Bowls are one of the most challenging items to pack, and many people have damaged their bowls when moving house. Whether you’re moving ceramic or glass bowls, you need to ensure they reach your new home in one piece. Here are some ways to pack your bowls properly.
3 Efficient Ways to Pack Bowls for Moving
Let’s start with what you’ll need to pack your bowls for moving.
Packing Materials for Moving Bowls
You can always get free old boxes and newspapers from the grocery store, Craigslist, or the Facebook marketplace. But, if you want to reduce the risk of damaging your bowls, it’s advisable to spend extra dollars on buying quality protective materials for your bowls. The most important materials you need are:
- Dish packs,
- Packing paper,
- Bubble wrap,
- Duct tape,
- Markers or Colorful sticky notes.
1. Place Bowls Vertically in Boxes
Even though your bowls are piled horizontally in your cupboard, you need to reposition them vertically when packing them in a box. This is the best way to ensure the bowls don’t collide at every single bump on the road. Piling the bowls horizontally increases the risk of getting damaged in transit.
Additionally, a dish barrel is an ideal box for packing fragile kitchen items. They are also known as dish packs. This cardboard box is corrugated and double-layered, and it offers maximum protection against any external pressure. You can get various sizes of corrugated boxes from Bankers Box Store on Amazon.
How to Prepare and Pack Bowls in Boxes
Reinforce the boxes. Kitchen items like your bowls might not seem heavy individually but can be when packed together. You need to ensure the boxes are strong enough to withstand their weight before packing. You can do this by double-taping the bottom and edges of the boxes to prevent them boxes from falling apart when transporting them.
Cushion the bottom of the boxes. To absorb the shocks in transit, you need to line the bottom of the boxes with old newspapers, packing paper, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, old towels, or any other soft padding materials you have at home to provide cushioning for your bowls.
Pack bowls of the same shape and size together. This is the best way to manage space and prevent small bowls from breaking under the weight of heavier ones. You can do it easily by purchasing medium-sized boxes for various bowls.
Be generous with the cushioning materials. When packing breakables, there’s nothing like too much cushioning; It can only be less. Add soft padding materials in any gap and at the top of the bowls before sealing the boxes. Your bowls are safe even when the box bounces in transit.
Shake the box gently before taping. This is the ideal way to confirm the bowls are appropriately packed. If you notice any movement in the box, add more packing paper until the box is sturdy.
Seal and Label the box. Like the bottom of the box, the top needs to be double taped to avoid breaking. It is also important to label the box for easy identification. You can either write “FRAGILE” on the box using a marker or save time using NefLaca Fragile Stickers on Amazon.
2. Place Bowls Horizontally in a Paint Bucket
Those paint buckets you find at Home Depot can be ideal for packing bowls. Stacking bowls horizontally may not seem the correct way to pack bowls, but these buckets are sturdy and firmer than regular boxes. As a result, the plates will not shift around or bounce much.
Besides, the bottom of the buckets is made from solid materials that prevent them from breaking open. What’s more? The handles make them easy to carry, and you can identify them without labeling them.
How to Prepare and Pack Bowls in a Paint Bucket.
Wash the buckets. Making the buckets clean is the first thing, especially if you’ve not been using them actively. You can follow these steps to clean the buckets
- Scrape the paint with a spatula or dull knife if it’s dry.
- Wet any leftover paint with alcohol for a few minutes.
- Wash out the alcohol and dry the bucket with a clean rag
Cover the bottom of the box with crumpled packing paper. This cushions the bowls against vibrations and shocks, reducing the risks during transport. Crumbling the paper into balls gives the best results. Newspapers are free options you can utilize.
Place styrofoam plates between bowls. Check your cupboard for those plates left from your going away party. If you have them, it’s time to put them to use. Place the plates between the bowls to prevent the bowls from colliding in transit.
Fill any gap with soft padding. After stacking your bowls in the buckets, you may find spaces around the bowls. It is helpful to fill those gaps with cushioning materials. Newspapers are a good option that comes free but absorbs vibration and shocks during the move.
Cover the buckets tightly. All paint buckets come with a strong cover. After stacking the bowls probably, place the cover and press it down until it’s firm.
3. Pack Breakable Bowls in Travel Bag or Box
When I was done with college, I had to move some of my precious, breakable bowls back home from my dorm. They didn’t make it. Some of those bowls were gifts from dear friends so it was really painful. I learned a couple of lessons that day, don’t just pack delicate bowls in a box and expect them not to break.
Over the years, I’ve discovered and tested safe ways to pack bowls for any type of moving. One of them is packing bowls in my luggage. So instead of just having clothes in my box, I would fold them around a plate, and layer them with some clothes before adding another bowl folded with clothes. Please use soft clothes only.
You want to be sure not to cloth-wrap so many bowls together; I recommend two fitting bowls at most. Be sure to fill up any space in the luggage with soft clothes so the plates do not shift around or bounce much during the move.
How to Wrap Glass Bowls before Packing
Of all the types of bowls, glass bowls are the most delicate. The best way to protect them is to wrap them separately, following these steps:
- Start by laying wrapping paper or any alternative on a dry, flat surface;
- Place one glass bowl on the edge of the wrapping paper and fold the sheets from one side over the top and tuck it inside the bowl;
- Pull the corners of the wrapping papers one after the other and tuck them in the bowl;
- Wrap the remaining paper around the bowl;
- Hold the wrappings together with tape.
Important Tip: Do not stack a second layer or any other item on glass bowls.
How to Wrap Ceramic Bowls before Packing
Ceramic bowls are less fragile than glass bowls, but they still have to be well wrapped when moving. You can protect precious ceramic bowls individually by following the steps above. You can manage space and packing materials for cheaper ceramic bowls by wrapping two to four together.
- Stretch wrapping paper or any alternative on a dry, flat surface.
- Place one glass bowl close to the edge of the wrapping paper and fold the sheets from one side over it.
- Pick another bowl and put it on the first one.
- Cover it with wrapping paper before adding the next one.
- Repeat this process until you have a stack of four bowls.
- Tuck the remaining paper into the last bowl on top of the stack.
- Hold the wrappings together with tape.
Important Tip: Stack bowls from largest to smallest when nesting bowls of different sizes.
