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Shipping Furniture

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Shipping furniture is a tough task. Sure, the movers will be there to transfer it to the dock but before that, you need to make sure everything is packed safely. Depending on what type of furniture you are trying to move, there are several ways to pack.

Small furniture items such as footstools or poufs can be easily packed in cardboard boxes, a bed set can be disassembled and the pieces can be simply wrapped in plastic (the same can be done for the dining table) and the mattress can be covered with a plastic bag. Are you with us so far? The real problem arrives when you have to prepare the couch and the cupboard for shipping.

How to Pack a Cupboard for Shipping

To assist you with the packing, we have come up with 5 steps that you can follow easily:

Tools You Will Need

  • Moving blankets
  • Corrugated cardboard sheets
  • Packing tape
  • Bubble Wrap
  • Plastic stretch wrap
  • Shrink Wrap
  • Corner guards

Step #1

If the legs of the cupboard or armoire are detachable, then remove them and place them in a plastic bag. You can either transport the drawers with the cupboard or pack them separately. Let’s assume that you plan to pack them with the cupboard. First, place corner guards on the cupboard to prevent the edges from chipping. If the armoire has any delicate parts, then wrap them in bubble wrap and secure with a tape. Avoiding taping the cupboard’s surface as it might rip off the paint.

Step #2

Cover the entire cupboard with a moving blanket and make sure there are no lumps.

Step #3

Double wrap the cupboard with a plastic stretch wrap to secure the blanket. Since, at this point, the tape is of no use, you will need to carefully wrap the cupboard to prevent the blanket from unraveling.

Step #4

Attach pieces of corrugated cardboard and secure them with tape. Create a DIY box that will protect the cupboard from all angles.

Step #5

Finally, shrink wrap the package and use ropes to secure every layer in its place. If you don’t have a shrink wrap machine, then get in touch with your moving company and before the delicate furniture items are loaded into the truck, get them shrink-wrapped.

Pro Tip: When you have finished packing the cupboard, shake it once to see if the drawers rattle. If you do hear a sound, it means additional cushioning is required. All you need to do for this is attach foam pads and shrink wrap the cupboard again.

Whenever shipping anything, whether to another city or cross country, make sure to get insurance for every time. Situations such as the cargo getting damaged or lost at sea don’t happen too often but in case it does, at least you will be compensated monetarily. Before you go searching for a moving company, make sure they are licensed and offer different types of insurance policies according to their service.

Shipping Furniture

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When moving cross country, shipping furniture can quickly become a huge burden. A great way to make sure that you are not wasting money when shipping particular items is to check their strength.

Create a list of all the furniture items listed according to size from small to large and then cross off those that might not survive the move.

Where small items can be just dumped into a cardboard box, the big items require more care and customized boxes. Before you start packing, measure the dimensions of the bigger furniture items to get accurate sized boxes. The measurement should include the furniture’s height, depth, and width, along with diagonal dimensions for items that might have any protruding parts.

Following are brief tips on how to pack different furniture items:

Bedroom Furniture

·        Box Spring and Mattress

Box springs and mattresses get damaged quite easily if they are not packed properly. There’s a simple way to pack both of them together and reduce the cost:

  • Buy a shipping box and a mattress bag
  • Slide the spring box and the mattress into the bag and seal the edges with packing tape
  • Put the bag in the shipping box and secure it tightly with packing tape

·        Footboard and Headboard

The remaining parts of a bed set can be packed in a blanket. Here’s how to do it:

  • Unscrew all the nuts and bolts from the headboard and footboard, and keep them in a ziplock bag
  • Wrap both boards in a moving blanket
  • Secure the blankets with plastic stretch wrap
  • Tape all the corners to prevent the boards from sliding out

Let’s move on to other items that have legs such as the dining table, bench, and sofa.

Lounge

·        Bench and Table

To prevent any damage to these types of furniture items, it is better to ship them in a crate. It might be a little costly but guarantees safe arrival at your destination:

  • Buy a crate that is a tight fit for the furniture (free room for slip and slide can cause damage to the corners)
  • Slip on a sock on each leg of the bench and a trouser on the table leg
  • Warp the legs in bubble wrap
  • Place cushions and pillows on the seats to create padding
  • Wrap the furniture in moving blankets and then secure the blankets with plastic wrap
  • Tape the furniture from top to bottom
  • Lift the furniture and place it in the crate
  • Screw the top from all corners

Note: If the legs of the table or bench can be removed, then you can easily pack the furniture in just moving blankets and plastic wrap.

Delicate furniture pieces such as a grandfather clock or glass shelves must be padded with Styrofoam blocks so that the glass can be prevented from shattering. Other than that, most of the items can be wrapped in moving blankets and plastic wrap.

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.

Shipping Giant Equipment Cross Country

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Shipping giant equipment such as exercise machines, metal armoire, dining tables, etc, can be quite expensive. People usually opt for freight delivery via land, sea or air. Depending on which category your equipment falls into, the delivery can take a minimum of 7 days to maximum 30 days.

Most people, when choosing the freight option for cross-country delivery, either pick air or sea shipping options. Following is a guide that will help you understand how to pack and ship giant equipment cross country:

Shipping Tips

  • Find a company that has its price range based on weight, as well as size. This way, if you pack the equipment tight enough, you will save money on the size.

  • Instead of loading the equipment on your car’s roof, hire a truck, so that it arrives safely to the pickup spot.

  • If the exercise equipment can be broken down into parts, take apart those parts and carry them with you instead of giving it to the shipping company. The lighter the equipment becomes, the easier it will move. Moreover, you will save on the weight.

Protecting the Equipment

You don’t need any plastic wraps or packing peanuts for packing. Large equipment should always be packed light unless it’s an LCD screen or something more delicate.

Before you start packing, tie the machine with bungee cords so that it does not open up accidentally. This will keep the machine secure in its place. Find a box as large as the equipment. Place a wood slate at the bottom to make it hard and secure it with tape. Wrap the equipment in a thin sheet of bubble wrap and then wrap it again in a blanket. Slide the equipment inside the box. Make sure that it’s a perfect fit and not too tight.

Taxes, Tariffs, and Duties

Shipping large equipment cross country such as a treadmill usually costs around $275. In some cases, this amount includes the delivery charges, as well as the tariffs, which are mentioned in the brochure or leaflet provided by the shipping company. The amount is usually charged by the customs when shipping internationally.

Insurance

There are various types of insurance that either covers the entire or part of the cost of the shipment. Whether your shipment is going by air or sea, the insurance policy remains the same, only the circumstances change. Some of these insurance policies include:

  • Basic Liability

  • Carrier Liability

  • Cargo Insurance

The insurance policies offer the following coverage:

  • Free of Particular Average Coverage

  • General Average Coverage

  • Warehouse Coverage

Insurance gives you the ease of mind that in case your equipment is damaged or lost, you will be covered on the cost.

When shipping cross country, it’s important to pick a reliable company that has done such deliveries. When choosing a shipping company, make sure you read their reviews. This will give you a good insight into how they treat their customers and whether their shipments arrive in the right condition and on time or not.

Shipping Antiques the Right Way

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Your extended family in France just asked for a family heirloom that they want to display in a wedding. Doesn’t sound that difficult, right? All you need to do is wrap it up and send it to a reliable shipping company. Wrong! Sitting here in the US, you might think that it’s easy but there a lot of things you need to consider before shipping. Mainly – How the packaging should be done.

The heirloom in question, shall we say is a huge glitter globe, one that many have never seen before. We all know how delicate glitter globes are and how a piece of your heart breaks even when a faux one breaks. However, here we are talking about an heirloom that is worth thousands of dollars. So, before you bring out the cardboard boxes and tape, there is one other thing that you need to focus on first:

Insuring Your Antique

Antiques usually require an appraisal, in order to determine that the heirloom in question is worth the money that you have quoted. Once the company has given the word that your antique is one of a kind, you can seek insurance for it from the shipping company. There are various insurance plans such as automobile insurance, dealers insurance, and owners insurance. The insurance gives you a safety net that if the heirloom gets damaged or misplaced during shipping, the company will be responsible for it. They will either pay you back in cash the entire amount or replace it with an equally priced and important antique.

How to Package Antiques

Talking about an antique that has handles attached to, it is one of the most difficult heirlooms to pack. Reason – You cannot overwrap it for extra protection or under-wrap it. The overwrapping will make it difficult for the receiver to open the package and in cutting the layers with a scissor, they might accidentally nick it.

Here are 5 steps on how to package your antique:

  1. Wrap individual parts of the antique with bubble wrap and then wrap the whole antique again with bubble wrap

  2. Find a box that is just a little bit larger than the antique and stuff it with packing peanuts

  3. Place the antique in the middle leaving six inches of space in all directions (make sure that the packing peanuts are stuffed tightly so that the antique does not jostle)

  4. Place a bubble wrap on the top and close the lid. Tape it twice from both sides to make sure that the box does not accidentally open

  5. Paste a sticker on the top and sides that has the following words written in bold letters:

ANTIQUE – HANDLE WITH CARE

In regard to an antique, shipping is the easy part if you have chosen a reliable company. The hard part is packaging, which can be quite time-consuming. If you feel that you don’t have the right materials and the expertise to pack an antique, it is better to ask your shipping company if they provide packing services too.