People who are moving are often surprised at how much is involved in packing. Packing, in fact, is the central and most difficult part of moving. From a mover’s point of view while it is easy to move a couch, but more concentration and care must be taken with packing.

Why is this? Of course, crystal is more expensive and delicate, pound for pound. But, further, to pack a box full of crystal involves maybe’ a hundred separate steps. Moving a couch requires less than a dozen. The layperson's idea of packing, if not thought out, is simply to cover the item with paper. But in fact, the main concept in packing for a professional is to PAD things. Items such as crystal, plates, and serving platters must be padded to protect them from their neighbors and padded against the sides of the box in which they are ensconced. As a rule of thumb, crystal and other fine dishware should be padded to the extent that the box in which contains them could be dropped say 6” without anything inside being disturbed.

For this to be possible, much more paper, usually rolled or twisted, needs to be involved than anyone might first guess. For example, a professional might use a 25-lb bundle of unprinted newspaper to pack three or four big cartons (say, 20” high each). At first glance, this seems a terrible waste of energy and materials. Not so for a professional packer whose aim, from the layman’s point of view, is to overpack. Only by overpacking are delicate items made safe, so if you pack yourself, try to overpack. If you hire movers to pack, you should make sure they are not “saving” on paper and boxes. The time, energy and materials required are always more than you might expect.

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