Top 10 Common Packing Mistakes to Avoid When Moving

Moving all your household goods and personal possessions from one house to another is a huge project that involves a large number of moving tasks waiting to be completed.

The process of moving house is filled to the brim with all sorts of activities, and while some of them prove to be more testing than others, packing is the one known as the time consumption champion.

Considering all the time and effort that packing up an entire house requires, it’s no wonder that packing mistakes when moving are common.

To help you have a smooth and quick move to your new home, we have compiled a list of the top 10 common packing mistakes when moving house.

Naturally, any such list of moving mistakes would be worthless if adequate solutions were not given, so we have not forgotten to offer you the best ways to correct the common mistakes when packing for a move.

You may also like to read: The Top 10 Most Frequently Damaged Items When Moving Home. In this guide, we share the 10 most frequently damaged items when moving home and show you how to protect them to stop you from experiencing the same problem.

#1 Not Having A Packing Strategy

One of the worst packing mistakes you can make is to start the process without having a clear packing strategy.

Be mindful that packing on a random principle will only result in tons of wasted time and shattered nerves.

Create a packing calendar for each day you have at your disposal until Moving day and fill it in with day-by-day packing tasks.

Besides the packing timeline, your strategy for a quick and efficient packing experience should adhere to these 2 basic rules as well:

• Start from the rooms you use the least such as a guest bedroom, and pack your way towards the premises you occupy daily.
• Start packing your seasonal things, ornaments, and items that you will not use or need before you have moved into your new home.

You may also like to read: The Ultimate Home Moving Checklist and Calendar. It is essential that you have a list of what to do and when so that you do not forget any important home-moving tasks. In this guide, we list all the essential home-moving tasks in chronological order to help you.

#2 Refusing Any Packing Help

Depending on the number of items in your home and the time you have until the Big day, the packing task ahead of you may range from being hard to being simply impossible to complete by one person or even one single family.

Another common packing mistake is to underestimate the time it will take you to have your entire home placed inside moving boxes and thus refuse any packing help as a result of your gross underestimation.

The packing calendar you have already created will give you a good idea of how badly you need packing assistance.

If your moving budget says you can afford it, then the best solution for this typical packing mistake is to hire professional packers – highly trained and extensively experienced individuals who know exactly what it takes to achieve safe and fast packing of any type and number of household items.

On the other hand, if you’re moving on a tight budget, attempt to gather your loyal posse of good friends to give you a packing hand when you need it the most.

You may also like to read: 22 Really Useful Ways to Help a Friend Move. Not everyone can pack boxes or move furniture but your friends can still be of immense help without actually doing any manual tasks. In this guide, we share 22 really useful ways that your friends can make your home move so much easier for you.

#3 Leaving Packing For Later

When speaking of moving mistakes, leaving packing for later is one of the worst packing mistakes you can make, and maybe even the most dangerous one too.

The later concept is never a good idea when it comes to packing up an entire household for moving.

Instead, take advantage of the now concept and hopefully you won’t have to find out why moving house is often regarded as one of the most stressful events in one’s life.

The solution, of course, is to start packing your household goods as soon as humanly possible.

In order to gain a clear advantage with your race with time, follow these 2 packing principles that have been proven to work really well.

• Pre-packing: Begin pre-packing any items that you know you surely won’t need until Moving day, such as winter clothes if you’re moving in the summer.
• Daily packing: Not a single day should pass by without at least a few packed boxes – simple as that.

You may also like to read: How to Motivate Yourself to Pack for a Home Move. Motivation is often the first hurdle to overcome when it comes to packing, it all just seems so overwhelming. In this guide, we suggest ways to motivate yourself so that you get that packing done.

#4 Not Obtaining Enough Packing Supplies

A common packing mistake when getting ready to move out of your current home is to find out that you don’t have enough packing supplies.

Think of all the time and nerves you will lose while you’re trying to get hold of all the extra packing materials you need to pack your possessions safely.

So, look at this common packing error this way – it’s always better to have acquired more packing supplies than you will need than to run short in the most inconvenient moment there is.

You can get all the materials you will ever need to pack up your house from your local removal company – just don’t forget to ask them for any ongoing promotions or special discounts, for example, if you purchase all the packing supplies from them.

Besides the usual moving boxes of different sizes, make sure you also get enough packing paper, bubble wrap, and packing tape.

You may also like to read: How Many Boxes Do I Need to Move Home? In this guide, we explain how many boxes you will need for the average home, as well as share a packing materials calculator, and some tips to make packing for a home move cheaper.

#5 Packing All Your Possessions Without Sorting Them First

Decluttering before you start packing is the one guaranteed way to make your home move quicker and cheaper.

This is the first and most important job you must tackle.

By decluttering first you will save:

• Money: The fewer items you need to pack, load, and unload will save you money.
• Time: The fewer items you need to pack and move the quicker your move will be.
• Space: Even if moving to a bigger home, the last thing you want to do is clutter up your lovely new home with useless junk.

If you value your time and money, you should never make the moving mistake of not optimizing your household items before you begin the actual packing.

You may also like to read: The Epic Guide to Decluttering for a Home Move. In this guide, we go through each room of your home explaining the easiest way to declutter them. We also look at how to emotionally detach yourself from your possessions which is often the most difficult part of decluttering.

#6 Packing Forbidden Items

A common mistake when packing for moving is to pack things that your removal company will not move for health and safety reasons.

Often people will try to sneak an item on the prohibited items list into a box only for it to cause a problem which then invalidates their insurance.

Be sure to obtain the list of forbidden items for transportation from your removal firm before the start of the packing operations.

Generally, non-allowable items are classified into 3 main categories:

• Hazardous items: Instead of trying to pack any flammable, explosive, or corrosive goods and substances, think of the best way to dispose of them before the actual move takes place. Naturally, you can give most of them away to friends and neighbours, and then purchase new ones in your new city.
• Perishable foods: Do your best to use up all your perishables before Moving day arrives as packing such foods.
• Pets and plants: It’s up to you to safely transport your pets and plants to your new home.

You may also like to read: How to Pack and Move Items Your Removal Company Can’t. In this guide, we look at the items that your removal company cannot move for health and safety reasons and how you can pack and move those things yourself.

#7 Not Packing An Essentials Box

The list of the most common packing mistakes when moving house continues with number 7 which is about a possible failure to pack a special moving box full of all the essential items you will need on moving day.

Depending upon how far you are moving, then you may consider packing a box for each member of the family, not forgetting pets.

Things you should consider packing in your survival kit are: medication, non-perishable food, bottled water, plastic kitchen utensils, towels, a change of clothes for everyone, toiletries, basic hand tools /a set of screwdrivers, a hammer, a measuring tape, a torch and so on.

You may also like to read: How to Prepare Your Open First Box. Also known as the moving day essentials box, this contains all the items that you will need easy access to on moving day. In this guide, we suggest items that you may wish to include in yours.

#8 Packing Your Items The Wrong Way

Another example of the common packing mistakes to avoid when moving is to fail to follow the special packing requirements that the various sets of goods require, or in other words to treat all your possessions the same when packing them for a move.

It would be unwise of you to make any of the following packing mistakes:

• Pack fragile items as if they were non-breakables: It is always better to over-protect than under-protect your fragile items. Use plenty of soft packing paper and sheets of bubble wrap to protect them from accidents, but just to be on the safe side, don’t forget to pad the box they are in so that the items cannot move around inside the box.
• Packing books as if they were feathers: Books become surprisingly heavy very quickly. Use small-sized boxes when packing books for a move and don’t risk any accidents or injuries by making the containers too heavy (20kg is the recommended maximum weight of any moving box).
• Packing furniture without disassembling it first: Packing your heavyweight and bulky pieces of furniture is a job best left to professional packers who have been trained to take all the safety measures not only for the sake of your prized furniture but for the well-being of your property as well. And yet, if you have decided to pack your furniture pieces on your own, make sure you have disassembled them as far as they will go for easier and safer transportation.

You may also like to read: How to Pack Fragile Items for Moving. In this guide, you will find comprehensive packing instructions for every fragile item commonly found in a home.

#9 Practicing Unsafe Packing

Unsafe packing can be easily classified as yet another common mistake when packing for moving.

You should do everything in your power to guarantee the well-being of your prized possessions while they are being carried around and hauled to their destination.

Generally speaking, there may be too many instances of unsafe packing but when it comes to safety, the most frequent packing errors are:

• Not minding the box size rule: One of the fundamentals of packing for a move states that small to medium boxes should be used to accommodate heavier items while big boxes are meant for lighter goods. Mixing up this rule can compromise the overall safety of your move and lead to property damage or even personal injuries.
• Not reinforcing the boxes: A box may look strong enough and still break under the weight of its content. To guarantee yourself an accident-free relocation, reinforce well the bottom of each moving container with high-quality tape.

You may also like to read: How to Choose the Right Sized Boxes for Moving Home. In this guide, we share the sizes of boxes recommended by professional packers, what to pack in each size of box, and also include some interesting trivia about the humble cardboard box.

#10 Not Labelling Packed Boxes

Last but not least, a typical packing mistake when moving that can cost you plenty of post-relocation time is not labeling your packed boxes.

Not only will marking your boxes allow you to identify which boxes you need to unpack first, but will also show the unloaders which room the boxes should be placed in your new home.

You may also like to read: How to Label Moving Boxes: An Easy and Foolproof Way. In this guide, we share a simple method of marking your boxes so that you can easily see which box goes in which room of your new home, and which boxes you need to unpack first, and will also help you identify if any boxes have gone missing or put into the wrong room.

Having read this article and the articles we have linked to, you are no doubt wondering if packing for your home move is best left to the professionals.

Packing for a home move is arguably the most tedious and time-consuming task. Ask anybody who has recently moved home and they will tell you that hiring professional packers was the best value for money they spent during the relocation.

You may also like to read: Are Home Packing Services Worth the Cost? we look at what professional packers do, how much on average they cost, and whether it makes sense to hire them for your home move.

If you still decide that you have the time and motivation to pack your entire home yourself then you may like to visit our home moving blog which is packed with guides and tips to make your home move quicker, easier, and cheaper.