In today’s interview, Bradley Pounds, Team Leader and Realtor at Watters International talks with Hunter Armstrong, President, from Blue Whale& Moving Company.
Hunter shares some tips on packing up a kitchen. Mr. Armstrong discusses box selection, packing paper, and the big mistake everyone makes when packing plates. To learn more, listen to the interview here:
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Bradley Pounds: Hunter Armstrong from Blue Whale® Moving Company, thank you so much. This is so helpful.
Hunter Armstrong: I’m very well, thank you. And yourself?
Bradley Pounds: Good! Listen, this is Bradley Pounds from Watters International Realty, and I wanted to thank you so much for taking a little bit of time. Our buyers have a burning question. We get this all of the time, Hunter. They want to know: How do you properly pack up a kitchen?
Hunter Armstrong: Sure! Packing, whether it’s a kitchen or any other area of your home, the really question all boils down to density and weight. You want to select not only your box accordingly, but also how you pack that box. So, the more dense the items you’re trying to pack, the smaller box you should use and you should always try to put the most dense items at the bottom of the box.
Bradley Pounds: Tell me why that is. I’m interested.
Hunter Armstrong: That’s the case for a few reasons. In terms of selecting the box, it’s important because if you put very dense items in a big box, you’re not only going to make the box too heavy to safely move, you could even compromise the integrity of the box. Additionally, when you’re talking about within a box, you want the denser items on the bottom because you don’t want those heavy pieces on top crushing the lighter, typically more delicate items on the bottom.
Bradley Pounds: Okay, so heavy on the bottom, and if you’re moving super dense items, then you need to keep it small and manageable.
Hunter Armstrong: Precisely.
Bradley Pounds: Okay. What else is important about packing up a kitchen?
Hunter Armstrong: When you’re talking specifically about a kitchen, you definitely want to use specialized boxes. What we use are called ‘Dish Packs,’ or ‘Dish Barrels.’ Again, you want to go density first. So you typically want to take your dishes, your plates, and those sort of things, wrap them up—use a lot of packing paper! We definitely recommend packing paper over bubble wrap or anything like that. The other trick that a lot of people don’t know or don’t do is you actually don’t want to stack your dishes. You don’t want to put them flat and stack them up; you want to put them on edge, and put them into the box that way. And then as you go higher in the box, you move to things like your glasses, crystal, champagne flutes, etc., up near the top.
Bradley Pounds: Okay, so tell me what’s better about packing your plates that way. I had no idea that’s the way you’re supposed to do it!
Hunter Armstrong: Really, it’s just about making it stable and keeping the weight managed. So if you pack them all up on an edge, none of the dishes have the weight of the rest of the dishes on top of them, whereas if you pack them flat, the bottom dish has the weight of every single dish above it sitting down on top of it.
Bradley Pounds: Okay. So you throw that box around a couple times, and you might crack it just because of all the extra pressure. I totally get it! That’s so smart, Hunter. That’s why you’re here. Can you think of anything else that we should keep in mind whenever we go to pack up that kitchen?
Hunter Armstrong: You know, Mr. Pounds, I asked my lead packer that question this morning, just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. When I asked her that exact same question, she said “Use a lot of paper.” You don’t need cell packs, which are those little cardboard inserts to separate glasses, or stuff like that. You don’t need bubble wrap. What you need to do is just use a lot of paper. The other thing she said is to make sure you seal the boxes well. That’s something that a lot of people overlook. Make sure you have good tape, and make sure you’re taping the tops closed well. Because ultimately, these boxes are going to get stacked, be on a dolly, and they need to be able to hold up to that pressure of another box on top of them.
Bradley Pounds: Okay, so I feel like I have a really good idea now about how to do it. At the same time, if I don’t want to pack my kitchen up, or if I just don’t have time, could you guys pack for me?
Hunter Armstrong: Absolutely! We do offer packing as a service. We can come in and pack as little or as much as you want, whether that’s just the kitchen, or just your books, or your entire house (including the garage)! Doesn’t have to be all or nothing—we’re happy to just come and do what you don’t want to do!
Bradley Pounds: Well, that’s fantastic. Mr. Hunter Armstrong from Blue Whale® Moving Company, I want to thank you so much for giving us this great information. I feel so much more prepared now for the big move!
Hunter: Great! Absolutely. Happy to be here, and thank you very much for having me!
For more information or to reach Bradley Pounds, you can call, email or visit his website Watters International.