Packing Fragile Items So They Actually Survive the Journey

Almost all transit damage to fragile goods is a packing failure rather than a driving failure. Things break because they could move inside the box, because the box was too big, or because something heavy was stacked on top. Fix those three and you have eliminated most of the risk.

The three rules that matter most

1. Nothing moves inside the carton. If you can shake it and hear movement, it will break. Fill every void.
2. Small boxes for heavy things. A large carton of crockery will fail at the base. Books and plates go in small cartons, pillows go in large ones.
3. Weight goes at the bottom, of the box and of the truck.

Glassware and stemware

Wrap each piece individually in paper — newsprint transfers ink, so use clean packing paper for anything that touches glass you drink from. Stemware goes upright, never on its side, in a cell-divided carton if you have one. Stuff the bowl of each glass with crumpled paper before wrapping; that is what stops the rim collapsing.

Crockery and plates

Plates travel on their edge, standing vertically like records in a rack, not stacked flat. Stacked plates concentrate the whole column's weight on the bottom one. Wrap each individually, band them in groups of three or four, then stand them upright with paper packed around them.

Mirrors and framed glass

Tape an X across the face of the glass — it does not prevent breakage but it holds shards together if it happens. Corner protectors, then bubble wrap, then a flat mirror carton. Always transported standing on edge, never flat, and never with anything leaning against the face.

Televisions

The original box is best. Failing that: a foam sheet against the screen first, then bubble wrap, then a double-wall carton with foam corners. Screen faces outward in the truck and the set travels upright — a flat-packed television with weight on the panel is a cracked television.

Kitchen appliances

Fridges need defrosting and draining at least 12 hours before, and should stand upright for a few hours after arrival before being switched on — the compressor oil needs to settle. Washing machines need their transit bolts fitted; if you have lost them, the drum will move in transit and can damage the suspension. Ask us for a set rather than risking it.

Artwork and paintings

Never bubble-wrap directly against a painted surface — plastic against paint in heat can bond. Acid-free tissue or glassine first, then corner blocks, then bubble wrap and a rigid crate. Anything genuinely valuable should be crated to size rather than boxed.

Lamps and shades

Base and shade travel separately, always. Shades nest inside one another with tissue between; they should never have anything packed inside them, which is the standard mistake.

Labelling that earns its keep

Write the destination room and the contents on two sides and the top — a label on one side is invisible once boxes are stacked. Mark "FRAGILE — THIS WAY UP" with an arrow, and mark which boxes you want opened first. A single "open first" carton with kettle, chargers, bedding, medicines and toilet paper is the difference between a bearable first night and a miserable one.

What we will not let you do

Pack a carton you cannot lift comfortably. It will be dropped, by someone, at some point. If it is too heavy for you it is too heavy for the box.