subject: Shopping For House Moving Supplies [print this page] Shopping For House Moving Supplies Shopping For House Moving Supplies
As with all kinds of shopping, when looking for house moving supplies, it pays to make a list. Most people's packing supplies lists would look something like the following:
Boxes
Packing tape
Bubble wrap
Furniture blankets
Packing (polystyrene chips, etc.)
Sharp knife
Paper for labels
Marker pen for labels
Large plastic bags
The only thing is, it's sometimes difficult to estimate just how many boxes of which size, how much tape, and how much packing filler material you need, and most packing supplies companies will not refund the cost of unused packaging. The best way is to go to a company that supplies kits of boxes for each kind of room, so that you get the right combination of boxes, tape, and other packing supplies for, say, the average bedroom, or the average bathroom. Any slight difference in need and supply will usually even out over the whole house, so that spare moving supplies from one room get used in another. Even so, if you're not sure, you can afford to err on the cautious side as long as you use a packing supplies company that will deliver quickly if you find you need more than you originally ordered.
It is also worth considering quality. While it is certainly possible to get cheap moving supplies, they may not be really up to the job. With weaker boxes, you often find they are fine when you first pack them, but when it comes to stacking, they'll crumple a bit and be impossible to stack neatly. If you've ever tried packing with used boxes, like free ones picked up from a local supermarket, the same often happens with them too. Even if they were strong to begin with, the transporting and loading and unloading weakens the corners. Cheaper tape is also less robust than the more expensive kind and often tears both when you're sticking it and in the process of moving your packed boxes. So you'll be much better off with new, quality boxes and other packing supplies.
Where you can often save money, however, is on packing supplies you use inside the boxes. Newspaper saved over the previous few months is perfectly adequate for wrapping china, glass, and other delicate items, and as it's free you won't stint on it, so you'll probably do a better job than you would if you were paying for the paper! And it doesn't matter if you have lots left over as it can go straight into the recycling bin, so it's environmentally friendly as well!
All in all, though, it's worth investing in really good moving supplies, from a really reliable moving supplies company. You'll probably move again at some point, and will be able to reuse good boxes without any worries (discard any with broken corners, though, or use them for non-delicate items). And you can always ask for advice on the best packing supplies for wrapping particular items safely. The professional always knows best!
