Pak Mail Santa Fe

The Best Packing, Shipping and Freighting Provider in Santa Fe

(505)989-7380

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PakMail Partners with Reading Quest – Bridging Our Community

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Every child has the right to learn how to read well, for if a student can’t read, he or she could become very limited in life. Literacy is a social justice issue, and we have a moral privilege and duty to our community to support literacy for all students.

PakMail believes strongly that closing the education gap between low- and high-income students is a powerful tool in combating inequity and poverty. The opportunity to learn to read well is a social justice issue. 

That’s why, this holiday season, we have partnered with local non-profit Reading Quest Center. An inspirational local non-profit, Reading Quest provides free, structured literacy tutoring and social-emotional support for hundreds of striving readers in our community.

We are asking you to help us connect Santa Fe and bridge our communities by supporting its Literacy Support Program.

Reading Quest makes reading magical and attainable for struggling readers in Santa Fe. It has served 700 students through its free summer “Reading is Magic” camps. Reading Quest staff have tutored reading for over 1400 Santa Fe and West Las Vegas public school students just during the past three years. 

This year, are helping spread awareness about the good that this non-profit provides. We have placed Reading Quest Book & Toy Drive drop boxes at our downtown Santa Fe location, to help children, so many of whom struggle to or simply cannot read. 

When you come to PakMail for your holiday shipping needs, we ask you to bring toys, books, jackets, and sports equipment you can drop off at our location. Reading Quest volunteers will be picking up the donations no later than Tuesday, December 20 for the toy giveaway on Wednesday, December 21. So far, we’ve collected two full bins of toys, reading materials, blankets, and games!

If you can’t drop off books and toys during this Toy Drive, we encourage you to pick up brochures at our store with more information about how to support literacy for all the youth of our community. Our customers have shown a great deal of interest in Reading Quest and the Book & Toy Drive, even though many knew nothing about this great organization. We’re happy to spread the word!

Remember — Tuesday the 20th is the last day for dropping off at our location, because Reading Quest volunteers will be setting up at 1409 Monterey Drive for the Toy Drive on the 21st. In the past, they have organized the toys, games, and other donated items into specific sections, such as a doll island and a sports center. All toys are unwrapped so kids can see the toys and pick one they really like. 

Santa Fe is home to some truly great non-profits that need a little help from all of us to do their good work throughout our community.

Our partnership with Reading Quest is part of our giving back to northern New Mexico. Join us in connecting downtown with the rest of town, and spread joy and literacy this holiday season!

PakMail Ships Santa Fe’s Indian Market Valuables

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The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) hosts the 100th Annual Santa Fe Indian Market on the Plaza, Wednesday, August 17 — Sunday, August 21, with people traveling to Santa Fe from around the world for the acclaimed annual event. 

PakMail, with over 80 years of experience packing and shipping fine art, has been a proud sponsor of Indian Market since 1995. We provide our expert packing and shipping services on-site during the event. Our booth is located right off the Plaza on Washington Street, in front of the Inn of the Anasazi, between Palace Avenue and Nusbaum. 

Packing and Shipping Booth on the Plaza

What do you do if you’ve found the perfect pot, kachina, or illustration on paper, but don’t want to carry it around with you? You may be hesitant about getting jostled in the crowds, or carrying it back to your car or your hotel!

Where do you take your Indian Market treasures safely so that you can continue to enjoy the other festivities?

You can bring them directly to our PakMail Indian Market Shipping and Packing Booth Location. We set up our booth in the same location every year. We bring our own power, Internet, computers, and credit card processing machine so we go LIVE on the Plaza, just as if  we were in our usual storefront location. Customers can bring their items to our PakMail booth, but  we’re also able to help buyers of fragile pieces; we will pick them up from the artists’ booths for the buyer and save you the hassle and worry!

We Ensure it Arrives Safe & Sound

At PakMail, we view Indian Market pieces as not just “art as artifact” or as high-end expensive art pieces. We respect the culture of its production, and we ensure the piece arrives safely to a collector’s or art enthusiast’s destination.

We have supported the artists with packing their fine art for many years at this event and offer our services to help the artists make more sales. Some of the items are so high-end valuable, and very fragile, that even buyers don’t want to handle their own items 

As Santa Fe’s most trusted packing and shipping service, Pak Mail offers archival packing. Archival packing is used for historical, rare, or extremely fragile fine art pieces or artifacts — all of which can be found at Indian Market.

However, in many cases the artist will bring artwork to us or we’ll walk with the artist to bring the piece back to our booth. Then it will be placed in the appropriate packing to be brought back to our store and warehouse to be further packaged for safe transport.

Paper Trail Provided

When you, as an Indian Market buyer, come to our booth, we fill out a shipping ticket with your information (name, address, etc), where you are shipping your piece, description of the item, and its value, and choose the shipping label of your choice of transporter (Fedex, USPS, UPS, Freight).

We manage the entire packing process on the Plaza during the Market so that the buyer doesn’t have to worry later about the packing and shipping. This includes all paperwork, manifests, clearances, tracking, and written confirmations.

We run the purchase right then and there, and will give you a receipt with your tracking number. That way, you can spend your time enjoying all the beautiful art, culture, and fashion that the Santa Fe Indian Market has to offer!

You can leave our booth with the peace of mind knowing that you have the receipt; it shows where it’s going, that it is covered for the value for which you bought it, and that we, PakMail, are now responsible for getting your item safely intact to your home, business, or other destination that you choose. 

In addition to helping artists and patrons with their packing throughout the booths of Indian Market, PakMail is helping with the Silent Auction, and with the Gala Fashion Show on Saturday, the growingly popular highlight of Indian Market. We pack and ship pieces the very night of these special events!

Come find us on the Plaza for the 100th annual Santa Fe Indian Market

PakMail is a Cell Phones for Soldiers Dropoff Point

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Pak Mail Shipping and Packaging Santa Fe New Mexico

PakMail is proud to help our soldiers. Among the programs we participate in is Cell Phones for Soldiers, which donates cell phones to those serving overseas so they can keep in touch with their families. We are a dropoff location for the program and we accept just about any working phone.

More about the program:

Cell Phones For Soldiers began in 2004 as the idea of two patriotic kids who wanted to give back to the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting us each and every day. To date the charity has provided more than 300 million Minutes That Matter to our troops serving around the world, and it continues Helping Heroes Home via emergency funds that so far has assisted more than 3,100 veterans and their families.

Provide a lifeline to America’s bravest. Your simple, powerful gift provides connections that truly make a difference. Make your tax-deductible donation today by:

Cell Phones for Soldiers accepts ALL makes, models and conditions of cell phones. New and Used, Broken or Cracked. Both Smartphones and Cell Phones.

Check out more info HERE

Your Santa Fe Shipping Expert in Her Natural Environment

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Pak Mail Shipping and Packaging Santa Fe New MexicoIf you’ve ever been into PakMail’s Montezuma store you’ve probably met Jackie. She has been a fixture at our store since 2011 where she started out sorting mail and packages. In a couple of years she became the store lead and is now pursuing her degree in business management and operations. She already knows how to get crap done, but now she’ll have a degree to help run our business even better. Here are a few questions we asked her recently:

  • Finish this sentence: On a typical day you can find me…

…assisting customers with their shipping needs or helping with mail sorting.

  • What makes PakMail such an awesome place to work?

…The flexibility of owners. I’ve been able to go back to school.

  • How many people comment on the fact your radio ads say “Anal retentive?”

…Not as many as there use to be. We get more comments on Del’s picture that hangs in our store front.

  • What is the favorite thing about your PakMail customers?

…The lighthearted nature of our boxholders.

  • Heard any good jokes lately?

…There’s always plenty of jokes and laughs. Knock, knock…

Best Way to Care for Wood Furniture

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The undying grace of the classic wooden furniture only cultivates through the test of time if it remains untarnished. For most of us, furniture means mere props in the house — the efficient utilization of space to derive a particular function from it: sitting, lying, eating. While that may be true, the aesthetic appeal of the furniture can fade away in due time if you don’t care for your wood furniture properly. This article will educate you on all that you need to know to care for your wood furniture properly.

Dusting

Dusting is a vital part of wood furniture maintenance. There are plenty of airborne debris and particulate matter that can deposit onto your wood furniture and accumulate there in a filmy layer that can scratch the surface of the furniture. Feather dusters are great for dust removal from delicate surfaces like art, picture frames, lamp shades and other fragile items. Lamb’s wool duster is an even more effective dusting tool since dust adheres to this cleaning tool and reaches those hard to reach spots as well.

Cleaning

One of the most common mistakes home keepers make when cleaning wood furniture is using all-purpose cleaning sprays on them. Never use all-purpose cleaning sprays on your wooden furniture unless it has a plastic coating on it. When you come across stick spots or stains, a solution of warm water and the mild dish should do the trick. If you need to reach hard to reach areas, just use a toothbrush. After applying the solution, wipe the dirt off with paper towels until you’ve cleaned out the dirt. Make sure you dry off any remaining moisture with paper towels.

Renewing your old wood furniture with tea

Here’s a trick that can make your age-old wood furniture that has decades of accumulated polish on its surface. Get a hold of two tea bags and drop them in boiling water. Let the tea cool down, then dampen a soft cloth into the tea and wash the wood with it. The tannic acid in the tea will do wonders for the wood and your wooden furniture will observably shine when you’re done.

Getting rid of water stains

Despite you having reiterated uncountable times not to set beverages down on the wooden table without using coasters, a diverted mind and a negligent guest is all it takes for a stubborn water ring to be left behind where they can or cup was unabashedly set down. However, such a case isn’t irreversible. You can remove water rings by applying some non-gel toothpaste on the spot and rubbing it in with a soft cloth until the stain is removed. If that doesn’t work and the stain seems more difficult than you might have thought, just mix equal parts of toothpaste and baking soda together. Then apply the mixture with a soft cloth. After the stain has been lifted, just wipe the toothpaste off with a clean cloth and be sure to dry the area thoroughly

Best Way to Care for Valuable Antiques

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Valuable antiques require a little… ok a lot TLC. You genuinely feel your heartbreaking when you see a crack on your precious antique, isn’t so? Cleaning antique glass or ceramics is relatively easy. However, when you are talking about repairs, the process is rather more involved.

Here’s how to take care when handling valuable antiques:

Handle With Care

Accidental breakage is one of the biggest risk factors involved with antique glass and ceramic. This usually occurs when you hold it from the wrong angle. Follow these steps when you are packing antiques:

Make sure that your hands are dry and clean before handling unglazed ceramics or glass (greasy fingerprints often leave indelible marks on the surface).

Avoid wearing cotton gloves, as they often make your grip less secure.

Always pick the antique from its strongest part.

Avoid picking any antique by the handle.

Make sure that loose parts like covers or lids are secure before picking the antique up.

Pay attention to previous cracks and handle accordingly.

Protecting From External Environment

Antiques are extremely vulnerable to the external environment. Bright light, sunlight, variable temperatures or humidity rarely affects antiques but if you have always stored them in a special box, it is better to take precaution when moving. Water and bright light can stain, weaken and discolor the adhesive used.

If your valuable antiques are displayed on a shelf or in a cabinet, then make sure that the base is stable. A small vibration can tip the antique over and make it fall off the narrow edge. One of the best ways to makes sure that the antique does not break is to protect it with chamois leather pads. Place the antique in a clear glass box and create a support with the pads, so that the glass absorbs the impact first.

Protecting Glassware

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when moving antique glass objects is that they try to wrap it in large sheets of bubble wrap. Yes, bubble wrap is a great protector of valuable antiques but too much protection can create trouble while unwrapping, which can cause damage.

You know the drill – get a cardboard box, fill it with packing peanuts, wrap the antique in tissue paper and then a single covering of bubble wrap, place the antique inside the box and finally add more packing peanuts to fill all the empty spaces.

What we strongly recommend is using “Glassine”. This plastic wrap is quite different from the one that you usually use to pack valuables. It’s a smooth paper, which is water, grease and air resistant. The last thing that is left now is the corners. Corners are vulnerable to nicks and scratches and are the first part to get damaged. For this, get corner protectors like Styrofoam and after securing them, wrap the antique in bubble wrap. That’s about it!

Taking care of valuable antique is not that hard of a job. All you need to make sure is they are regularly polished so that they don’t lose their luster. Whether you are planning on creating a display for the antique or shipping it, follow these tips and your valuable antique will be just fine.