10 Moving Hacks That Make Packing Easy

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One of the most challenging parts of a move is also one of its most fundamental tasks: packing. Corralling your life into movable parts that can be relied upon to reach your new home in one piece can seem daunting, but, luckily, some simple tricks can take the stress out of the process and give you peace of mind. Here are 10 moving hacks that make packing easy.

1. Plastic Wrap and Plastic Bags

You don’t actually have to empty out the drawers on that dresser or take those clothes off their racks. Cover the drawers with taped-down plastic wrap and put plastic bags over hanging clothes to make moving and unpacking these items hassle-free. This tip can also be used on drawers full of toiletries to prevent them from spilling during the move.

2. Protect Your Breakables With Socks and Linens

Use socks to protect breakable glassware and shirts and linens as a packing material for other fragile dishes. They provide better protection than paper and a more economical option than Bubble Wrap. Make sure you pack plates vertically inside the packing material, which makes them less prone to breaking.

3. Use Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes as Organizers

Spare wires and cables can easily become a tangled mess, making it a challenge to find the one you need, and this can be even truer after they’ve gone through a move. Fortunately, someone had the ingenious idea of using empty cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls as individual organizers.

4. Use Bags and Suitcases to Cut Down on Moving Boxes

Suitcases are specifically designed to be moved from place to place, so there’s no reason not to let them shine in that role during your move. It cuts down on time spent acquiring, assembling and securing moving boxes. Suitcases with wheels are especially useful for packing books to make moving these notoriously heavy items easier on the back.

5. Invest in Large Plastic Storage Totes

Storage totes are more expensive than cardboard moving boxes, but they’re also more spacious, easier to carry, more durable and, above all, reusable. Search your favorite retailer’s site for “storage totes.” These totes are typically designed to stack on top of one another and to be easily tied down with bungee cord. They are particularly useful if you have items that you expect to stay packed for most of the year, such as Christmas lights and decorations.

6. Color-Code and Label Your Moving Boxes

Whatever mixture of boxes, totes and suitcases you end up using, ensure you can see at a glance which box is destined for which room of the house by assigning each room’s boxes a specific color. Put together a color key and mark the boxes using the appropriate color of painter’s tape. Label each box with its contents. This makes it easier to find much-needed items after a busy moving day.

7. Cut Handles on Cardboard Boxes

The last thing you want on moving day is to find yourself struggling to get your hands under a cardboard carton. You can make your cardboard moving boxes easier to carry by using a box cutter to cut a simple triangular handle in the sides.

8. Take Pictures of Cable Setups

Snap a picture of the back of your television or entertainment system, showing clearly which cables and wires go where. When you arrive at your new home, duplicating the setup will prove to be much quicker and easier and will spare you having to figure the setup out from scratch.

9. Purge as You Pack

Use packing as an occasion to rid your life of needless clutter. Set aside items you no longer use and either donate them to charity or have a yard sale. Note that different cities have different regulations regarding yard and garage sales: if moving in Dallas, TX, for example, consult the City of Dallas guidelines on garage sale permits.

If you don’t have time for either of those solutions, pack the unneeded items in storage totes and set them aside at the new home for later disposal.

10. Keep Moving Day Necessities Accessible

While moving into your new home, you will want easy access to a supply of snacks and coffee to keep everyone going and some easy-to-prepare foods to cover mealtimes. Put these in a laundry basket and set it in the kitchen as early in the move as you can.

Seek Out More Moving Hacks That Make Packing Easy

The above list of moving hacks that make packing easy isn’t exhaustive. Plenty of other small tricks and tips can help to secure and organize your items and make moving faster, safer and less frustrating.

Using the above list of moving hacks and packing hacks for moving that make packing easy is a great way to ease the challenges of moving day. Whether you are moving yourself or hiring professional movers, you’ll find these hacks invaluable in cutting down on the stress of packing and moving.

 

4 Quick Tips on How to Recycle Moving Boxes

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Since it’s almost inevitable that most moves will lead to accumulating a daunting amount of cardboard, these four quick tips on how to recycle moving boxes are designed to make the process of disposal as convenient and environmentally friendly as possible. Follow the suggestions below, and you’ll soon be free from the clutter of moving boxes you no longer need.

1. Be 100 Percent Sure You Want to Get Rid of Moving Boxes

The first and most important step is thinking carefully about whether you really want to get rid of all those boxes, and if so, how many of them you want to lose. Have a look around your environment and think about whether you could store them against the possibility of future moves, use them to keep extra items and supplies in storage, or let the crafty people in your household repurpose them into something new. Children can often be counted on to find imaginative things to do with cardboard or delight in having toys and other fun objects made for their entertainment.

2. Donate Them

Once you’ve decided on the moving boxes that need to go, there are plenty of options for donation. An easy route is to give them away to friends or family who might have uses for them like the ones described above. You could announce to colleagues at your workplace that you’ve just finished a move and have recycled moving boxes available for the asking.

Charities are another major outlet. Not-for-profit organizations of all kinds are always on the lookout for donations of everyday items, making it worthwhile to contact your closest favorite charity.

Finally, you can always advertise your recycled moving boxes for giveaway online. The FreeCycle Network is a great way to find people on the move who might be in need. NextDoor provides a similar network.

3. Sell Them

You may find there’s an option to make a nominal profit reselling your used moving boxes. Local moving companies can sometimes be interested in purchasing used boxes that are in particularly excellent condition. There are also box brokers who specialize in these kinds of transactions. Best Price Boxes is a buyer and seller of gently used moving boxes that serves several centers in Texas, include Dallas.

Alternatively, BoxCycle provides the option to both buy and sell boxes, and general purpose sites like eBay, Craigslist or the listings of your local paper may provide similar opportunities.

4. Recycle Them

Most major cities have recycling programs with dedicated bins or drop-off locations that can accommodate your boxes. Be sure to consult your city’s guidelines to establish clearly which receptacles can be used for which types of material.

Another possible recycling solution that may work for some of your boxes is to use them for composting. This is an excellent option for households with an interest in gardening, and detailed guidelines are available for what specific kinds of cardboard you can compost and how to go about it.

Finally, you can always directly contact recycling centers in your area and inquire about their procedures for accepting materials for recycling. Some may have particular requirements for the types and shapes of boxes they will accept, whether they need to be pre-flattened, or whether they need to be available in a specific quantity to qualify for pick-up service. The distinct advantage here is that if your boxes do qualify under their guidelines, this could well prove to be the most convenient option of all. You can find out what’s available and connect to potential recycling solutions by starting with a search at Earth911.

More Quick Tips on How to Recycle Moving Boxes

In addition to the above tips on how to recycle moving boxes, you should always consult your city’s recycling guidelines to get further details. Dallas, TX, has a Sanitation Services page that allows you to simply enter the name of an item, or a type of item, to determine the best way to dispose of it. A little research goes a long way in helping you get rid of moving boxes quickly, efficiently and responsibly.

The above tips on how to recycle moving boxes should provide a wide range of convenient options for decluttering life after your move. Whatever you choose, you’ll feel better knowing that you found an option to recycle your moving boxes that fits your schedule and helps both your community and the environment.