How to Pack Plates and Glasses for Moving

If you accidentally drop a book on the floor, it won’t break, but if you happen to drop a very breakable item like a plate or a wine glass, then all you can do is brace for impact and then get ready to pick up the broken pieces.

Stemmed wine glasses are particularly prone to damage during a home move, and if you pack your crockery incorrectly then the likelihood is that when you go to unpack your moving boxes, you will be greeted with a pile of fragments.

Packing plates and glasses is not difficult but you do need to follow some basic rules.

So read on to discover the best way to protect your crockery and glassware during a home move.

You may also like to read: How to Pack a Kitchen for Moving: The Ultimate Guide. In this guide, we share packing tips for every item commonly found in a kitchen.

Throughout this article, we will refer to Bubble Wrap® (the trademark of Sealed Air Corporation) and the name by which most people refer to air-filled plastic packaging.

How to Pack Plates for Moving

Before we get to the packing stage, it is worth going through your crockery and glassware and deciding if it is worth the time and effort to pack and move all those odd plates and glasses.

Decluttering is the one way that is guaranteed to make your home move quicker and cheaper.

Do you really need 17 side plates or 7 odd glasses?

Now is the time to be ruthless and get rid of the crockery and glassware you do not need or want.

Once this essential task is completed, you should be left with just the crockery and glasses that you really want to keep and we can now go on to assemble our packing materials.

You may also like to read: The Top 10 Most Frequently Damaged Items When Moving Home. In this guide, we reveal the top 10 most frequently damaged items during a home move and how you can protect them so that your precious items don’t meet the same fate.

What do I need for packing plates?

The packing materials for plates you will need are:

#1 Small to medium-sized boxes

Crockery soon gets heavy so it is best to use small or medium-sized boxes to pack plates into.

Ensure that the boxes are a minimum of 2-ply, this means that they are double-walled for strength.

You can buy dish boxes, which are segmented by cardboard inserts, and the plates slip into the cavities, but unless you have some expensive or antique crockery that you are moving, they are not really worth the expense.

#2 Packing paper

Soft packing paper is essential when packing dishes and glasses for moving – it is the first layer of protection that comes in direct contact with your delicate items.

This is why the stacks of paper you procure must be clean and soft so that no kitchen piece ends up being dirty (stained) or scratched after the relocation.

There’s no such thing as overwrapping breakables, so get as much packing paper as you can afford.

#3 Bubble wrap®

Using bubble wrap® is important as it provides the ultimate protection for your delicate kitchenware.

The air-filled bubbles are really good at absorbing possible vibrations and shocks during the actual relocation.

A more cost-effective and eco-friendly option is to use towels and blankets.

#4 Polystyrene disposal plates or pieces of cardboard

If you have some party plates left from your going away party, then they are ideal for placing between plates to act as a shock absorber and to prevent the plates from touching each other when the boxes are moved.

Alternatively, you will need some sheets of cardboard to place between the plates to do the same job.

#5 Packing tape

This is pretty straightforward, but the thing to keep in mind here is to look for rolls of tape of high quality rather than purchase the cheapest ones you can find.

Using cheap tape will cause you not only frustration but often peels away from the box the moment it is moved.

It is also worth purchasing a tape dispenser, for about a tenner, they will save you so much time.

#6 Marker pens or coloured tape

Finally, you will need something to mark the boxes with to let whoever is loading and unloading know that the contents of the box are fragile and which room they must be placed in at the new home.

You may also like to read: Alternative Packing Materials for Moving Home. Packing materials are not cheap, so in this guide, we look at things commonly found in the home that you can use to safely pack your things during a home move.

How to pack plates in a box

Now comes the fun part, packing your plates into boxes.

#1 Assemble and reinforce the boxes

Choose small to medium-sized boxes and assemble them ensuring that extra tape is used on the seams of the box and two strips across the bottom for reinforcement.

#2 Create a nest

Now line the bottom of the box with scrunched-up paper, bubble wrap®, or towels.

The idea is to create a cushioning layer that will absorb any shocks or vibrations and that the plates will nestle into.

#3 Wrapping valuable or sentimental plates

If your crockery is not particularly expensive or has no sentimental value, then you can skip this section.

Wrapping every plate individually may seem time-consuming but is essential to give your plates the best protection.

Spread the sheets of clean packing paper on your kitchen table.

Take a kitchen plate and place it in the very centre of the paper stack.

Pull the corners of a couple of sheets over the plate to cover it as much as possible, then do the same with the rest of the edges until the plate is completely covered.

You can use a small amount of tape to secure the bundle if the edges keep unwrapping by themselves. The idea is to have a tight layer of soft packing paper around each plate.

#4 Packing everyday crockery

An alternative and faster packing method is to lay out a sheet of bubble wrap® or a thick blanket.

Place the plate in the centre and put a polystyrene plate or a sheet of cardboard on top of the plate.

Now build up a pile of plates alternating the layers as above, plate, protection, plate, protection.

Once you have stacked 4 or 6 plates, which is a comfortable amount to handle in one pile, cover the entire stack in bubble wrap® or blanket and secure it with tape.

Ensure the bundle is tight, you do not want the plates to be able to slip about within the bundle.

#5 Fill the box

Never lay plates flat, always place them on the edges as the weight of a pile of plates, and the greater surface area, means your plates are more prone to getting damaged.

Ensure that you leave enough space on the inside walls of the box to add some cushioning.

Once the padding has been added, the plates should be securely in place, ensuring they cannot move about at all.

It is not really recommended that you pack two layers of plates, but if you must, then use a layer of thick cardboard and bubble wrap® or a blanket between each layer.

Finally, add a layer of protection on top of the plates before sealing the lid shut.

Use double strips of tape to ensure the lid is well sealed.

#6 Label the box

Take a marker pen and write KITCHENWARE, and then FRAGILE and HANDLE WITH CARE with big BLACK or RED letters. It’s really important to label your packed boxes properly so that the loaders and unloaders are aware the contents are fragile and that they know which room the box must be placed in within your new home.

You may also like to read: How to Label Moving Boxes. An Easy and Foolproof Way. In this guide, we share an easy method for marking your moving boxes so that you know which room they go into at your new home, and in what order they should be unpacked, and will allow you to easily identify if a box goes missing or is put in the wrong room.

How to Pack Glasses for Moving

Glassware is particularly prone to damage, especially stemmed glasses, but a combination of good packing and careful handling will give them the best chance of surviving your home move.

Earlier we decluttered and got rid of all the glasses you no longer want to keep, and we assembled our packing supplies, so now we can start the packing process.

#1 How to pack tumblers and hi-ball glasses

Just as we did with plates, each glass should be individually wrapped in packing paper.

If you have a collection of thick woolly socks, these are also great to use. Just slip the glass inside the sock to help prevent shock damage.

When it comes to filling the packing box, glasses should never be laid on their sides as the greater the surface area, the more chance of impact damage.

None of the glasses should be touching each other, always have a layer of protection between each glass.

Ensure the packing box is well padded on the bottom, sides, and top, and that the glasses cannot move about inside the box.

Remember to insert a layer of cardboard and extra padding between each layer of glasses.

Insert a final layer of protection across the top of the glasses before sealing shut the box.

Mark the box as fragile, glass, this way up, and the room it is destined for in your new home.

#2 How to pack wine glasses

The stems of wine glasses are notoriously hard to protect during a move.

The layers of padding within the box are crucial to absorb any shocks the box may be subject to, you can never put too much padding in a box that contains stemware.

For expensive crystal or glasses that have sentimental value, you could pack them individually or in pairs in very well-padded small boxes, such as shoe boxes, and then place those boxes inside a larger box that is well-padded.

The double-box method is the safest way to transport stemmed glasses.

Ensure that it is impossible for bare glasses to touch each other and that nothing can move around inside the box.

Add your final layer of protection before sealing the box shut and labeling it.

You may also like to read: The Top 10 Common Packing Mistakes to Avoid When Moving Home. In this guide, we reveal 10 common packing mistakes and how you can avoid them,

Bonus Tips for Packing Dishes and Glasses for Moving

It’s good to know that breakable kitchen items top the list of the most frequently damaged household items during a residential move.

Observe the following safety tips to prevent, or at least minimise any post-relocation surprises.

Even though standard drinking glasses (juice glasses and water glasses, for example) have thicker walls and will be less prone to breakage than your super fragile stemware, they will still need adequate protection to arrive in your new house in one piece.

• Remember to always place the heavier breakables at the bottom while the lighter pieces go on top of them.
• Don’t make your packed cardboard boxes too heavy as the risk is not worth it. Kitchen plates made of porcelain can be heavy, so it’s better to divide the kitchenware between two boxes than to make one too heavy to lift.
• When going up or down the stairs carrying full dish boxes, you need to go very slowly and vigilantly to prevent accidents of any kind.
• Boxes full of dishes and glasses should be perfectly immobilised when loaded into the removal van.

Packing plates and glasses for moving is far from being the most complicated task in your moving and packing schedule, but it can be one of the most time-consuming ones for sure.

The easiest and safest way to get your things to your new home in one piece is to hire professional packers.

They represent outstanding value for money and will pack your things far better and far quicker than most people.

You may also like to read: Are Packers Worth the Money? In this guide, we look at what professional packers do, how much on average they cost, and whether hiring packers is worth the cost.

Good luck with your home move and for more tips to make your home over quicker, cheaper, and safer, be sure to visit our home moving blog.