Packing Tips From Professional Movers
The Packed Moving Solutions Team · Movers in Elmwood Park, IL · July 9, 2026 · 7 min read
People who pack for a living pack differently, and it is not because they are faster. It is because they know what a box has to survive: getting stacked six high, riding on a dolly over a threshold, and sitting under something heavier in a truck that brakes. Here is what our crews actually do, in the order it matters.
Small boxes for heavy things, big boxes for light things
This is the rule that fixes half of all packing problems. Books, tools, tinned food and records go in the smallest box you have. Pillows, duvets, lampshades and winter coats go in the biggest. A large box full of books is not a box, it is a trap: nobody can lift it safely, it will not stack, and its bottom gives out on the stairs.
The lift test
Before you tape a box shut, lift it with one hand under a corner. If that feels wrong, take something out. A box you can carry up a flight of back stairs without regripping is a box that will still be intact when it reaches the new address.
Fill every gap, then close the lid flat
An underfilled box is worse than a heavy one. Anything that rattles is moving, and anything moving is wearing against whatever is next to it for the whole trip. Worse, a box with a hollow middle crushes the moment something gets stacked on it. Fill the gaps with paper, towels or socks until the contents cannot shift, then check the lid closes flat.
Good gap filler you already own:
- Tea towels and hand towels around glassware
- Socks inside mugs and glasses, one per glass
- Winter coats and sweaters in the top of a large box
- Packing paper crumpled loosely rather than wadded tight
- Bubble wrap only where something is genuinely fragile
Plates go on edge, glasses go upright
Plates stacked flat break under their own weight in a truck. Wrap each one in paper and stand them on edge like records in a crate, with paper packed between the rows and a layer of soft padding on the bottom. Glasses and stemware stand upright, each one wrapped, with a divider or a thick layer of paper between them.
Label for the room the box is going to
A label is an instruction to whoever is carrying the box, not a note to your future self. Write the destination room on two sides and the top, because whichever side you write on is the side that ends up against a wall. If the new place has two bedrooms, name them something both of you will recognise at 9pm, like Kids or Back Bedroom.
What belongs on a box:
- The room it is going to, on the top and two sides
- A word about the contents, so Kitchen Glasses beats Kitchen 4
- FRAGILE only where it is true, because everything marked fragile means nothing marked fragile
- THIS WAY UP on anything with liquid, lamps or electronics
- OPEN FIRST on the two or three boxes you need the first night
Tape the bottom properly
One strip down the seam is not enough for anything with weight in it. Run a strip down the centre seam, then two more across each end, and add a strip along each edge for heavy boxes. Cheap tape is a false economy in the same way a cheap box is: you find out on the staircase, with a crew watching.
The things people forget until the truck is loaded
Handle these before move day:
- Drain and dry anything with water in it, including the iron and the coffee machine
- Empty and defrost the freezer at least a day ahead
- Take the screws off furniture yourself only if you bag and tape them to the piece
- Keep documents, jewelry, cash and medication in your own car
- Photograph the back of the television before you unplug the cables
Or hand over the two rooms that eat the weekend
Most customers who book packing do not book a full pack. They book the kitchen and the closets, which are the two rooms that swallow a Saturday, and do the books and linens themselves at their own pace. It is usually the cheapest version of getting help.
How many boxes do I need?
A rough starting point is around ten to fifteen boxes per room for a lived-in home, weighted toward small boxes. Order more than you think and keep the receipt, because running out mid-kitchen on the night before is how odd things end up in bin bags.
When should I start packing?
Start about four weeks out with anything seasonal or decorative, and leave the kitchen, the bathroom and the beds for the final week. Working room by room rather than category by category keeps the labels honest.
Do movers bring boxes and materials?
If we are packing for you, the materials come with us. If you are packing yourself, ask when you book and we will bring what you need. Dollies, straps, blankets and hand tools are on the truck for every job.
Should I pack my own television and electronics?
Original boxes are best if you kept them. If not, photograph the cabling, wrap the screen in a blanket and keep it upright rather than flat. In winter, let anything that has ridden in a cold truck warm up indoors before you power it on.
Want the packing off your plate?
Full pack, partial pack, or just the kitchen and the closets. Tell us which rooms and we will quote it free.
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About the author
The Packed Moving Solutions Team · Movers in Elmwood Park, IL
Packed Moving Solutions is a moving and moving-labor company based in Elmwood Park, Illinois, owned by David Martinez. Our crews pack, load, unload and move across the Chicago northwest suburbs, and these guides come out of what we run into on the job.
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