American Van Lines relocation specialists know that packing your utensils and personal belongings correctly is the key to getting them to your new locale all in one piece. This is especially true when talking about dinnerware and glassware, which are fragile and break fairly easy if simply thrown into an old box. There are certain measures which you can take to protect your dishes and ensure their safety upon arrival to your new home or wherever they are heading. The proceeding tips are steps you can take to safeguard your glassware.
Plates
Refrain from stacking plates how you would in your cabinet. The tops and bottoms of plates are actually the weakest points, which means if you place them in a box this way, they are very like to break during the process of the trip. To avoid this disaster, it’s better to pack plates on their sides instead of on top of each other. It sounds like a bad idea, but thanks to the geometry of the plate, this works rather efficiently.
Bowls
Because of the shape of the bowl with their rounded walls, they are better off being stacked on top of one another. In other words, pack them exactly how you would stack them in your cabinet, but opposite of how you would pack your plates.
Knives
If they are stored inside of a wooden block as most knife sets are, it would be best to keep them in that same wooden block. This prevents them from stabbing other items or yourself when you are unpacking. If you do not have a wooden block set, wrap each knife individually in paper, and then bind them all together to avoid unnecessary damage.
Pots and Pans
Most of the time these are sturdy buggers that just don’t want to break. Pots and pans will stay intact the whole way to your new home without being in a box. However, you want to pack them in their own separate box to keep them from messing up other fragile items you are moving. The best way to pack them in the box may be to stack them as you would do for the bowls.
Glasses
Using a bow with cell dividers is a great way to keep everything from bouncing off of one another. Fill in any extra space with paper or packing peanuts. This will keep your glassware from bouncing around inside of their cells. If you cannot find a cell divider, simply make your own, or use paper to keep the glasses from shifting around in the box.
Stemware
Parallel to glasses, stemware will benefit from a cardboard divider and paper. They do however have one extra weak point, and that is the stem. Wrap an inflated tube, bubble wrap, or other supporting object around the stem to better protect and brace it during the moving.
These tips should improve the odds of your fragile items surviving the move in one piece. There is still no “break-proof” promise, sometimes stuff will break no matter how protected a piece may be. American Van Lines suggests taking boxes of fragile items with you in your personal vehicle so that they are less likely to bounce around.
Follow these tips and you will have a successful move!