Wooden furniture is particularly vulnerable to damage during a move. More so than any other item, any sort of mismanagement of a piece of wooden furniture can lead to serious damage. And to make it worse, replacing a piece of wooden furniture can be very expensive. As such, it is important to take a lot of care when handling wooden furniture during a move. So, in order to help you out, we have decided to put together a list of tips for protecting wooden furniture during a move, and we hope you find it helpful.
Wrap your furniture properly
A common mistake people make when protecting wooden furniture during a move is using the wrong kind of wrap. It is always better to err on the side of caution when wrapping wooden furniture, as such you will want to use moving blankets, foam padding and furniture pads wherever possible. Cover every inch of exposed wood and wrap corners thoroughly. Also, it’s very important to never use any kind of plastic shrink wrap. This includes bubble wrap. Wood is porous, so covering it in layers of plastic can lead to a lot of damage. If you want to use bubble wrap, make sure you have a layer of moving blankets between it and the surface of your furniture to avoid damage. Properly wrapping your furniture also helps protect your floors when moving in, so you won’t have to worry about fixing your wooden flooring as soon as you move in.
Properly wrapping your furniture is the first step to making sure it doesn’t get damaged while in transit.
Secure drawers and remove smaller pieces
Some pieces of furniture (especially antique pieces) have a lot of small parts on them. Pieces such as knobs, handles and casters which can easily get dislodged during a move. As such, before you wrap and pack your furniture, makes sure you remove these smaller pieces beforehand. You can then safely pack them into a Ziplock bag or envelope. If the piece has drawers or cabinets, make sure you tie them with twine and place padding underneath. The padding will stop the twine from coming in direct contact with the furniture. Also, never directly tape a piece of wooden furniture, since this damages it. Once you’ve done all this, you’re ready to start packing your furniture. If you’re unsure about how to pack your furniture properly, there are a few simple steps to follow to make sure everything is done properly and there is minimal risk to your furniture.
Remove legs and add extra padding on corners
Parts of furniture which protrude, such as legs and corners, can easily cause damage to other things during transport. And as you may know, replacing wood furniture isn’t something you can do in a cost you can afford easily. This is easily preventable by removing all legs and placing some extra padding on all corners before packing your furniture. Going the extra distance to make sure your furniture stays save during transit is much better than replacing it. Additionally, while damage to your wooden furniture is bad enough, if you’re not extra careful with corners you might end up with damage to your other belongings as well. So, always double check that you have covered every possible corner and removed jutting pieces before you pack up your furniture. Additionally, investing into quality packing supplies will help out quite a bit.
Make sure to remove the legs off of furniture where you can and properly cover all of the corners before packing.
Use the proper equipment when loading your furniture
While packing is very important when it comes to protecting wooden furniture during a move, being carefully when loading it into the moving truck is just as important. As such, it’s very important to use the correct equipment where needed. For example, when it comes to larger and heavier pieces, you will want to use a furniture dolly. This is useful for pieces such as desks, dining room tables and armoires. This will help ensure that the items are moved safely from your house to the moving truck. If you don’t have a dolly, or are just unsure how to go about moving heavy and delicate furniture, we always recommend hiring professionals to help out. Experts from sypdermoving.com note that it’s always better to rely on professionals when you don’t want to take risks. Professionals know how to handle your furniture in a way to ensure it doesn’t get damaged.
Tie down larger items and never stack anything on wooden furniture
When it comes to large and heavy pieces of furniture, your best call is to tie them down to the truck bed with ropes or tie down straps. These pieces can, otherwise, easily slide around the struck and cause all sorts of problems. Alternatively, they could also fall over when not secured. Also, stacking things on top of delicate wooden furniture is generally a very bad idea. The more pressure you put on your furniture the more likely it is to get damaged in transit. Ideally, you should avoid having anything placed on top of wooden furniture in transit. This way you can avoid risk of damage, no matter how minimal it might be. And when your furniture arrives in your new home, safe and sound, you can finally think about using interior design to brighten your home some more.
Particularly large and heavy pieces should be carefully secured in the moving truck to make sure they don’t slide around.
Tips for protecting wooden furniture during a move – closing thoughts
Wooden furniture is, usually, quite beautiful. However, the best pieces of wooden furniture are also extremely fragile and easily damaged in transit. As such, it’s always the best choice to take a few extra steps and make sure your furniture is properly protected from anything that might happen to it while it’s being. After all, replacing wooden furniture (and especially antique pieces) is extremely expensive and best avoided. We hope you found this list of tips for protecting wooden furniture during a move helpful, and we wish you a good day.
