In one of our previous blog posts, “A Packing System When Moving Overseas,” we shared some tips to keep in mind when moving internationally! In this blog post, we’re continuing the same theme on packing and international moving tips by focusing on packing fragile goods to make your life easier!
Fragile items can be anything from china, glassware, lampshades, ornaments, and even certain computer hardware. While it’s easy to use the likes of newspaper, we advise you against using them due to the print residue left behind which will mean that you will have to hand-wash all these items when unpacking. If your goods are porous in nature, there’s a good chance that traces of print residue will get into the pores and thus ruin them. Therefore, each of these fragile goods will need to be individually covered in the likes of either bubble wrap, bunched up paper, or even foam wrap.
When packing small fragile items like coffee cups, lids, or tiny decorative ornaments made out of crystal or porcelain, you should take extra care that they don’t get lost in the packing materials and end up being thrown out! After using either packing paper or bubble wrap to protect the items, use brightly coloured tape to wrap them so you can spot them in the packing. Also, make a note of it in your packing list items that we mentioned in our previous blog post!
Before closing up your box, make sure that you have used enough filler so that your fragile goods don’t move around. It is also important for remember that you need to line the bottom, sides and top of the box before you seal them. When closing the box, do not interlock the flaps. Interlocked flaps can come undone and your goods may fall out during shipping!
When it comes to packing your plates, we advise using either paper/plastic/Styrofoam plates or cut up squares of bubble wrap between each plate. Then you should secure all the plates (preferably a stack of 5) with bubble wrap and tape it together so it doesn’t shift. Alternatively, you can opt to wrap each plate individually and then tape them together too. However, when moving them into a shipping box, you should line the bottom first with cardboard, and then cushion with foam wrap or several layers of bubble wrap before you stand the plates upright (never lay them flat)!
You should make sure that the shipping box does not exceed the weight of 20kg. Remember that heavy items such as plates should be packed in smaller boxes so the boxes don’t break and are easier to carry!
Once you have finished packing your fragile goods, these shipping boxes should be set aside from the rest and should be the last items that should be packed! Labelling your boxes with the words “FRAGILE” and how the box should stand with an arrow is always recommended! Don’t forget to include all fragile goods in your Packing Lists and system so you have a record for yourself as well as your shipper!
Contact Transco Cargo to get your packing materials including bubble wrap, foam wrap, packing peanuts and of course, shipping boxes and crates for packing fragile goods with care! You can choose to pick them up or have us drop them off at the address of your choice!