Tips for pain free moving?

[Bluewavethingy]

Hopefully moving house in a few weeks - just wondered if anyone has any tips for preparing/packing to make it as pain free as possible?

I’ve read things like, keep a couple of mugs, tea bags and biscuits out for the removal people and for when you first get into the house - things like that!

What could we be doing in the next few weeks in terms of sorting, chucking away, donating, packing?

Busy home/work life so I’d like to be as prepared as possible!

TIA!

I’ve read things like, keep a couple of mugs, tea bags and biscuits out for the removal people and for when you first get into the house - things like that!

www.comparemymove.com/moving-house-tips

My top tips are:
pack each box with some heavy stuff and then some light stuff like clothing to use up any gaps and to make things as evenly weighted as possible.

Use good quality tape to make sure boxes do not fall apart.

Keep boxes in each room and pack stuff in you are going to take on a daily basis, write on the top which room it is for.

Keep one room so that all the stuff you don't want can be freecycled and then taken to the tip if you cannot get rid of it.

Wind down your fridge and freezer now. Eat all the things.

Keep cleaning stuff and tea/coffee stuff and take those in the car, so you can clean at the end/at the start and can make a cup of something whilst you do it.

Use movers if you can.

And the biggest and best:

Strip all the beds on the morning of the move, and pack the bedding into the fridge and freezer, so that it soaks up all the excess water and moisture; gaffer tape the fridge and freezer shut for the move, and then when you get there, use fresh bedding for the beds and put the stripped and now damp stuff straight into the washing machine. Clean fridge, clean freezer and clean bedding. And no leaks.

If you can afford £200 - £300 (approx) do what we did and get your removal company to do all your packing. They do it in a fraction of the time, they are self-insured for breakages and they mark up each of the boxes for you by room so you don't even think about it. The price should include packing materials.

They did our 3 bedroom house in 3 hours, no breakages and everything was so well packed including mobile wardrobes so clothes weren't too creased.

I'd recommend you sort out donations / disposals so they only pack good stuff you want to keep.

When we moved we did a load of de cluttering first, gradually, rather than tackling it all at one go. So if you’ve got half an hour on an evening, open up a cupboard and go through it. Do this regularly and also do the tip runs and charity drops regularly or you will end up with a huge amount of charity bags and no one wants to accept 20 bags in one go.
We got proper packing boxes from amazon along with one of the tape guns and bubble wrap. Made packing up really easy. Write on the boxes and put them in the rooms when you arrive at new house and unpack as soon as you can.
I’ve moved a few times and usually done it all willy nilly, this last time we did it all properly and made a real effort to keep on top of it, bought proper kit and used a removal firm.

Get rid of as much as you can beforehand. I reduced our belongings by about 30% before we moved and it felt so liberating, plus made packing and unpacking so much easier.

Currently packing to leave on Tuesday. We got rid of alot of stuff we didn't need and boxed up what we did. We have 20 black bags for the tip. I also kept back a weeks worth of clothes, towels and kitchen items for a week and the rest is now at the new place.

I bought a sack truck from B&Q and it's helped alot. We can carry four boxes at once and we will be using it for appliances too.

We aren't getting moovers in and are just renting a van/using the car. I pick a day off and tell myself I will be doing 10am - 4pm and then I am done for the day.

Thanks everyone - some great ideas here! Really need to get on with some charity shop runs!

Luckily we are leaving an integrated kitchen and moving to another one so no need to transport a fridge or freezer!

Label boxes clearly and keep a master list... Not just kitchen or bedroom... Kitchen-plates or Kitchen- pans and utensils. Put the labels in every side of the box. If your new house is different layout label for where they are to go not where they are now.

Declutter as you pack AND unpack

Wine. (Or beer or gin...) To unwind afterwards.

And pack for Packers if you can makes it a lot easiee

All of the above, and my top tip is to pack a couple of bags as if you were going on a self catering holiday for a week.

We had 30 years of accumulated crap to sort through before we moved early this year.. probably did 20+ runs to recycling center!

Go through each room, declutter, throw away absolutely EVERYTHING that you do not need to take with you or will never use (be realistic/honest here).. you will thank me when trying to find places to put it the other end!! (Trust me)

Pack up anything you dont trust the movers with.. we did all our own glassware/ornaments.

Get the moved to pack everything else.

Pack a holdall with 3 days worth of clothing for each person, your toothbrush/toothpast, towels, shower stuff (basically like you're going away for 3 days) this will give you some space to unpack the other end without frantically opening boxes to find stuff you need!

Yes to taking the box with tea/coffee/mugs/kettle in the car with you so you have it out while unpacking the other end!

You will need to clean your house once its packed up, so hoover around the removal men, then let them take your hoover, get cleaning wipes for the surfaces so once you're done you can pack it away.

This is one we weren't told about - if there is a chain, even if its only 3 or 4 of you, on moving day you COULD be left sitting in your empty house in the cold until the money goes through and the solicitor gives the ok because your removal men will likely be done by about 10am.. make sure you keep back drinks, snacks/food and some cushions/blankets to sit on/keep warm, especially if you have old/young/anyone disabled, or shoo them off somewhere for a couple of days. We moved in January and it was FREEZING waiting around.. was nearly 3pm before we got the go ahead to collect the keys to the new house.

I pack in the weekends before. Stack boxes (labelled) near the front door. Throw wardrobe clothes on back seat of the car, still on hangers. Move annoying things like pot plants myself. I pack boxes so that the contents all go in the same place. Makes it fast to unpack. If things are heavy eg crockery, use smaller boxes.

Basically, aim to make it as fast for the movers as possible. Mine charge hourly, so minutes count!

I always get them to arrive first thing in the morning. Load up, travel to new place and unloaded by lunch. Direct them where to put furniture as they bring it in. Aim to have everything unpacked before I go to bed.

The following day go back and vacuum and mop old place. Finish any cleaning that needed to be done.

I rented and used to have to move every 5-6 years due to places being sold. Would move a 3 bedroom house, so not small.

@daisychain01 wow that is cheap!! I've also been gathering tips for moving with a baby and this was one but we've been quoted £1,700 to move a 3 bed house (1 DC plus future baby) with packing only 1.5 miles!!!!

For clothes gather about 10-15 items on hangers put an elastic band around the hangers and put a black bag over them. Leave them hanging in the wardrobe until moving day.
For clothes in drawers transfer them to bags for life for each drawer and put them all inside a suitcase for each person.
Then when the furniture is moved in it takes 5 minutes to unpack all clothes.
I used black bags for mine, purple for dp and white for dd to make it easier.
Borrow suitcases from family and friends. Pack them with kids toys,
For books and dvds I got a load of the heavy duty shopping bags from aldi. They fit in loads and they are much easier to carry then boxes.
Declutter as much as you can and be ruthless. We donated about 20 bags to charity and sold things on Facebook market place.
Keep a list of all mail that comes through in the next couple of weeks gives you a quick and easy list for change of addresses.

My top tip is to have the removal people do the packing - worth every penny!!

In the weeks before hand spend all your free time organising: both physical things and admin things

For your stuff, live by a place for everything and everything in its place This makes it easier to pack. Of course putting each thing in its place means you declutter and clean that place at the same time, e.g. wherever you keep your cleaning products, your socks, the bathroom drawer, the tools, the sellotape, the paperwork, etc.

Make a place online (google drive, a spreadaheet, photos) where you have details of all your important admin, e.g. insurances, utilities, etc. I take photos of letters of such things, I also switch as much as possible to email. No more rummaging around piles of paper to find the right details.

We used movers from our last house and paid the extra to have them pack on the day. So much easier. No way could we pack and store all our stuff in the house as no garage. It was so easy and it was surprisingly cheap.

Thanks all!!! Bags for life rather than boxes sounds very sensible, as does the black bags on coat hangers!

One question - how do you de clutter when you have a DH who is somewhat of a hoarder?? Very attached to his things so it’s not like I can ruthlessly go through his clothes/paperwork/dvds/games like I would with my own How can I encourage him to part with some of his beloved stuff (some of it I have not seen him wear or use in at least 3 years!!)

We can’t really afford to pay for packing and we are only packing up a 2 bed so hopefully not too bad - although we don’t have a garage so we will have a few days of living amongst boxes in the lead up I am sure

Start with the garage, shed and loft. Assess why you kept stuff in there in the first place. Ditch as much as you can.
If you are making a local move and have pets then put them in kennels for a couple of days.
Put DH's treasures crap in storage for a few months and then sort ditch at your leisure.
Take your vacuum cleaner in the car with you and aim to have a quick hoover before the furniture gets unloaded. It's easier to clean an empty space.

@MrsMoastyToasty thanks!! I don’t think we want to mess about paying for storage really and I’m not sure which things he’d allow to be hidden away in a storage unit to be honest.... this is why I am going to try and get him to reduce things a bit before we move!!

Don’t have a garage but loft definitely needs a good assessment!!! I’m very ruthless and if I haven’t worn something in a year or used it in a year I need a VERY good reason to keep it but DH’s view is always ‘it was expensive/I might need it/it’s useful’ so he always has a ‘reason’ for keeping something....! He has stuff he had in his flat when he lived alone before he met me and he just won’t part with!

Get a little pad (to fit in back pocket on move day) and create a page per box inventory (number box and page accordingly) so you don’t have to wonder around checking boxes after you have moved in and looking for stuff. A bit of time up front saves hours later

Also, find a bright/ unique box or carrier bag (that you can spot amongst chaos) and use it to store the packing essentials, I.e. tape, scissors, marker pen, pad, biro etc. Then explain to your DP at least 8 times a day for one week that anything removed from the bag/box must be returned to bag/box.

Pay the couple of hundred quid for packing (might be less for a small flat). It will include all the materials and you’ll be covered by the moving company insurance. Packing yourself is a false economy. Plus they’ll do it in about 2 hours.

Packers will make sure that the kettle, tea bags, coffee, biscuits, sugar etc are packed last in a marked up box - it’s usually first out.

Get three quotes. If you can get get recommendations from people you know, all the better.

Get rid of anything you don’t want to move beforehand - the tip, recycling centre, Gumtree and charity shops are your friend. Make sure the removals men know about the loft (and get rid of all the stuff up there that you haven’t looked at in years).

Pack overnight bags and put in your car or label up and let the removals men know.

If you’re planning to clean the flat once it’s clear then keep your hoover and cleaning stuff separate.

DO NOT put crap into storage - it’s stupidly expensive.

Go to Ikea and buy dozens of their 50p blue carrier bags. They are indestructible and can be used for all of your soft stuff (clothes, bedding, cushions, curtains etc). We’ve done EVERY house move using them.
And yes, have a box with kettle, tea making gear, toilet roll, toothbrush and overnight things. Good luck!

Pay for the royal mail redirection it's about 70 pounds but totally worth it

Wrap your crockery / glassware in your clothes. You need to pack it anyway and saves money on packing material.

Pay as many people to do as many thIngs as possible.

If you can afford it, pay a bit extra to have the removals company dismantle and reassemble beds (and wardrobes). That way at the end of the day you can get into your actual bed without either having to put it together or sleeping on a mattress