Pre-Packing Advice, Pt. 2

As I mentioned last week, our move to Hawaii taught me a lot of things about packing well.  I counted our pictures’ safe arrival as a victory, but somehow during our move to the Aloha state our printer got turned upside down.  This caused ink from the cartridges to slowly ooze throughout the whole printer as it journeyed from Georgia to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. 

After staring slack-jawed at the multicolored mess in the box we’d just opened, my husband and I attempted to clean it up. But it was pretty obvious the printer was toast. 

This was an easy problem to solve.  We now remove all ink cartridges before packers arrive.  We also bag all small office supplies like pens and staples to prevent more office-related disasters.

Electronic Enigma

After the next move, we waited with great anticipation for our HHG to arrive so we could hook up our TV’s sound system and enjoy a movie marathon as reward for a full day of unpacking.

Except my husband couldn’t find that one cord that connected everything.  We definitely had it before the move…

A frantic unpacking effort turned up everything but the cord.  My husband ended up buying a new one the next day.

Since that disappointing day, my husband has taken apart the sound system and bundled all of the cords together with velcro.  He also bagged all of the TV and sound system remotes in a giant Ziploc.

Shelves without a Prayer

Movers love to take things apart.  We used to let them break down our wire shelving.  But after one too many shelves showed up missing keys parts that made them useless, we decided to take them apart ourselves. 

After deconstructing them, we’d put all the small pieces in a Ziploc bag.  We taped the bag to the shelf poles and then sandwiched the polls in between the shelves.  We wrapped it all in tape.  We’ve made multiple moves since we started doing this and never lost any of the parts.

I followed the same plan with curtain rods after several of the finials were damaged in a move.  I took the rods down, bagged the hardware and then securely wrapped the bag around the pole and finished with tape.  Next I wrapped the whole thing in bubble wrap and taped it shut.  I’ve never lost any of the parts and not had damage since I started this practice.

Frozen Peas with a Side of Mold

The first time I moved with a chest freezer, I thought I’d completely defrosted and dried the thing out.  What I didn’t do was unplug the teeny, tiny drain at the bottom and tilt the freezer to let a small amount of water out.  And oh, what a mess a small amount of water can cause when in a dark, warm place when traveling from Georgia to Hawaii!

Upon delivery, I opened my relatively new freezer to find mold, multiple colors of mold.  Gag.  Lesson learned.

On the next move,  I unplugged my freezer at least one week before the movers arrived.  I pulled the drain plug and tilted the whole unit until water stopped flowing out.  I cleaned the inside and let a fan run until the movers arrived.  I also put several moisture-absorbing gel packs inside the container.  Voila! I had a mold-free freezer!

I used the same plan and gel packs to ship our refrigerator and our washing machine. You can even throw those moisture-absorbing packs in with your clothes if you’re worried about mold.

Do I have to?!

We were fortunate to have a gym in our garage.  It included a weight station and treadmill we purchased during Covid.  So our most recent PCS was the first time we had to move these things.

During the walk through with the moving company, my husband learned he had to partially break down both items.  To make reassembling the equipment easier on the other end of the move, he packed the assembly instructions and small hardware in a box we took with us.  The large parts of both the weight station and treadmill went with the movers.

I suspect the amount of break down needed varies from one moving company to the next as well as what type of equipment you have.  So be sure to ask specifically about the level, if any, of required disassembly.

Don’t Forget the Yard

The last thing we tackled before the movers arrived was the yard. We emptied the ash out of our charcoal grill.  (Remove the tank if you’ve got a propane grill.)

Next I emptied flower pots, garden boxes, the sand box and drained any gas powered tools like the lawn mower.  We also drained the oil from these tools.

My garden boxes actually broke down to individual boards so I stacked each box’s parts together and then used stretch wrap to bundle them. I did the same thing with the sandbox. 

Finally, I drained the garden hoses. 

Do Not Enter!

About a week before the move, we set aside a “Do Not Enter” room in the house.  Usually it was a decent-sized bathroom or storage area.  I removed everything in that room first. 

Then we filled the space with all of the things we’d be taking in the car and van.  Some of the items we took included dog kennels, pet supplies, packed suitcases, our PCS binder, bedding, towels, laptops, phone chargers, folding chairs, inflatable beds, etc.

If I planned to take any containers with liquids, I taped the lids shut and placed them in large Ziplocs to prevent any leaks in our vehicles.

When the movers arrived, I shut the door and put a “Do Not Enter” sign on it.  I also told the moving crew not to enter that room as we did a walk through of the house.

The Night Before the Pack Out

The night before our packers arrived, we’d usually be frantically finishing up any pre-packing.  We  then went through the house and removed all lightbulbs from lamps, batteries of any sort, candles and flammable liquids. 

The packers weren’t supposed to take these items due to the fire hazard.  So we stashed them in our “Do Not Enter” area to take to the next house or give away.   The next morning we’d say a prayer over our HHGs and let the movers take over.

If you take nothing else from this really long blog, just make sure you take the garbage out before the movers arrive.