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How to Move Your Precious Household Items
Moving can be an exciting time, but when it comes to packing and transporting your most precious household items, you may feel stressed and wonder what the best method is. We’ve put together a helpful how-to article spotlighting some of the most frequent fragile household items you might be looking to move.
As Indianapolis’s Mayflower agent, we’ve used information from their website to outline the steps you’ll need to take to safely move these items that matter to you.
The Steps for Moving Precious Items
1. Get your items appraised.
Make sure to have any extremely valuable property appraised before you move. You should contact a certified appraiser through the American Society of Appraisers or you can talk to your insurance agent and the appraisal process.
2. Do your research.
Specifically, if you have a wine collection you’re moving, you’ll want to make sure to do legal research on shipping wine. Some states have different alcoholic beverage regulation.
3. Create a plan for moving the items.
When we come to give you an estimate for your move, let us know what your high-value and fragile items are. Be sure to discuss the High-Value Inventory Form with your agent. They will provide this to you on the day of the in-home estimate, and you will later review it with the driver on the day of your move.
You should also use this time to discuss the appraised value of your items and what type of insurance is best for your move. We are also able to help with special pre-moving packaging for items, which we can talk about during the in-home estimate.
For your wine collection, we will most likely refer you to a trusted third-party vendor for the move itself, and we can discuss that with you during the estimate process.
4. Know how to properly pack your items.
Depending on what you decided about using our pre-moving packaging services, you may be responsible for some or all of the preparations for moving your items. Here are a few tips for packing antiques, wine collections, and china and glassware.
Tips for Packing Antiques
- Discuss the items you need moved with us, and we can help you come up with the best packing solutions depending on the size and weight of your items.
- Decide if your antiques need any special cleaning prior to your move.
- If they do and you are not sure what to do about an item, try consulting an antiques dealer.
- Research if there are any packing materials you should avoid using on your antique.
- Coordinate with us on which items are scheduled for special and custom packaging on moving day.
Tips for Packing Your Wine Collection
- Be sure to individually wrap each of your wine bottles and place them in an insulated box. There are special wine transporting boxes you can purchase.
- Do not pack any opened bottles. These cannot be shipped with your other inventory.
- Corked wines should be placed on their sides or upside down in order to keep the corks wet.
- Champagne and sparkling wines should be kept upright.
- Allow wine bottles to rest after reaching your destination.
Tips for Packing Your China and Glassware
- Use strong, double-walled corrugated cartons that are designed to protect fragile china and glassware. You can purchase these from us, and these “dish pack” also work well for other fragile collectibles.
- Use unprinted news wrap for packing.
- Wrap each piece individually, using several sheets of paper at a time.
- Be generous with the wrapping around all fragile items.
- Stuff the bottom of your box with the news wrap, and use the bottom of your box for platters, large china, or glass plates. Layer your plates, being sure to include extra wrapping in-between layers.
- For more detailed instructions on layering bowls, cream pitchers, and cups, click here.
5. Check Your Inventory After You Arrive
Once you’ve reached your new home, be sure to carefully check your items. It will be at this time that you can note any loss or damage on your inventory form before you sign the receipt.
Start planning your move!
Are you interested in using our services to move your precious items? We would be happy to help. Click the “Request a Quote” button in the main menu above to begin the process.
We look forward to helping you safely move your items!
Resources:
The information for this article comes from Mayflower’s website. You can click the following links to learn more:
- Antiques: https://www.mayflower.com/tips/how-to/pack-antiques
- Wine Collection: https://www.mayflower.com/tips/how-to/wine-collection
- China and Glassware: https://www.mayflower.com/tips/how-to/pack-china