When we have valuables in our house, it has a special place in our hearts as well. A simple scratch may feel like a thousand spears in your body. You will start to share their pain.
This is not about your pet or your kid but those expensive antiques that you’ve accumulated with so much love and care. If you don’t pack them properly while you’re shifting them on a moving truck, the bumpy ride could do some severe damage to them. You must take the right steps for packing them to ensure they are moved safely to the new location.
Concerned about how to pack and safely shift your antiques through any transport service. Check out some of the tips mentioned below to transport them without any damage.
What Supplies You Will Need to Pack Your Antiques
If you’re planning to pack your valuables before the professional packers and movers from Mumbai to Kolkata arrive, then you may want to have all the supplies ready. Here, is a list of all the things that you’ll need to pack before they are transit-ready.
- Packing papers
- Air-filled plastic wrap or zip-lock bags
- Micro-fibre cloth
- Plastic wraps that are resistant to water, air, grease
- Packing tape 20
- Corner protectors
- Boxes especially specialty boxes
- Furniture pads
- Moving blankets
Before starting with packing
Once you’ve all the supplies ready and close to you, you can start with the steps to pack all the antiques.
Create an inventory
Moving antiques is troublesome work. Especially if you are moving more than two of them. It will be best if you could make an inventory. Write down in detail the condition of the items that need extra attention. This will help you in two ways:
- While packing and unpacking, and
- While notifying the packers and movers
Doing so can ensure that your valuables arrive safely at their destined address. You can also assess in case damage is incurred during the transit.
Get an appraisal
While moving any valuable make sure you get the appraisal of the product. If you are doing packing them yourself, you may not find the need to find the value of each antique.
In case you are planning to hire a professional moving company to do the job, you must find the precise value of the antique. This will help you in getting insurance and claiming compensation.
Get insurance
Moving your antiques, you may want to get insurance. If you have any insurance, check if they will cover some of your valuable items. You can check it by reading the rules of your policy or giving a call to your agent.
Responsible packers and movers will make sure you have insurance for all your important items. If anything happens to your valuables, they won’t be replaced but you can claim compensation for the damage. This will make you financially secure.
Thorough cleaning
No matter where you are shifting your antiques, make sure you clean them thoroughly before packing them. Do this to ensure that they arrive in good condition.
No matter how expensive your items are, their value drops too low if you don’t maintain them. Buy a microfiber cloth to gently remove the dust from the surface. Carefully remove the debris or dust particles that have accumulated inside and outside of the item. Using chemical-based cleaners is a big ‘no’ while cleaning them. Especially if they are made of high-quality wood or any expensive material that is going to be stored.
The chemicals have a harsh effect on the antiques. If they are going to be packed and stored in a warehouse with no room to breathe, chemicals could damage the surface of your lovely valuables.
How to pack them?
If you pack your antiques properly no matter what the condition of the road is they will arrive safely in their new location. To pack them properly you can follow the following steps.
For packing mirrors, artwork, and smaller antiques:
Step one:
Assess the size and types of boxes your antiques will require. You can go for a box of the smallest to bigger sizes. This will leave no space for the items to move in their places. Items such as mirrors and paintings must be packed in special boxes.
You can also use dividers in the big boxes when you are packing glasses or bowls. This will keep them in their places.
Step two:
Use glassine to wrap all the glass items. Glassine is a type of paper that has a wax-like finishing. It protects the antiques from getting stained or smudged. If you have any item with the paint or print on it, the glassine layer will prove to be a necessary thing to pack them.
The Glassine should be wrapped tightly around the ceramic, porcelain, glass, or any such items with the help of packing tape.
Step three:
The corner protectors should be able to secure the corners of the fragile pieces. Special attention should be paid to the corners of the mirrors and framed artwork. It’s because of their shapes that the corners are prone to more damages during the move. So, it becomes very important to give them extra layers of protection. Corner protectors are available in various materials such as cardboard, Styrofoam, and plastic. You can one on your own too.
Step four:
Cushioning is important. Around each antique piece make sure you create a soft cushion with the help of air-filled plastic wrap. You can also use bubble wrap. This provides maximum protection. Wrap them twice around the item and cover all the sides from top to bottom. You can secure it with packing tape.
Step five:
Box things up. After wrapping the item with bubble wraps now pack it in the box of their size. You can place other items with the antiques provided they all are wrapped with bubble wrap. If you are packing one thing in a box, you must make sure to add balled-up packing peanuts or packing packers to fill the gaps. This will ensure that the value doesn’t move around in the box during transportation.
Note: If you don’t have Glassine, you can shrink wrap the antiques. Once you have fixed corner protectors, you can use shrink wrap to tightly wrap it around the valuable. This will protect it from getting scratches and damages.
Read: How to ensure your house moving day goes in a breeze
Packing Antique furniture
Step one:
Disassemble and make it easier to carry. If you have any bulky yet antique furniture, you’ll have to take extra care while packing and moving it. You can disassemble the item and see how small it can become. The smaller the pieces, the easier it will be to move them from one place to another.
If it is too old to part or has rusty screws, it will be best left as it is. If nothing else is possible, then try to remove casters, drawer pulls. You can pack them separately for the move.
Step two:
Use furniture wraps or moving blankets to secure the item in its place. Directly wrapping the furniture, especially the wooden ones with plastic wrap won’t be an ideal solution. The shrink wrap can hold the moisture within the item and damage it.
You can’t use even plastic tape to hold the drawers. The stickiness will damage the antique furniture. Instead, you can use twine to hold them in place. Furniture pads and moving blankets can be used to create the first layer of barrier between the plastic padding and the furniture. Then wrap it up with the shrink wrap.
