[JandM]

I've just seen Suzanne's other thread about packing desktop computers, and it's made me think of some items I'd like to keep safe if possible, and how I've felt for those of you who've unpacked your boxes and containers and found damage.

Has anybody got any good advice, or links, about packing drinking glasses (various shapes), and also a 100-year-old clock (about a foot high), and non-digital postal scales?

[zardell]

Are you packing yourself or getting the shippers to do it?

If the shippers are doing it my advice would be to do what I didn't - supervise them !!

Having said that, we had no problems with the packing from UK to NZ. We went with a North West firm called Robinsons.

It was NZ to Oz where our problems occurred.

Purely from a personal perspective, the UK firm seemed to have standards and took pride in their work - I only wish the NZ firm had followed their example.

Good luck,

Julie

xx

[shakyle2906]

I've just seen Suzanne's other thread about packing desktop computers, and it's made me think of some items I'd like to keep safe if possible, and how I've felt for those of you who've unpacked your boxes and containers and found damage.

Has anybody got any good advice, or links, about packing drinking glasses (various shapes), and also a 100-year-old clock (about a foot high), and non-digital postal scales?



Hi

I only have experience from packing my stuff myself, we shipped over 12 boxes.

I did however have loads of glassware, and am glad to say i didnt loose a glass! All i did was pack them in loads of bubble wrap and brown sticky tape, with fingers crossed at the time.............

Sharon
x

[Smiler]

If you're having the shippers in, like Julie says supervise them. Let them know what you require doing beforehand and make sure they bring the right packing materials.

Crazy thought I know but when we unpacked a china colection in NZ it had been UK packed in that blue hand towel stuff on a roll. I was amazed any of it survived.

If you are packing yourself, treat it as if you were packing a parcel and sending it through Royal Mail, expecting each postie to play football with it along the way.

Use masses of bubble wrap, scrunched up paper and/or polysterene peanuts all in a tough box or plastic crate. For any very fragile items you could double box them. i.e wrap item in BW, put in box with more BW or peanuts and then seal. Pour more peanuts into another slightly bigger box and set this one in it too, more peanuts over the top and seal.

I don't know what sort of scales you have, but if they're the sort I'm thinking of, make sure any cantilevers or wobbley bits are well wrapped and taped and then box again in peanuts, or well scrunched up news paper.

HTH

[JandM]

Thanks so much for the advice. When the time comes, we'll have packers, but certain items (wedding present cut-glass, Grandfather's clock) I don't want to leave to anyone's mercy without doing my bit first, if you know what I mean. These days if you were buying something like that, it would come in protective packaging - shaped stiff cardboard inners and the like - but these objects go back so far, anything of the kind is long gone. I wondered if maybe anyone had found somewhere to buy that kind of box. But it sounds as if with multi-layers of bubble-wrap, it's not actually necessary.

The scales are the sort where you put the item on a platform on top, and the weight registers on the dial. Kitchen scales on this format have a screw to secure the wobbly platform in transit, but these much more sensitive ones don't. As you say, it'll have to come to wedging it securely. I guess the same will go for the works of the clock.

[Jo Jo]

For your clock, I suggest visiting a proper clock-maker or antique dealer and asking for their advice on how best to pack it, or, better still, asking them to pack it for you.

[nickydwuk]

I've just seen Suzanne's other thread about packing desktop computers,

What extra precautions should I take with these then?

[JandM]

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?p=193618#post193618

Here it is. People don't seem to have had any problem, actually.

[JandM]

For your clock, I suggest visiting a proper clock-maker or antique dealer and asking for their advice on how best to pack it, or, better still, asking them to pack it for you.Good thinking.

The thing is, if I were moving house within the UK, there are a few things I would carefully wedge in in the car under my eye, not leave them to Mighty Muscles the Moving Man. Not an option when going to NZ.

[mgbridges]

We used these guys to get some special packing boxes for our wine collection; http://www.thepackagingstore.co.uk/main.asp

We purchased the packaging, packed all the wine up but left the boxes open so the removal men could see what was inside, write it on the inventory, seal up the boxes and then put them in the container.

Anneliese

[Bunstar]

I bubble wrapped all my breakables before hand and only let the shippers wrap our kitchen stuff. The only breakage we had was a saucer from the kitchen stuff!!

I used loads of layers of bubble wrap just to be sure - had some left over and when the packers were in they asked if they could use it to pack something!! So was glad I had pre-packed valuables as they hadn't brought any bubble wrap with them!!!

I just thought to myself this is my stuff and is really valuable to me, are they going to pack it with as much care as I am? The packers were v professional but at the end of the day they are just doing a job, whereas these were my lifelong possessions and really important for sentimental reasons.

[JandM]

Thanks for the website. That will be useful.

And Bunstar, that's exactly how I feel. I suddenly looked at these things that have been around me all my adult life, and thought how I'd REALLY like them to continue that way.

[Hongi Hicker]

We have just bought & collected a selection of boxes and bubble wrap from a removal company. Like others we wanted to do some packing in advance but it seemed to make sense to do while we were sorting out what and what not to take.

They gave us a roll of bubble wrap free of charge and some wide adhesive tape. "Just don't overfill the big cartons with heavy items" (they gave us a selection of 4 different types) use the small ones for books etc.

The problem is psyching up to go in loft and understairs

I'm going now..and maybe sometime

[JandM]

Argh... good luck.