When packing for a move, sooner or later you’ll get to the kitchen as well. And when you do (you’d better do it sooner than later due to the large number of kitchen things to be sorted out carefully and packed safely), you’re likely to be unpleasantly surprised by all the fragile items found in that particular room – kitchen plates, cups, saucers, bowls, glasses, and of course – mugs as well.
Coffee mugs and tea mugs happen to be one of the most frequently used kitchen items. In fact, they are often used multiple times every single day since coffee and tea are the most widely consumed drinks after water. And you won’t part with your favorite mugs simply because you’re moving to a new place, right?
When you transfer the packing action to the kitchen, you’re going to have to be very careful how you go about protecting your porcelain mugs so that they remain intact during the actual relocation.
Luckily, these 10 packing steps will show you the best way to pack mugs for a move.
1. Understand why mugs are tricky to pack and move
Interestingly enough, mugs are not as easy to pack as they seem for a couple of reasons:
Fragile. Mugs are made from porcelain, meaning that they are fragile and can break easily if too much pressure is applied to them during the actual transportation or you just happen to drop one accidentally on the floor while packing those delicate kitchen items. You’re going to have to treat mugs as very fragile things simply because that’s exactly what they are.
Sentimental value. Mugs are tricky to pack and move not only because of their apparent fragility but also because of the sentimental value they often hold. What this basically means is that even though porcelain mugs are inexpensive to replace, they almost always happen to be cool gifts from special people. Oftentimes, such cups contain funny quotes, or words of wisdom and inspiration, or personalized messages or images that are meaningful to their owners.
All in all, finding a few of your mugs broken due to improper packing won’t bring you 7 years of bad luck but it could bring a few tears to your face if the broken porcelain cups turn out to be your favorite ones.
2. Sort out your kitchen mugs
The next step when packing mugs for moving is to determine whether there are any porcelain cups that are not worth packing and moving to the new home’s kitchen. Bear in mind that it won’t make much sense to lose precious time packing any items (in this case porcelain mugs) which you won’t ever use again.
Follow these steps as part of your assessment of which ones to take with you and which ones to leave behind:
Arrange all the mugs you have onto the kitchen table.
Take a closer look at each cup and look for any signs of damage such as chipped bits, cracks, stains, and so on.
Consider the sentimental value of each mug as well. In most cases, you’re likely to take with you a partially damaged cup simply because it is a gift from a dear friend or you have great memories associated with it.
Sort all your kitchen mugs into 2 groups: TAKE and LEAVE BEHIND. Now, what should you do with all the cups you’ve decided not to move with you?
3. Discard the mugs that are not worth it
Some mugs just won’t be worth the trouble.
You know that you’re going to pack up the porcelain mugs that you’ve determined as worthy to make the relocation trip. However, what should you do with the cups that you will not move with you for some reason or another?
Gift. Consider giving away to friends some of the mugs you have, especially when they are new and you know some of your pals will most likely like them. Why should you throw away something that another person will enjoy?
Donate. Some charities may accept unused porcelain mugs, so if you have a bunch of cups you’ve never used, then consider contacting a few charitable organizations to see if they would want them.
Sell. If you do have new mugs stored away somewhere in the kitchen and you’re planning on organizing a moving sale before you move away, then you should try to sell them together with the rest of your unwanted stuff.
Throw away. Simply throw away in an eco-friendly way all the mugs that could not possibly be reused anymore.
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4. Get the right packing materials
You just have to have the proper packing supplies to be able to protect all the breakable items found in your kitchen, including the mugs you’re about to pack up and move to the new home.
Cardboard box. One medium-size cardboard box should be enough for your porcelain mugs – if not, then you should use two medium boxes instead of packing all your fragile items into one big one. If possible, purchase a dish barrel – a double-walled box made from thick cardboard that’s designed to provide a greater degree of protection for various kitchen breakables such as dishes, glasses, mugs, and so on.
Packing paper. You’re going to need soft white packing paper as the first protective layer.
Bubble wrap. You should use pieces of bubble wrap as a secondary protective layer for your favorite mugs – the ones you would really hate to see damaged after the move.
Packing tape. Get a roll of high-quality packing tape which you will also use for reinforcing the cardboard box (see below).
5. Reinforce the mug box
This step is about making sure that the box or boxes you use to transport your porcelain mugs won’t break during the move. If a box containing fragile items did break on Moving day, then the breakables inside it would most certainly get damaged and that’s something you would like to avoid at all costs.
One easy way to minimize the chance of a box breaking under the load of whatever is inside it is to reinforce the cardboard container using packing tape.
Use tape to reinforce the bottom and all sides of the box you’re going to use to pack your mugs.
Place wads of crumpled paper along the inside bottom of the container as a way to create a soft padding layer that will serve as a cushion for your breakable kitchen mugs against shocks and vibrations.
6. Wrap packing paper around each mug
Let packing begin.
The preparation stage is complete, now it’s time to protect each porcelain mug individually with the help of wrapping paper and even bubble wrap, if necessary.
Here’s the best way to pack mugs for moving:
Position the stack of wrapping paper on the kitchen table;
Place a porcelain mug onto the middle of the stack of paper. Make sure the cup is completely dry before packing it up – if it’s not, dry it out;
Get two sheets of paper from any corner and tuck them inside the mug. Do the same with the other paper corners as well until the outside of the cup is completely covered in soft wrapping paper;
Secure the paper layer around the mug with tape to keep it from unwrapping by itself during transport.
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7. Place bubble wrap around your best mugs
In most cases, adding a couple of sheets of wrapping paper around each mug will be enough to protect the breakable items during the relocation. As you will see below, the wrapped-up cups will be protected additionally once they are arranged inside the cardboard box.
Nevertheless, you are likely to have favorite coffee mugs or tea mugs that you wish to survive the move in perfect condition. And this is exactly why you should add an extra protective layer over those special kitchen mugs before you transfer them into the carton.
Here’s how to protect your best mugs using an extra layer of bubble wrap:
Take one sheet of bubble wrap and wrap it over the initial paper layer of a mug that you love – a mug that has a special sentimental value for you;
Use a piece of tape to secure the bubble wrap around the porcelain cup and keep it in place.
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8. Transfer each mug into the box
This step should be pretty straightforward – all you have to do is take the already protected mugs and transfer them, one by one, into the already reinforced and padded cardboard box.
Arrange carefully the paper-packed or paper-and-bubble-wrap packed mugs onto the bottom of the box, right onto the wads of paper that you have placed beforehand as another level of protection.
Position the porcelain cups snugly one next to the other. Thanks to the padding around each cup, the breakables cannot come into direct contact with each other, which in turn will increase greatly the overall safety of this specific packing method.
When you’re done with the first row and there are more cups to fit, lay a sheet of bubble wrap over the initial row and start another one.
Be careful not to apply too much pressure when arranging the mugs inside the box. If the place does not allow it, don’t force any pieces inside it – instead, use another cardboard box but not before you reinforce it and pad its bottom adequately.
9. Pad the mugs inside the box
Do all in your power to protect your favorite coffee or tea mugs.
One of the final steps when packing mugs for moving is to ensure that they cannot move inside the box while the latter is being transported between the two homes. This is a safety measure that will minimize the chance of damage to your kitchen breakables during the move.
When you’re done arranging the porcelain cups inside the container, use pieces of wrapping paper to fill in any gaps you can see between the packed items. This way, the mugs won’t be able to shift around inside the box and should remain perfectly intact despite the shocks and vibrations from the actual transportation.
Feel free to use newspaper instead of wrapping paper for filling in the gaps created inside the box after packing your mugs for a move.
Lift the box off the ground and shake it gently – can you feel anything moving inside it? If yes, add more paper to immobilize completely the fragile items. If not, then you’ve done a great job packing your porcelain mugs for the upcoming move.
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10. Label the box appropriately
The final step to packing up mugs for moving is to label the box once you’ve closed the carton and sealed it up with packing tape.
Why is labeling your boxes important?
First of all, it will warn the people who are handling your boxes whether or not there are any fragile items inside the containers. In other words, the FRAGILE sign should automatically mean PLEASE BE MORE CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING THESE BOXES.
Secondly, your movers will know exactly where to take the boxes that are meant to end up in the kitchen. And this is much better than having all your boxes delivered to and stacked up in the middle of the largest room in the new home.
And finally, you will know exactly where your mugs are when you need them without wasting any precious post-move time opening up random cartons.
So, do the sensible thing and write MUGS, KITCHEN, FRAGILE, and HANDLE WITH CARE on two sides of your cup-filled boxes.
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The post How to Pack Mugs for Moving: 10 Packing Steps appeared first on The Moving Blog.
