Anyone who’s been through the moving process more than once will have discovered a universal truth: nothing comes close to a fully-serviced move that includes a team of well-trained packers and unpackers. And no amount of practice can turn a single person (or one family) into the equivalent. The professionals will always have the advantage – and not just because of all the experience and training, but also because they’re not emotionally attached to the possessions in the same way. Of course, a good team will come with a degree of conscientiousness and diligence that would appear to reflect a close personal investment in the work. But they won’t be slowed down by the kind of fretful or reflective states we can enter when confronted by the acquisitions of our past and their psychological and emotional connotations. They will be able to think in a fast, decisive way that is wholly untethered to sentimentality. Yet while it’s not possible for us to acquire this skill (unless, possibly, we’re packing up for a friend or neighbour), we can still take a few leaves out of the experts’ book. If you’re on the verge of getting ready for a move and are not planning to use your moving company’s packing/unpacking service (or perhaps you’re only using the latter option), here are some things you can learn from the best.
1. What Does White Glove Service Mean?
2. How to Pack When Moving House in the UK
3. Boxes
4. Packing Materials
5. Plates and Saucers
6. Cups and Glasses
7. Clothing and Hats
8. Lamps and Lampshades
9. Books
What Does White Glove Service Mean?
The term white glove service denotes a packing/moving service that comes with additional degrees of expertise and attention to detail, ideal when the items being transported include delicate, valuable and irreplaceable paintings, antiques and vases. The first moving company you find in your web search might not have the necessary knowledge to handle such possessions – and this is even more likely if there are items that need to be temperature-controlled. They may also have a packing service that doesn’t go the extra mile in terms of keeping your belongings 100 per cent safe, leaving you more vulnerable to breakages, bumps, scratches or gouges. The “white glove” part of the term dates back to the 1800s when butlers and domestic staff might wear such accessories while going about their work, in order not to leave oily fingerprints on furniture, cutlery, crockery and surfaces. Today, it’s used less literally in the moving and storage world. A white-glove moving service will generally take on every aspect of a move, not only packing up the entirety of your old property, but also unpacking at the other end and setting up every room to your exact specifications, so that you’re left in an immediately-liveable environment.
How To Pack When Moving House in the UK
Boxes: One aspect of white glove moving that it’s easy to accomplish is the use of specialist-size boxes and cartons. So, well in advance of your move, instead of simply acquiring the usual, small/medium/large selection of cardboard boxes and a bit of masking tape, you should look for providers of custom packaging, including boxes designed for paintings and mirrors; cartons that can contain mattresses; wardrobe boxes, ideally with a horizontal rail included so that your garments can stay on their hangers throughout the move; specially-reinforced boxes for dishes and glasses. One of the ways in which white glove moving marks itself out from the crowd is in its use of speciality boxes and packaging and there’s no reason why, if we’re doing our own packing, we can’t do exactly the same thing.
Packing Materials: When it comes to packing materials, white glove services never make the rookie error of using sheets of newspaper to protect fragile items before they go into boxes. This can lead to ink stains that end up costing you time and effort when you try to remove them. Indeed, some stains can mean your items never look the same again. Instead, they’ll use clean packing paper, such as newsprint. Newsprint is less expensive than archival paper since it only needs to be good enough for short-term use. It’s pretty much exactly the same thing as newspaper off-cuts, just without the ink.
Plates and Saucers: When you’re packing up plates and saucers, as well as wrapping each item individually, place the heavier ones at the bottom of a box and stand them on their edges (ie not flat). As you fill your box, create layers. So once you’ve got an entire bottom layer of heavy plates, create an layer of scrunched up newsprint on top of it, and then begin your next layer. Once you’re ready to create a layer of bowls, these should also be individually wrapped but can then be stacked one on top of the other, and then placed faced down/bottoms up. For more delicate bowls (ie not cereal bowls), wait until you’re doing the upper layer of a box.
Cups and Glasses: When it’s time for glasses and cups, these should form the upper layer of a box, be individually wrapped and placed rim down. When it comes to delicate glassware, avoid the temptation to stack/nestle them. And if you’re dealing with an extra-delicate/valuable piece, give it its own mini-box which should be fully cushioned inside, and then place that mini box within the big box.
Clothing and Hats: With clothes, anything already on a hanger can stay that way and simply be transferred to your wardrobe boxes. Your movers, especially if white-glove standard, may be happy for you to leave folded clothing in chests of drawers, provided they’re not absolutely stuffed. Any remaining clothing can be folded and put in your cardboard boxes. If you’ve got hats, then they should go back into their hatboxes, and these can simply be moved to one of your cardboard boxes. If you no longer have the hatboxes, then protect your hats with crumpled newsprint/packing paper and then transfer to one of your smaller cardboard boxes.
Lamps and Lampshades: If, when you were ordering your custom boxes, you managed to acquire some designed for dishes, then these will also come in useful for lamps. The bases can be wrapped in newsprint and then put in dish boxes with plenty of cushioning. Lampshades need an extra degree of care because if they’re over-cushioned, it can create denting. Wrap them individually and then place them in one of your boxes with loose rather than stuffed cushioning.
Books: The white-glove tip with books is that you can pack them either flat or upright, but with one additional proviso – however you choose, you should alternate along the following lines: if the first book you put in is rotated so that its bound side is flush against the cardboard, then the next book should be rotated the opposite way (ie paper edges against the cardboard). This method of stacking provides much better protection and you can do it whether you’re packing books flat or upright. If you have any valuable, antiquarian or otherwise precious/fragile books, then use individual wrapping. If you’ve managed to get cardboard boxes specifically designed to contain books, you’ll find that these are also good for cans and jars of food.
Packing up with Gentleman & A Van
If all the above sound good to you but you’d rather it be done by someone else, then the Gentleman & A Van packing service is carried out to all these standards and more. We have over two decades of experience in the London moving market and can organise and carry out every aspect of your move, including arranging every item in your new home so that you can step straight into your new life without the period of disarray that usually follows a move. The Gentleman & A Van range of services also includes: office moves, a man and van service for small moves, containerised storage, self storage, property services; decluttering, services for interior designers and a packing-materials/box shop. Gentleman & A Van came into existence partly in protest at the disappointing removals options available in the capital in 2004. Our founder felt certain that it was possible to create something better, something that prioritised client happiness. That original vision was successfully realised, leading to 20 years of happy and rewarding house-moves for Londoners.