Packing for a move without breaking anything

Small boxes for heavy things

This is counter-intuitive and it is the single most useful rule. Books, tools, tinned food and vinyl go in small boxes. A large box of books can weigh more than 30kg, which is unsafe to lift and will fail at the seam.

Large boxes are for bedding, cushions, coats and lampshades — bulky things that weigh nothing.

Fill every box completely

A half-full box collapses when something is stacked on it, and the contents move around inside on the road. Fill the gaps with paper, towels or bedding until nothing shifts when you tilt it. A full box is a structural component; a half-empty one is a hazard.

Fragile items

Most of this is about orientation and padding, not about wrapping more.

• Plates travel on their edge, like records — not stacked flat. Stacked plates crack under their own weight.
• Glasses and mugs get paper inside as well as around them.
• Pad the bottom and the top of a fragile box, not just the sides.
• Mirrors and pictures travel upright, never flat under anything.
• Mark fragile boxes on the side, and say which way is up.

Televisions and screens

The original box is best if you kept it. Failing that, a purpose-made screen carton. A television laid flat with anything on top of it is the most common expensive breakage in a house move — the panel flexes and the damage does not always show until it is plugged in.

Label the side

Room name and a one-line summary of contents, written on the side of the box rather than the top. Once boxes are stacked three high you cannot read a single top. Naming the destination room rather than the origin room saves carrying things twice.

What not to pack

Aerosols, paint, gas bottles, fuel and fireworks are not covered by goods-in-transit insurance and will not be taken. Plants and anything perishable are better in your own car. Documents, keys, jewellery and medication should never go in the van at all.