Packing fragile items so they survive

Fill a box full but not heavy. A moving box carries 40 kilos, your back does not: the lifting limit of the Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie (the Dutch labour inspectorate) is 23 kilos, and that applies only in ideal conditions. Keep to 15 to 20 kilos and let the size cap the weight: small boxes for books and tins, large boxes for duvets and pillows.

Loose bags and carriers do not stack and go missing, so everything goes into boxes of the same size. Saving on the number of boxes makes no sense here: if you move with us, you get free moving boxes on loan, with the packing paper and the label stickers included, and we collect them again afterwards. Count on 16 to 20 boxes per person. Our loan boxes have an autolock base and need no tape.

Work with unprinted packing paper, the way professional packers do: it grips, it fills and it does not scratch. Keep bubble wrap for screens, mirrors and genuinely delicate pieces, with the bubbles facing the item. Do not use newspaper, because the ink comes off on porcelain and light-coloured wood.

Too little paper is the false economy that crockery breaks on: for a complete kitchen alone, count on around 4.5 kilos. If you have nothing to hand, you can wrap fragile items in towels, tea towels or clothing.

Plates go into the box on their edge, not flat on top of each other. A plate is strong across its rim and weak across its face: stacked flat, the bottom plate carries everything lying on it, straight across its weakest axis. In a published ruling, the Geschillencommissie Verhuizen (the Dutch disputes board for movers) found that plates stacked rather than standing upright on their side amounted to unsound packing work.

Build the rest of the box up in layers: heavy at the bottom, a layer of paper in between, light on top. Then fill every gap with crumpled paper until nothing moves any more when you lift the box. It is that padding that holds the stack together in the van, not the cardboard. The full box technique is in a box that does not sag.

Write on every box what is in it and which room it goes to, on the side and on the top. Once the boxes are stacked, only the side is still readable.

Start with what you use least:

• The spare room, the loft and the storeroom, because those can be closed up completely in one go
• The bookcase, in small boxes and the books upright
• Out-of-season clothing

The kitchen comes last. You need plates, pans and cutlery until the final evening, and it is the room that takes the most boxes; count on a good week for that alone. For a family home, start four to six weeks ahead, so nothing has to be forced in the last week.

Do ask friends or family to help with the packing. It spreads the work and keeps the pace up. If you would rather hand it over completely, our packing service packs the whole house for you; average household contents are packed in a day with us.

If you have questions or would like advice on your own situation, do get in touch. Everything else that needs arranging is set out week by week in the complete moving checklist.