Pre-Packing Advice, Pt. 1

The very first time my husband and I moved with the military, I didn’t know what to expect.  I’d been a military spouse for about a year.  The internet wasn’t big back then so I wasn’t freaked out by PCS horror stories posted on line. 

A few seasoned spouses gave me tips like empty the garbage can before the movers arrive and take all your valuables, as well as important paperwork, with you in the car. 

Honestly I got stuck on “empty the trash can before the movers arrive”.  Really?  They would pack the garbage?

I’m here to tell you 12 moves and 24 years later, yes, they really will pack garbage unless you put it in the dumpster outside.  After that first PCS, we unpacked a very stinky garbage can.  I’d forgotten to take out the garbage.  Thankfully it was a short move from Texas to Arizona.  The bag held mostly paper plates with remnants of food.  It could have been much worse. I never forgot to empty the garbage again.

I did learn that keeping track of all the moving parts (no pun intended), like emptying the garbage, made PCSing stressful.  Plus handing over all of our earthly goods to total strangers was a tad bit nerve wracking.

Honestly, though, we’ve never had a “train wreck” move.  Things did go missing.  Other things were broken.  One guy even mixed up dates and missed the first day of packing.  Miraculously he and his sidekick managed to pack and load the house in two days.  Even more miraculously our stuff showed up unscathed despite less than stellar packing.  Another time a dock worker strike held up our goods during an OCONUS move.

Outside of those situations we’ve generally had good moves.  As we began to rack up the PCSes, usually a combination of DITY and military moving contractors, I learned from each one and found ways to be proactive.   

Technically service members and their families don’t have to do much before the movers arrive.  But I’ve found doing some prep goes a long way in making everyone less stressed.  Our stuff arrived in better condition, too.

Commence Countdown

I prepared our household for a move by doing some serious decluttering as soon as possible.  There were a couple of reasons: decluttering ensured we didn’t go over our allowed weight, made it easier to set up the house on the other end and it blessed other families.  I found it easier to get rid of stuff before a move rather than while unpacking.

I hung on some items, though, for use in future houses.  I had one box of curtains and several boxes of organizing items like baskets, hooks, Lazy Suzans turntables, and over-the-door bars.  I also had a small collection of throw rugs and decorative items.  Keeping these pieces saved me a great deal of money over the years.

Once I decluttered, I moved on to cleaning. Rugs, curtains, blankets, table cloths, anything fabric got thrown in the washer or sent to the dry cleaner.  I also cleaned pantry containers, silverware trays, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers and storage bins.

With everything spic and span, I updated my personal household goods inventory.  That’s something you should create before your first move.  It took some time, but it was very worth the effort.

For each PCS the moving company created an inventory,  but I also kept my own. To create this inventory, I walked through each room in the house and made a list of all of our belongings: the name brand, serial number, model number, store where we purchased it and cost.  I also noted any items I wanted to include on our high value item list.  I used a simple Excel spreadsheet but apps that work on cell phones or tablets are super handy while moving too.

I photographed everything and made a video of electronic items actually in use.  Doing this would have helped us prove 1) we owned the item 2) it was in good working order before the movers took possession of it.  If we had filed a claim for damages or loss, my list, photos and video would have made the process smoother.

Armed for the Job

Before I started the rest of my PCS prep, I shopped for supplies.  I used:  bubble wrap, stretch wrap, packing tape, lots of Ziplocs in various sizes, Ziploc totes, Sharpies, a clipboard, Silica gel desiccant packets (moisture absorbing), large and clear garbage bags, boxes (various sizes depending on what items I was pre-packing) and most recently AirTags.

What’s that Smell?

So let’s jump back to our first move.  I’ve always been very sensitive to smells.  So during or first PCS, my noise was immediately in overdrive as soon as our HHG arrived.

The movers had put all of our clothes in wardrobe boxes.  While they were mostly wrinkle-free, everything smelled like cardboard.  I simultaneously wanted to gag and I developed a raging headache.

That led to a frantic attempt to get the washer and dryer hooked up asap so I could wash everything. By everything, I mean everything-clothes, towels, sheets, bedspreads, dog beds.  Everything.

When our next PCS rolled around, I wanted to avoid all of that extra work.  I found giant Ziploc bags to hold clothes, towels and sheets.  I used giant clear garbage bags for bigger items like bedspreads and dog beds.

I also gathered a handful of clothes on hangers, punched a hole in the bottom of garbage bag and slipped that over the hangers.  I tied the open end of the bag in a knot to protect the clothes. 

Finally, I encased our mattress and box spring in heavy duty bags.  These bags were much thicker than the mover’s flimsy plastic bags. Bonus-each bag had handles for carrying!  The movers loved them! 

I’m happy to report everything smelled normal after each move when we did the pre-packing.

Odds and Ends

During that same move, I discovered shoes piled into a box willy nilly left scuff marks and misshapen messes.  For the next move, I purchased plastic shoe boxes at Walmart.  Each pair of shoes that didn’t go in my suitcase went in a box. 

I put a shower cap on the bottom of each pair of shoes that went in my suitcase to help keep my clothes clean.

One other trick I learned was gathering all of my costume necklaces and running them through each side of an empty toilet paper roll before securing the clasp.  The rolls kept the necklaces neatly together and tamed any tangles. Then I wrapped a thick piece of felt around the whole thing and packed it in my suitcase.

Dumpster Diving

Our next move got a little more complicated.  My husband PCSed to South Korea and I  moved to Texas temporarily (long story).  Some of our stuff went to South Korea and some went into storage.

At that time, I owned a large collection of small embellishments for scrapbooking.  I really stocked up on these items because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find them in Korea.  I also organized them in tackle boxes and plastic drawers.  What I didn’t do was tape everything shut before it got packed.

That’s why my husband, bless his heart, ended up dumpster diving in South Korea.  He had the movers unpack and dispose of the boxes.  But he didn’t realize (until it was too late) the drawers and lids of the plastic boxes had come slightly undone in transit, spilling a large portion of the gizmos and thingamajigs all over the bottom of the boxes. 

Since he’s a really good guy, my husband actually climbed in the dumpster and painstakingly saved as many embellishments as he could find.

The South Korean embellishment disaster led to a new moving policy: all small items must be securely placed in appropriately-sized Ziploc bags and all drawers or lids must be taped shut. This applied to hardware like screws, garden items, costume jewelry and office supplies like pens.  I even shrink wrapped my silverware containers to keep the utensils together and clean.

Sliding Albums and Broken Glass

As I mentioned, I scrapbooked a lot during our first couple of moves. After about two PCSes and some damage to the completed albums, I packed all of those handmade scrapbooks myself.  I bought boxes and tightly packed them in such a way they arrived unscathed to our next assignment.

I also started personally packing small collections of sea shells, special mementos and super delicate items.  I simply labeled the boxes with the contents and left them open so the movers could do their inventory and add more packing if they deemed it necessary.  This was very successful in preventing damage.

I can’t say the same of my husband’s framed awards or our printer.  I’d diligently saved money to get one of my husband’s awards custom-framed one Christmas as a gift.  But somewhere on the way to Hawaii the glass protecting that beautifully framed award shattered despite being wrapped and packed in a “picture box”. 

After some thought before our next move, I decided to bubble wrap every single framed picture or art item before the movers came.  I placed them all together in one room so the packers could box them separately.  I haven’t had a broken piece of art since then

I’m also a photographer.  I have large metal prints and mounted photographs that don’t fit in any moving box I’ve ever seen.  I saved the custom-made boxes that the printers used to ship the art to my home.  These boxes offered layers of protection and were easy to store in the garage. 

Once my husband and I packed my art, we left the boxes open so the movers could inventory the contents.  The artwork always went on the high value item list too.  Our solution enabled my giant pieces of art to safely travel around the world.

Can’t get enough pre-packing stories and tips?  Join us next Wednesday for more packing intrigue and ideas.