Skip to content 
Packing up and moving all your belongings from a home or office can and often is a stressful experience for all those involved in the process. Packaging is an intensive process that requires careful consideration and constant monitoring of everything going into a mover’s box, and there are certain challenges that every home mover is likely to experience at some stage. The biggest challenges in moving are often related to the packing and moving of dangerous and delicate items such as gas stoves, china, glassware, plants, and electronics.
Packing flammable and dangerous goods
Under New Zealand’s Dangerous Good Acts, furniture removals are not insured if they carry dangerous and potentially explosive items such as paint, petrol bottles, LPG bottles, and essentially any good that is capable of tampering with your furniture and other items. For detailed information about what constitutes as ‘dangerous’, please look up the law or ask your professional packer for what is and is not permitted.
When you seek to move dangerous goods, you should consider moving the goods separately if you can spare the resources to do so as it reduces the risk of your property getting damaged. Furthermore, if anything happens to your goods during the move, the packer could always cite the dangerous materials as a legal defence to not paying insurance even if the dangerous materials did not cause any specific problem in question. You could also put these items directly in your car and move them along if it is feasible.
Ensuring the safety of fragile items
Ensuring the safety of fragile items such as china, glassware, ceramics, lamps, and other easily breakable items requires some serious packing efforts. All individual items need to be sufficiently protected during the move from other similar fragile items in a box and external forces. For example, if you pack glassware without appropriately placing some buffer between the glass items, they are highly liable to shatter against each other and break.
All fragile items should ideally be wrapped in newspaper or bubble wrap based on what the item is. This applies to each individual item. If required, you may also need to place additional newspaper or bubble wrap between heavily packed items to maximize security. You could also layer the boxes with fragile items with cardboard layers to separate items from each other. Placing the heavier fragile items at the bottom is also key for weight distribution and you need to ensure that your packer factors this in when moving the items.
Packing electronic devices
During the moving process, most electronic goods will be disconnected from any power source, to begin with but the problem does not lie in that specific area. Issues concerning electronic goods during the moving process arise from their contact with potentially harmful items that could lead to explosions or damage the condition of the electronics. The surrounding temperature of electronic items in their moving environment is also critical as too much moisture is capable of irreversibly damaging the goods.
Moisture is more often than not the main enemy of electronic goods during transit, especially in New Zealand. If your iPad or TV comes in contact with too much moisture, it is liable to short circuit or stops functioning entirely. This scenario is plausible when long distances need to be covered and the AC or outside temperature plays spoilsport. Avoid placing packed electronic items close to LPG stoves, lighters, and paint as these materials are capable of either causing the items to combust or damaging their internal software.
Moving plants can be a pain
Packing and moving plants is an afterthought to most people who are not dedicated, garden enthusiasts. Due to their fragility and the strong likelihood that plants may not survive a move, most insurance companies do not insure plants no matter what their value may be. In addition, as plants carry a substantial degree of moisture with them, they are capable of damaging furniture, electronics, and other items. You may be required to self-transport the plants or ensure that the plants are moved separately from the rest of your items.
You may need to report your plants into durable plastic covers for the moving process and for this, we recommend asking your professional packer how it should be done based on how all your items will be moved. If you are moving the plants in their pots, check the pots thoroughly to ensure that there are no cracks or holes anywhere on the pots. Any pre-existing damage on a pot dramatically decreases a plant’s chances of survival. Before packing the plants, ensure that they are not waterlogged. You will need to pack the plants with plastic film or plastic bags without packing them too tightly as the plants will need to breathe.