Moving house can be a daunting task when it comes to your most fragile items and paintings, statues, mirrors, chandeliers, musical instruments and decorations require special artwork packing solutions. If you do not have a lot of experience with packing family photos, valuable artwork and other similar breakable items, you have reached the right page. Check out these next few tips concerning packing artwork for moving and rest assured your most prized possessions will reach your new address safe and sound.
Use The Right Artwork Packing Supplies
If you own paintings, statues and other artwork that is bulky, large, heavy or unwieldy, you will need to also worry about properly securing the glass and frames and make sure they do not get damaged during the big move.
Proceed by sorting all the artwork you own and figure out if there are any items you would like to sell, donate or store somewhere temporarily. Once you know for sure which items you will want to keep, it is time to sort everything according to their size. Small and mid-size artwork can be packed together. If you need any mirror packing help, a professional mover will show you how to pack a large mirror for moving and make sure it gets to your new location in one piece. Mirrors should be packed using separate specialty boxes that can be bought from moving supply stores. These boxes can also be replaced with an older box you can take apart and flatten. Keep in mind that for bulkier items such as large paintings, you should always make sure that the box is larger than the frame and the picture itself.
How To Pack Artwork For Moving
- Mark all glass items with an ‘X’ no matter if you are looking at artwork with glass covering or an item made of glass completely. Use masking tape for the X and place the X all across the glass so you can prevent it from completely shattering when inside the moving truck. This should also keep glass cases from freely moving.
- Use several layers of plastic wrapping for the face of artwork that does not come with any glass case on it. You can use consider using commercial palette wrapping if possible.
- Use bubble wrapping and paper wrap for proper artwork packing. You will need a flat and clean surface where you will need to place the paper in such a way so that the ends can overlap and make an area twice as big as the frame of your artwork . Next, lace the frame glass facing down on the paper and see that you carefully wrap the ends around the frame, similarly to what you would do when wrapping a gift. Avoid wrapping any frames in newspapers as they are much more suitable for padding purposes and not so much as wrapping paper because of the marks they will tend to leave. Make sure that the packing tape is well wrapped around the frames so the paper can remain still and add extra layers of bubble wrap which you will also need to secure using tape.
- For small photos and small artwork frames, use a single box but separate rapping paper so that the glass will not be damaged during the move.
- Use expert protectors for cardboard corners for enhanced security.
Packing Artwork For Moving: Test and Seal the Boxes
Prior to sealing up the boxes, subject them to some brief tests so you can determine of they are expected to be moving around during transportation. Close the boxes and start slowly and gently wiggling them. Notice if there is anything shifting inside and place extra pieces of crumpled newspaper as padding if you think the frames are bound to move inside the boxes.
For specialty boxes, use professional tape at one of the end of the closed box then place the box facing the sealed end and proceed to push the wrapped frame inside the box. You may need an extra pair of hands to help you hold the box in place. For regular boxes, put the frame of the artwork you need to pack on top of the flattened box. Secure it with tape and bend the flatted box around the frame, then use more tape to hold it in place. If you feel like these steps may be a little too much for you or you simply do not have the time or energy to look for the right packing supplies for your fragile and valuable artwork, you can always hire the best movers in town and delegate all artwork packing to them. If you have no idea how to pack a large mirror for moving, and you own several of them around the house, we warmly advise you to get in touch with a local or long distance mover that also offers packing services and schedule an appointment with them.
Once all boxes have been labeled “fragile” and packed according tot he highest artwork packing standards, placing them inside the moving truck is also tricky business. Packed pictures should be placed on their side and never flat, since they will absorb the pressure a lot easier when sitting on their edges. Use bulkier objects for wedging the paintings or mirrors and preventing them from moving around during transportation.