The principle behind every technique on this page is the same: a fragile item breaks when it can move, or when weight presses on its weakest face. Wrap each piece so it has its own cushion, pack the box so nothing shifts, and load the item in the orientation it is strongest. Get those three things right and almost everything survives. Here is what that looks like for each item in the house.
Glassware
Glasses fail at the rim and the stem, so both need to be padded before the glass goes anywhere near a box.
- Wrap every piece individually in clean butcher paper. Never let newspaper print touch the glass, the ink transfers and is a pain to scrub off.
- Stuff the inside of each glass with a loose ball of paper, then roll the glass diagonally across a sheet, tucking the ends in as you go.
- Pack glasses upright, the way they stand on a shelf. A glass is strongest along its vertical axis and weakest lying on its side.
- Use a box with cardboard cell dividers if you can get one. If not, build layers of scrunched paper between rows so no two glasses touch.
- Cushion the bottom of the box with a thick bed of crumpled paper and finish with another layer on top before you tape it shut.
When the box is closed, give it a gentle shake. If you hear anything move, open it and add more fill.
Plates and bowls
This is the one that surprises people: plates should be packed vertically, on their edges, like records in a crate. A flat stack of plates concentrates the weight of every plate above onto the one at the bottom, and one bump in the truck cracks the lot. On its edge, a plate is far stronger.
- Wrap each plate individually in paper, or place a folded sheet between plates and then wrap pairs.
- Stand them on edge in a small box with a thick layer of crumpled paper underneath.
- Fill the gaps at the ends of each row so the plates cannot fan out or slide.
- Bowls can nest in wrapped stacks of two or three, then travel on their sides as well.
Keep these boxes small and heavy-ish rather than large and loaded. A box of crockery you can lift easily is a box that gets carried carefully.
Artwork and mirrors
Framed pieces and mirrors have one rule that outranks all others: they travel on their edge, never flat. Laid flat, a mirror flexes with every bump and anything placed on top of it becomes a hazard.
- Run a large X of masking tape across the glass. It will not stop a crack, but if the glass does break it holds the pieces together instead of letting them shatter into the frame and the artwork behind.
- Fit cardboard corner protectors, or fold your own from offcuts, since corners take the knocks.
- Wrap the whole piece in a furniture blanket or a purpose-made picture box. Bubble wrap over the blanket is fine, bubble wrap directly against an oil painting is not.
- In the truck, stand pieces on edge between mattresses or against a padded wall, and never lean anything against the glass side.
TVs and monitors
If you kept the original box and foam, use it. It was engineered for exactly this trip and nothing you improvise will do a better job. If the box went out in the recycling years ago, here is the next best thing:
- Photograph the cable layout on the back, then unplug, coil and bag the cables with a label.
- Remove the stand and its screws, and tape the screw bag to the back of the stand.
- Wrap the screen in a soft blanket first, then a furniture blanket over that, taped so it cannot slip.
- Transport the TV upright, never flat, with the screen facing a mattress, a sofa cushion or another padded surface so nothing can press into the panel.
Lamps and shades
Lamps break because people pack the whole assembly as one piece. Split them up and they are easy.
- Remove the bulb, the shade and the harp, and pack each part separately.
- Wrap bases in paper or a blanket and pack them in a box with plenty of fill, heavy end down.
- Shades are all about crush protection, not wrapping. Nest smaller shades inside larger ones with tissue between, in a box with nothing else in it, and mark it so nothing gets stacked on top.
- Coil the cord and tape it to itself, not to the base, since tape can lift the finish.
Antiques and heirlooms
Old pieces need one extra rule on top of everything above: mind the finish. French-polished and waxed timber can react with plastic left against it, especially in a hot truck, so keep stretch wrap and bubble wrap off the bare surface.
- Blanket first, always. Wrap the piece in one furniture blanket, then a second for anything you truly care about, and tape around the blanket only.
- If you want the security of plastic wrap over the top, that is fine, as long as there is fabric between the plastic and the timber.
- Remove or lock any doors, drawers and marble tops, and wrap those separately.
- Point out every antique to the crew before loading starts so it gets positioned deliberately, not fitted in around everything else.
For larger period pieces, our furniture removals team handles this kind of wrapping as standard, blankets, straps and all.
The universal rules for every fragile box
Whatever is inside, the same habits apply to the box itself:
- Small boxes for heavy fragile things. A big box of crockery fails at the base or gets dropped.
- No half-empty boxes. Empty space is where things move, and movement is what breaks them. Fill every gap with paper, towels or tea towels.
- Write FRAGILE and the destination room on at least two sides, not just the lid, so the label is visible however the box sits in the stack.
- Tell the crew which boxes are fragile when they arrive. A ten-second heads-up changes how a box is carried and where it rides in the truck.
Or let someone who does this daily handle it
Everything above works, but it takes time, materials and patience, and the most fragile things in your house are exactly the ones you do not want to learn on. Our packing and unpacking service sends crews who wrap glassware, art and antiques every working day, with the paper, cells and picture boxes on hand. If you would rather hand the whole job over, get a free quote and add packing to your move. And for the rest of the house, the non-fragile ninety percent, our room-by-room packing guide covers it from the garage to the wardrobe.