How to Pack Dishes and Glassware Like a Pro

When it comes to moving, the safety of your items is a top priority. Fragile items like dishes and glassware need extra protection to survive a move.

It can be daunting to move these items, but thankfully, there are some easy tricks and supplies that will ensure your most fragile and sentimental items (including grandma’s china) makes it to the next house safely.

As professional packers, we’ve packed up hundreds of kitchens, so here are our best moving tips for packing up dishes and glassware safely:

Best Tips How to Pack Dishes and Glassware

Get the Right Supplies

As with anything, it’s important to arm yourself with the right supplies. We recommend purchasing specially made dish and glassware boxes that have smaller, sturdier structures and come with cell dividers to keep each item from bumping against the others.

Whenever you’re packing for a move, use packing tape instead of duct tape to properly secure the boxes. It sticks to cardboard better so you don’t have to worry about it coming off at the most inopportune moment.

Packing paper is another must. Newspaper may be cheaper, but the ink will transfer onto your items and stain them. Plus, packing paper is thicker so it protects your items (especially the fragile ones) better. For any especially fragile pieces, have some bubble wrap on hand.

Step-by-Step

1. Carefully wrap each individual piece separately. Even lids to items like teapots should be wrapped separately to avoid anything scratching or knocking together during transportation.
2. Fill in hollow areas (like the inside of bowls and glasses) with paper, then wrap the outside with a separate piece of paper if the first piece isn’t big enough to cover the outside.
3. Roll glassware in the paper for the tightest, secure coverage.
4. Double wrap large pieces that one sheet can’t cover completely and any items that are particularly thin or fragile.
5. Never be afraid of using too much paper – the more you use, the more protected your items will be! Paper not only protects from scratches, but it also absorbs shock.
6. We recommend sticking to one layer of items per box, but if you need to do multiple layers, place the heaviest items (like mugs) on the bottom.
7. When you’re done packing a box, fill in any empty spaces with paper for cushioning and put an extra layer of paper on top.
8. Be sure to clearly mark your boxes as FRAGILE so movers know to be extra careful with those boxes and not to stack them on top of each other.

For more tips on packing fragile items, click here!