Of all the household goods people move, formal dishes are among the most delicate and at risk of breaking. 

You can protect your good china with good packing practices and by preparing to pack in advance. Keep the right packing materials on hand and pack carefully to prepare for your upcoming household move. Taking care throughout the packing process can help you avoid potential disasters during your upcoming relocation.

1. Stock Up on Packing Materials

Keep a large stock of packing materials on hand during the packing process to ensure you have the right tools while packing your dishes. Packing peanuts, bubble wrap (large and small bubbles), foam padding, packing paper, and even clean rags can help you pack your good dishes for safe transportation.

Use strong boxes that are in good condition. Medium and small-sized boxes are most appropriate. Boxes that have been previously bent, folded, or cut may not be structurally sound and could crumple during the moving process.

Ideally, the boxes you use to pack your dishes will not have been used many times prior and will not be folded or structurally compromised in any way. You might also consider using dish pack boxes specially designed for moving dishes.

Don’t forget the packing tape: use heavy-duty packing tape for your dishes.

2. Store Plates On Their Side

Line the bottom of the box with several sheets of crumpled paper or bubble wrap.

Wrap each plate individually with packing paper, then place dishes in a vertical stack in the box. This keeps pressure off individual dishes and prevents any plates from being at the bottom of a stack, where they could easily break.

3. Eliminate Empty Air With Packing Paper

Empty air is a problem in boxes with dishes. The more open-air in your boxes, the more your plates will shift during the relocation. Fill empty spaces in your boxes with packing paper, packing peanuts, or packing foam. 

Place several sheets of crumpled paper or bubble wrap on top of the dishes as well. Besides preventing the dishes from shifting during transport, packing materials also prevent the box itself from crumpling or changing shape during transportation.

4. Label Them Well

Label boxes with brightly colored “fragile” stickers, and write “dishes” on all sides. This indicates to all handling these boxes that they need to be handled with special care. Put labels on all sides of the box as well as the top.

5. Give Boxes a Special Place Of Their Own

Avoid placing dish boxes in with tall stacks of other boxes. Instead, pack these fragile dish boxes in their own stack with other delicate items. Keep the stacks short and only use boxes in good condition to avoid creating stacks that might become unstable and fall over.

6. Use Appropriate Boxes

Heavy boxes are easily dropped by well-meaning family members just trying to move boxes from here to there. Limit the weight of the boxes by keeping them small. As noted earlier, dish pack boxes are ideal for moving dishes. 

Hire a Professional Moving Company

There are many things you can do to protect your dishes during a relocation. The best thing you can do is hire a professional moving company with a track record of success and an excellent reputation to pack, unpack, and transport your dishes. 

Contact us to get started with your upcoming relocation. We’ll help get your dishes and your family to your new home in one piece.