How to Pack Furniture and Prepare It for Moving

By Alex Rogers

June 6, 2021

minute read

Contents

Reading Time: 8 minutes

If you are about to embark on a local move, you should learn how to pack furniture before you even start packing. While properly protecting furniture may seem like a hassle now, it is necessary if you don’t want to find yourself in trouble when you start unpacking after a move. Different pieces of furnishing require different kinds of protection. Luckily, we are professional movers in Los Angeles, and we know exactly what you should do to keep each item protected.

Wonder How to Pack Furniture for Moving? Know You Need to Make a Plan First

How do you pack furniture for moving? For this task, it doesn’t matter if you are relocating across the state or from some of the Hollywood neighborhoods to the best suburbs of Los Angeles. All your things have to be protected so they or your home doesn’t get damaged, and you don’t add more expenses to your relocation expenses checklist. So, don’t wait for the last moment to pack to move in a hurry – start on time and use our relocation tips and tricks.

Before you get on to the act of protecting and relocating large items, you will have to plan everything if you want to move efficiently. If you are relocating a piano – you will have to plan how to execute it and what you will require for it. The same goes for everything else – if you are packing a TV, you will have to learn how to pack a TV. That means you will have a lot of planning, measuring, and organizing to do before you start. This will save you time and energy in the long run, so don’t waste too much time finding new things to do in LA at night and start preparing.

Making a plan
Plan before you start – it’s a lifesaver

Get the Equipment You Need for Packing Furniture

When you are done browsing our LA neighborhood guide, and you’ve decided where to live in Los Angeles, you should contact your real estate agent. Learn your renters’ rights and set the move in motion. Before everything else you do – get the packing supplies at the best mall in California or your nearest hardware store. You can order supplies and have them delivered to your home via Amazon if you don’t want to waste hours driving in LA or if you are living in LA without a car. You can even get something for free, like boxes, if you tour the stores and restaurants in your neighborhood. Here’s what kind of equipment you should get.

  • Sofa (mattress) covers or blankets,
  • Plastic and bubble wrap,
  • Tape,
  • Cardboard sheets.
Wrapped items
Blankets and plastic wrap will be your biggest allies

How to Prepare Furniture for Moving?

Once you’ve measured everything, carved out a plan, and got the equipment – it’s time to prepare the objects themselves. Whether you are living Downtown and relocating down the block or to some of the more affordable suburbs of Los Angeles – you should make sure your furniture is well protected. Start by cleaning and dusting each piece, even if you’d rather be at some of the best beaches in LA. Dust and debris can scratch the surface of your things, and they can also bring dirt into your new home, which you will want to avoid. So, clean and prepare everything before wrapping it up.

Snap Photos Before You Disassemble

Whatever reasons to move you have and whatever fancy or affordable places to live in LA you are going to – you will have a good reason to take photos of your things before you disassemble them. So, figure out what needs to be taken apart or disassembled and take photos of where everything was before you disassembled it. This will make it so much easier for you to unpack after a move when you are all settled in some of the safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. When it’s time to assemble everything and put it back where it was, you will know exactly what goes where. That way, you will be done faster, and you will have more time and energy to enjoy some of the mesmerizing botanical gardens in your new area.

Ready To Move? Get Free Estimate

Disassemble All Items You Can

One of the key relocating hacks when it comes to packing is to disassemble everything you can first. It will be easier to pack, and it will keep all pieces well protected. So, remove the legs of tables, couches, and even chairs, if possible. Take bed frames apart. Remove the drawers from your dressers and other wood pieces. When removing parts, always turn to the manual if you still have it. If not, take a beer from one of your favorite breweries in Los Angeles and try to find it online. Put the screws and other hardware in sealable bags. You can even label them to know which bag belongs to which item. This will save you lots of space on the truck or in storage, and it will make sure your belongings arrive at your destination undamaged.

Wrapped chair
Consider dismantling before wrapping

Should You Wrap Furniture for Moving?

If you wonder how to protect furniture when moving, you should wrap it. Bubble wrap and plastic are the supplies that are crucial for this. However, if you are dealing with upholstered objects, you should cover them in plastic directly. Cover each item in blankets to protect the delicate fabric. Then place the plastic around it and secure it with tape. You can get blankets from one of the moving companies in Los Angeles, or you can even use your old ones, sheets, or towels. Just make sure you place the padding on all sides of each item to prevent them from scratching each other or something else along the way.

Wrapping Furniture for Moving – Wrap Each Part

When you start wrapping your pieces – don’t stop when you’ve wrapped the table or chair. You will want all parts protected, so you will need to cover each part in padding. So, after you’ve wrapped your sofa or table – continue with the legs. Cover each one in padding separately and secure with tape. You will also want to keep all the same parts together, so place the legs of the chairs with chairs, legs of the sofa alongside the sofa – you get the point. Also, place the screws and other small parts in bags and keep them alongside the object they belong to. This will help make unpacking easier.

How Do You Wrap Wood Furniture for Moving?

When it comes to wooden objects, you will have to take extra care and attention. That’s why most people prefer to leave it to Los Angeles movers. Before all else – empty each wood piece before packing it. It may seem easier to load your dresser or desk with the drawers in the van. But, if you do, you may end up with lots of scratches on the inside, and they can even slide away during transport.

So, empty everything you can, disassemble what you can, and cover each part with blankets. If you have an elaborate piece, be sure to cover the protruding parts, too, to avoid damages to your doorways, other things, or the item at hand. Then cover it in plastic and secure it with tape. Regarding the screws and small parts – keep them along the part they belong to to avoid losing them.

What to Do With More Delicate Items?

When it comes to packing fragile items, like mirrors, an extra level of care and attention is needed. Like with packing glasses – mirrors are very delicate, and they can easily break. To prevent this from happening, you will need to cover it in many layers of padding. Before that – tape an X sign over the mirror. This will ensure that if the glass does break – it stays in one place and doesn’t cause more damage.

Then cover the glass with a special type of paper called glassine. Apply lots of padding and secure it with plastic. If any piece of furnishing has glass, you should do the same. So, if you have a glass table, mark an X, seal the glass top with glassine, and cover each part with padding. Then secure it with plastic. You can also use cardboard protectors between different parts or around the edges of valuable paintings to keep them extra safe.

Wrapped objects waiting for transport
Remove all drawers and disassemble everything you can

How Do You Wrap Furniture for Storage?

You should wrap your large items for storage in the same way as we’ve described. Stretch wrapping and bubble wrap are the key players, as well as lots of padding. Just pay special attention to leather pieces – don’t put plastic on top of it directly, even more so if they are on their way to a storage facility. It will cause the leather to deteriorate, so put layers of blanket first. When it comes to the storage facility, we can advise you to use the climate-controlled units with environmental protection. Also, keep a record of your items alongside other organized important documents at home.

Storage
Protect your things before you put them in a climate-controlled storage unit

How to Load a Moving Truck? Heavy Items Go First

It’s also very important to plan how to load a truck. If you do it carefully, you will have more space, but most importantly, you will prevent your things from damaging each other. The key thing is to distribute the weight evenly throughout the vehicle, so there are no problems steering it. The rule of the thumb is to put heavy things first. And you should put them along the sides of the truck. You can tie them with straps to keep them from moving in transit and falling over other things. You can put your couch vertically to save on space. Don’t put anything on top of your delicate wooden pieces – it can pressure them and cause damage. Also, label each box, so you know not to place books over glasses.

Relocating vehicle
Plan out the placement of your belongings in the truck

Turn to Professionals for Help and Pick the Right Moving Company in Los Angeles

If all of this seems too difficult or too much of a hassle and you are not sure you’ll be able to do it right – contact our Los Angeles moving company for help. Our professional packers will have all your furnishing properly packed if you choose our packing services. There aren’t many items our movers won’t move (except for hazardous materials) if you choose our residential relocation services in Los Angeles. Forget about relocation stress and spend your time enjoying downtown LA restaurants knowing that the best movers in Los Angeles are on top of your move. There are many ways we can make your experience stress-free, so give us a call if you have any questions.

Get a Free Quote and Find Out the Price

We give each individual that’s interested in our services a chance to get an estimate of the cost. We issue free quotes to all who contact us and request them. You will get a free quote depending on the kind of assistance you need from our movers, the distance of your move, and the weight of your load. You will see that we are affordable and reliable. Think it over at some of the peaceful parks in Los Angeles, and give us another quote if you want to be moved by our movers. We will be ready whenever you are.

Alex Rogers

Written by

Alex Rogers

Alex Rogers, a seasoned expert in the moving industry, brings a wealth of knowledge and firsthand experience to her writing, offering practical tips, insightful advice, and in-depth guides to make your moving journey as smooth and stress-free as possible.

Alex Rogers

Alex Rogers

Alex Rogers, a seasoned expert in the moving industry, brings a wealth of knowledge and firsthand experience to her writing, offering practical tips, insightful advice, and in-depth guides to make your moving journey as smooth and stress-free as possible.

Need Our Services?

Free Quote

Share This Post