label.
- If you’re moving by yourself, keep your boxes small. You can get free photocopy paper boxes from office supply stores. They have built-in handles and are perfect for small heavy items like books.
- Put a cotton ball or cotton pad in your powder or compact cosmetics, such as powder and blush, to keep them from breaking.
- Cover the openings of liquid toiletries with Saran Wrap. Take the cap off, cover with the plastic wrap, then put the cap back on. If the lid accidentally pops open during the move, the plastic wrap will prevent spills.
- Keep cords from getting tangled mess by first filling a box with toilet paper tubes, upright. Put each cord into its own tube.
- Keep hardware together with the disassembled furniture it goes with by putting it in a snack size Ziploc bag and taping it to the largest pieced. Tape remotes to the TVs that they belong to.
- If you have more than one bed of the same size, color code your mattress and box springs if you want to keep them in the same bedrooms they had been in before. You won’t be able to tell them apart when they’re brought into your new home.
- Save partially full containers of basic cleaning supplies for your moving day cleaning kit. Keep them in a bucket that you don’t mind tossing. After the moving crew leaves, you can clean your house top to bottom and throw away the empty or near empty cleaners.
- Unpack the bedroom and your personal bathroom items first. At the end of a long moving day, you’ll want to shower and get to bed without any further heavy lifting.
- Make the local library your first stop in your new town. Libraries are a valuable resource for newcomers. Find the community calendar, and the rack of fliers and brochures for classes and programs offered. And don’t forget to get your new library cards.
- Stop buying liquids and flammables well before your moving date. Most moving companies won’t take anything flammable and some won’t take any liquids that have been opened. So don’t buy the value sized bottle of cooking oil unless you know you’ll use most of it by moving day.
- Avoid cheating. Your moving company has rules for a reason. Don’t sneak something into a box that you know is forbidden. If there’s a mishap, you’ll be responsible for the damages.
- Don’t move everything. In particular, outside trash cans, some indoor trash cans, toilet brushes, cleaning rags, and other items that are just unpleasantly “used up” should be tossed and replaced with shiny, brand new items for your new home.
