Moving/Packing ??

[Disney4us2]

It has been ages since I have packed up and moved. To save on boxes, can clothing be kept in the dresser drawers?

We are about half way done and 34 days until the movers pick up our belongings. I was going to have the movers pack up the china, but I may do it on my own to save packing fees.

Any tips, suggestions, ideas are welcome.

It is really hard downsizing from a 4br house to a 2br apartment/townhouse.

[Basket Mommy]

I've only moved three times, so my knowledge is limited. Every time, though, the drawers were removed from the dresser for moving into the truck. Then they were placed back into the dresser. I don't know why clothes couldn't be kept in the drawers. I took mine and dumped them in the bottom of the boxes used for moving hanging clothes before I put the hanging clothes in there.

I did all my own packing, including dishes and china. Lots and lots of newspaper and bubble wrap is what I suggest. And don't stack the plates on top of one another. Put bubble wrap on the bottom of the box, then wrap each dish and place it sideways in the box. Mark the box clearly so it doesn't get get turned the wrong way.

Also, Saran Wrap is your friend. Buy the huge rolls at Costco and Saran Wrap appliances and anything with small pieces and parts (like blades of a food processor, coffee pots with their makers, etc.) Then box them. Saran Wrap is one of my favorite moving tools.

[Dulcee]

We tried that when we moved into our house. End result = last minute packing of things in drawers. The dressers were just too darn heavy for us to move loaded down with clothing.

Another thing we found helpful..
Pack a few boxes that are labeled OPEN ME FIRST. We put pjs, a few changes of clothes, necessary toiletries, dog items, snacks, the coffee pot and a few coffee mugs in these. It made the first two nights much easier.

[GAN]

I've moved a few times. For me, the easiest way to handle drawers was to take them out full and shrink wrap them so the contents remain intact. The dresser is so much easier to move with no drawers any way. When I moved in, I would just tear the shrink wrap and slide the drawer back in ...done. No sense taking clothes out, into a box(which you will need to locate at some point), then putting them back into the correct drawer.

[TheDuckRocks]

Marci, you might want to give the moving company you are using a call about leaving stuff in the drawers. 2 of the companies I have used in the past it was a no, no. United and Allied I think.
I have never, ever had anything I have packed myself get broken in a move. Letting the moving company do it I always, always have had anywhere from 1 to 9 items broken. Yeah, we had insurance but some of the items broken were family keepsakes with no dollar value whatsoever, yet those losses have been the hardest for me.

[MNNHFLTX]

Just wanted to comment on the china--

If the cost for the movers to pack it isn't too bad, I would let them do it. They will do the job right, and if there is damage the moving company will be responsible for it.

Also, make sure that you label the boxes with the rooms they came from. That way when they deliver your stuff you can direct them to put it exactly where you need it. Believe me, it will save you a lot of time not to have to go through each box in your new home, trying to figure out where everything is from.

Also, keep an eye out for stray boxes that might not be yours. When we moved from Florida to Houston we got a call from the moving company about a week after delivery, asking if we had a box that actually belonged to the other family whose belongings were on the truck with ours (a common practice with movers, especially cross-country). We had to search, but found it mixed in with boxes that had come from our garage.

[SBETigg]

I'm the opposite of Kay. I've broken things I've wrapped and boxed myself, but breakage has never happened when the moving company packed us, in three moves with a moving company and six on my own.

Things in drawers, bad idea. Instead of going all boxes, we bought some plastic bins for things that we knew we wouldn't unpack right away. Better for long term storage, in case you have anything like that. We rented a dumpster last move because we had so much to get rid of over years in the same place. It saved us lots of hassle in downsizing.

[MNNHFLTX]

I'm the opposite of Kay. I've broken things I've wrapped and boxed myself, but breakage has never happened when the moving company packed us, in three moves with a moving company and six on my own.

:ditto:

[Katzateer]

We always pack stuff in drawers- just don't put any thing heavy in them. I normally put items in large plastic bags or trash bags. The drawers are taken out by most movers then put back in.

Don't send anything with the movers that you can't live without (special items, memories, pictures you can't live without, valuables). I would guess 85% of the time you won't have a problem but......

Our first move, with a national company, we had a lot of items lost and had some furniture damaged. It was very upsetting. You could tell at one point in the move someone had gone through a lot of our stuff and took what they
wanted. And i dont think the dividers between loads worked and some of it got mixed with other shipments on the truck. Luckily, we did
not lose the most important items, they were in a uhaul with us. We got a large claim in $$$$
but some of the items- it broke my heart they were gone.

If you can ask to be the only load on the truck that is a good thing- no chance of error. But a lot of trucks have more than one household items on board.

[princessgirls]

Even though we moved ourselves, I had a professional pack up my china. It was my grandmother's, I'm not replacing it, and it was going into storage for a while, then moving again. It was worth it. Not one glass or plate was even chipped.
Julie:mickey:

[tinkwest]

My DD moved with a carload of necessities and then DH & I had movers come to get the rest of her stuff when she found an apartment. What we did with dresser drawers was put clothes in boxes and place larger (but not too heavy) items in the drawers, such as tennis rackets, clock radio, board games. I was envisioning them pulling out the drawers and having underwear and socks scattering all over the place. This also worked well because it was a lot easier for us to box up clothes then some of those odd shaped items we ended up putting in the drawers.

[Katzateer]

My DD moved with a carload of necessities and then DH & I had movers come to get the rest of her stuff when she found an apartment. What we did with dresser drawers was put clothes in boxes and place larger (but not too heavy) items in the drawers, such as tennis rackets, clock radio, board games. I was envisioning them pulling out the drawers and having underwear and socks scattering all over the place. This also worked well because it was a lot easier for us to box up clothes then some of those odd shaped items we ended up putting in the drawers.

:thumbsup:Exactly what we do!