Fragile items almost never break because of a dramatic drop. They break from vibration over hours of driving, and from being packed in a box with room to move.
Once you understand that, packing gets simple. The goal is not padding for its own sake — it is eliminating empty space so nothing can shift.
Use small boxes for heavy things
The most common packing mistake is putting dishes and books in a large box. A large box full of heavy items flexes at the bottom, and flex is exactly what breaks ceramic.
Heavy and fragile goes in small boxes. Light and bulky — pillows, linens, lampshades — goes in large ones. If a filled box is too heavy to lift comfortably with two hands, it is also too heavy to survive being stacked.
Plates go on edge, never stacked flat
Wrap each plate individually in packing paper, then stand them vertically in the box like records in a crate. On edge, a plate resists pressure along its strongest axis. Stacked flat, the weight of the plates above concentrates on the one at the bottom.
Line the bottom of the box with two inches of crumpled paper first, fill the gaps between plates as you go, and top it off with more paper. When the box is closed, nothing inside should move when you shake it.
Glassware gets filled, then wrapped
Stuff a piece of crumpled paper inside each glass before wrapping the outside. That interior support is what stops the walls of a wine glass from flexing inward under pressure.
Stems are the weak point. Wrap the stem separately and then wrap the whole glass, and use a divided cell box if you have one. Glasses go upright, never on their side.
Mirrors, art and glass tabletops need corners and a flat orientation
Tape a large X across the face of the glass with painter's tape. It does not prevent breakage, but it holds the pieces together if the worst happens, which prevents a shattered mirror from becoming a shredded sofa.
Use corner protectors, wrap in a pad, and transport flat pieces on edge — standing upright against a wall of the truck, never lying flat where something can be set on top of them.
Electronics: photograph the back before you unplug
Take a picture of every cable connection before disconnecting anything. Reconnecting a TV, receiver and console setup from memory is where an hour disappears on the other end.
Original boxes are ideal. Without them, wrap the screen in a moving blanket, box it, and mark the box as fragile on all sides — not just the top, because it will not always be sitting the way you left it.
- Photograph cable layouts before disconnecting
- Bag and label cables with the device they belong to
- Remove ink cartridges from printers and discs from drives
- Never lay a flat-screen TV face down or face up — always on edge
Mark the box on every side
A FRAGILE label on the top of a box is useless once the box is on its side in a truck. Mark all four sides plus the top, and add an arrow showing which way is up.
Fragile boxes load last and ride on top. If you are loading the truck yourself, keep them off the floor and away from anything that can shift into them.