OUTLINE:
Intro
DRAFT:
When it comes to how to move fragile items such as glassware, ceramics and other breakables, it should always be with special care. On the other hand, when it comes to your grandpa’s vintage beer bottle collection, your great grandmother’s heirloom doilies or that giant 19th century mahogany desk that weighs a ton that has been in your family for generations, let’s just say “special care” isn’t going to cut it. For these precious family relics, you’re going to need to handle them with the delicacy of a feather landing on a butterfly’s wing that’s sitting on a dew drop.
Irreplaceable items require mindful packing and proper planning in order to minimize the risk of damage during your move. Read on for packing tips for fragile stuff and how to move antique furniture, family heirlooms and fragile trinkets so that they arrive at your new home all in one piece.
Find Out If You’re Covered
A great place to start in protecting your fragile and valuable items is by giving your moving company a call to find out if they offer a moving protection plan. If they do, you’ll want to know what items they cover and how much they cover should something suffer damage during the move. This is an opportunity to let your movers know about which fragile items need to be handled with special care so that on the day of the move everyone is on the same page. It’s also a good idea to look over your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if it covers antiques.
Take Inventory of Your Items
Before the movers come, take inventory of your valuable antique items. Though it sounds tedious, it is totally worth in the event that they are damaged, lost or stolen during the move. Take photos of damage and wear and tear so that if anything happens you can differentiate between what was already there and marks or scratches that occurred during the move. Record and store serial numbers, documents, manufacturing marks or anything else that could help you identify the original value of the item. That way, if something happens, you will have proof of the value to make sure you are compensated accurately.
Have Your Antiques Appraised
Once you have taken a thorough inventory of your antique items, hire a specialist to appraise them before you move. Acquiring an appraisal will help to show the exact value of your items should they get damaged during the move. This will make the process of reimbursement easy for the insurance company, the moving company and, most importantly, you. If it’s not in the budget to hire an appraiser, consider attending an appraisal day at a local auction house or go to an antique show.
Clean Your Antiques
It’s important to clean your antiques before you move so as not to mistake a temporary mark for a permanent scratch. Be sure that you use special cleaning products that are particular to antiques. In other words, Windex is not going to do the trick with your Tiffany stained glass lamp. You should be able to find specialty antique cleaning products at your local Home Depot, Lowe’s or Hardware. DO NOT use oil or wax to clean wood furniture before your move as it will soften the finish and potentially cause permanent damage. If you’re unsure about how to clean your antiques, contact a local antique store, auction house or historical society.
Buy The Right Packing Supplies
If you’re asking yourself, how much bubble wrap do I need, what do I need in the way of packing supplies for framed art and other questions about antique packing and shipping, you may want to think long and hard about exactly what type of packaging you should use for that vanity with the tortoise shell framed mirror. Definitely DO NOT grab last week’s newspaper to pack it, especially if you are planning on moving antiques across country. Different items will require different packaging. Consider the following packing materials for your antiques:
Pack With Care
Can you think of anything worse than an antique doll house delivered upside down allowing all its internal miniature pieces to be tossed about during the move? Ugh. Avoid this scenario by properly labeling each box containing a delicate doohickey with directions such as: which side is up, which side should go against the wall and which areas need to be handled with extra care. Consider these other packing precautions for your antiques:
Facilitate the Move
Once the movers arrive at your home ready to, well, move, take a moment to communicate with them about specific items that will need special care. This will allow movers to ask questions if necessary before they start loading up the truck.
Conclusion
Watching all your belongings get hauled away, hoping they’ll make it to your new home in one piece can be stressful, especially when some of those antique items, if broken, would have your ancestors turning over in their graves. Hopefully, these tips for moving antiques will help keep your ancestors resting in peace. If you’re asking yourself, do professional movers move antiques? The answer is yes and Moving Forward Sunnyvale is, in fact, the best moving company for antiques! Let our professional Sunnyvale Movers at Moving Forward handle all your belongings with care. Give us a call today for a FREE quote!
Intro
- Antiques are heirlooms--often sentimental, have family and/or monetary value - breaking them during a move would break your heart.
- Irreplaceable items require mindful packing.
- Plan properly to minimize risk of damage during the move.
- Avoid this at all costs by being prepared with these tips
- Review moving protection plan with your professional movers. What do they cover, how much, get clear on this so expectations are understood by all.
- Some homeowner’s insurance policies cover antiques
- Sounds like a drag, but it’s totally worth it.
- Know exactly what you have, what it’s worth - take photos of damage and wear and tear so you know exactly what it looks like.
- Document serial numbers, documents, manufacturing marks, etc.
- Know their value (and have proof of it!) before you move.
- Extremely important if this gets lost of damaged, professional movers know exactly what it was worth and can reimburse based on damage.
- Hire a specialist to have you antiques appraised before you move
- You can also attend a local appraisal day at an auction house, or go to an antique show, if you’re trying to stick to a budget.
- Check for any necessary cleaning before packing
- Be careful to only use special cleaning products meant for antique furniture. You should be able to find these in your local hardware store or Lowes, Home Depot etc.
- Do NOT use oil or wax on items if they are going into storage - it will soften the finish
- If you don’t know how to clean your antiques, contact a local antique store, auction house, or historical society for details.
- Furniture has delicate wood and glass - details that give them character! - don’t add to the damage during the move. Be mindful of the right packing supplies.
- Microfiber cloth
- Packing paper or packing peanuts
- Air-filled plastic wrap
- Glassine (a type of plastic wrap but resistant to air, water, and grease. Available at most craft stores)
- Packing tape
- Corner protectors for art and mirrors
- Boxes, including specialty boxes as need
- Moving blankets
- Furniture pads
- Label everything: which side is up, which side can go against the way and which sie cannot, note any areas with significant damage that should be handled with care.
- Wrap in thick pads to protect corners
- Wrap all glass with glassine
- Think cushion and support -
- Use corner protectors
- Cushion with bubble wrap or air-filled plastic wrap (wrap it twice!) secure with tape
- Pack in the smallest box possible to minimize wiggle room
- Supervise movers and communicate clearly how antiques should be handled.
- This allows movers to ask questions if necessary
DRAFT:
When it comes to how to move fragile items such as glassware, ceramics and other breakables, it should always be with special care. On the other hand, when it comes to your grandpa’s vintage beer bottle collection, your great grandmother’s heirloom doilies or that giant 19th century mahogany desk that weighs a ton that has been in your family for generations, let’s just say “special care” isn’t going to cut it. For these precious family relics, you’re going to need to handle them with the delicacy of a feather landing on a butterfly’s wing that’s sitting on a dew drop.
Irreplaceable items require mindful packing and proper planning in order to minimize the risk of damage during your move. Read on for packing tips for fragile stuff and how to move antique furniture, family heirlooms and fragile trinkets so that they arrive at your new home all in one piece.
Find Out If You’re Covered
A great place to start in protecting your fragile and valuable items is by giving your moving company a call to find out if they offer a moving protection plan. If they do, you’ll want to know what items they cover and how much they cover should something suffer damage during the move. This is an opportunity to let your movers know about which fragile items need to be handled with special care so that on the day of the move everyone is on the same page. It’s also a good idea to look over your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if it covers antiques.
Take Inventory of Your Items
Before the movers come, take inventory of your valuable antique items. Though it sounds tedious, it is totally worth in the event that they are damaged, lost or stolen during the move. Take photos of damage and wear and tear so that if anything happens you can differentiate between what was already there and marks or scratches that occurred during the move. Record and store serial numbers, documents, manufacturing marks or anything else that could help you identify the original value of the item. That way, if something happens, you will have proof of the value to make sure you are compensated accurately.
Have Your Antiques Appraised
Once you have taken a thorough inventory of your antique items, hire a specialist to appraise them before you move. Acquiring an appraisal will help to show the exact value of your items should they get damaged during the move. This will make the process of reimbursement easy for the insurance company, the moving company and, most importantly, you. If it’s not in the budget to hire an appraiser, consider attending an appraisal day at a local auction house or go to an antique show.
Clean Your Antiques
It’s important to clean your antiques before you move so as not to mistake a temporary mark for a permanent scratch. Be sure that you use special cleaning products that are particular to antiques. In other words, Windex is not going to do the trick with your Tiffany stained glass lamp. You should be able to find specialty antique cleaning products at your local Home Depot, Lowe’s or Hardware. DO NOT use oil or wax to clean wood furniture before your move as it will soften the finish and potentially cause permanent damage. If you’re unsure about how to clean your antiques, contact a local antique store, auction house or historical society.
Buy The Right Packing Supplies
If you’re asking yourself, how much bubble wrap do I need, what do I need in the way of packing supplies for framed art and other questions about antique packing and shipping, you may want to think long and hard about exactly what type of packaging you should use for that vanity with the tortoise shell framed mirror. Definitely DO NOT grab last week’s newspaper to pack it, especially if you are planning on moving antiques across country. Different items will require different packaging. Consider the following packing materials for your antiques:
- Microfiber cloth
- Packing paper or packing peanuts
- Air-filled plastic wrap
- Glassine (a type of plastic wrap but resistant to air, water, and grease. Available at most craft stores)
- Packing tape
- Corner protectors for art and mirrors
- Boxes, including specialty boxes as needed
- Moving blankets
- Furniture pads
Pack With Care
Can you think of anything worse than an antique doll house delivered upside down allowing all its internal miniature pieces to be tossed about during the move? Ugh. Avoid this scenario by properly labeling each box containing a delicate doohickey with directions such as: which side is up, which side should go against the wall and which areas need to be handled with extra care. Consider these other packing precautions for your antiques:
- Include thick pads on the corners of antique furniture, art and mirrors when wrapping and boxing.
- Wrap all glass with glassine
- Cushion and support breakables with bubble wrap or air-filled plastic wrap and be sure to wrap it twice and secure it with tape!
- Pack fragile items in the smallest box possible to minimize wiggle room, which given too much could cause increased potential for breakage.
Facilitate the Move
Once the movers arrive at your home ready to, well, move, take a moment to communicate with them about specific items that will need special care. This will allow movers to ask questions if necessary before they start loading up the truck.
Conclusion
Watching all your belongings get hauled away, hoping they’ll make it to your new home in one piece can be stressful, especially when some of those antique items, if broken, would have your ancestors turning over in their graves. Hopefully, these tips for moving antiques will help keep your ancestors resting in peace. If you’re asking yourself, do professional movers move antiques? The answer is yes and Moving Forward Sunnyvale is, in fact, the best moving company for antiques! Let our professional Sunnyvale Movers at Moving Forward handle all your belongings with care. Give us a call today for a FREE quote!
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