Where to Get Moving Boxes and Packing Supplies for Your Next Move
Packing and unpacking your entire house within a few days can feel overwhelming, but with these moving tips, it can be a stress-free experience. A large part of your move is the preparation and packing up moving boxes.
Getting the right moving boxes is an excellent way of ensuring your valuable possessions arrive safely to your new home. You've probably heard horror stories of items that were in good condition before a move but were damaged during transit. Taking the right actions such as using appropriate moving boxes and stocking up on all the required moving supplies will aid in a safe transport during moving.
So, you're about to move but don't know where to get good quality moving boxes and packing supplies? When you hire College HUNKS for packing and moving services, we can supply the right sizes boxes and moving equipment to help make the packing process easy. Read on to identify all the supplies you need and where to get quality moving boxes if you prefer to pack yourself.
Your Packing and Moving Supplies Checklist
It’s imperative to have the right packing material for the right items to ensure an easier moving day. The moving supplies below will help you get the job done:
What You Need for Packing:
- Bubble Wrap — Serves as cushioning for fragile items.
- Paper Pads — These sheets are ideal for wrapping appliances and covering wooden and leather furniture while moving.
- Plastic Wrap — Plastic wrap is a great non-stick material to help bundle items together and keep surfaces protected from scratches.
- Permanent Markers — Markers can conveniently be used for labeling and color-coding boxes.
- Packing Paper — Packing paper is ideal for protecting glassware, collectibles, dishes, and other fragile items while in storage or during a move.
- Packing Tape — Quality packing tape is a must for moving boxes because of its strength. You’ll want to consider a tape gun to help with application.
- Moving boxes — Utilizing good quality boxes will prevent them from falling apart under heavy loads.
What You Need for Moving:
- Bungee Cords — Whether heavy-duty or mini cord, bungee cords will come in handy when there is a need to secure objects in the moving truck.
- Furniture Pads — These thick furniture coverings can be used to wrap vulnerable pieces of furniture to prevent damage when moving them out of a house.
- Rubber Doorstops — A doorstop will make it easier to move things in or out of the house so you don’t have to worry about opening the door.
- Broom and Dustpan — To sweep and scoop dirt from the floor once you’ve removed your boxes or furniture.
- Paper Towels — Instead of using conventional towels, keep paper towels available when moving for dining, handwashing or any cleaning needs.
What Size Moving Truck Do I Need?
Fitting everything you need to move in one load becomes daunting if the truck you settle on is too small. On the other hand, getting a bigger truck means that you might end up overpaying for your move or have valuable items shift during the move. Proper organization, the right moving boxes, and some math can help you size your truck appropriately.
Alternatively, you could look for a qualified full-service moving company that will bring the right size moving truck and get the job done for you.
Free Moving Boxes vs. Cheap Moving Boxes vs. Good Moving Boxes
Free Moving Boxes
With many expenses surrounding your move, getting moving boxes for free sounds great. Let's look at the good and bad sides of free moving boxes.
The Pros of Free Moving Boxes
- Cut moving costs — If you need 20-30 moving boxes of different sizes to pack up your home, free moving boxes could save you some money.
- Eco-friendly — Reusing boxes helps protect the environment by reducing waste and conserving natural resources.
The Cons of Free Moving Boxes
- Free moving boxes tend to be second-hand packing containers — If you are hunting for quality moving boxes, used boxes may not offer the needed protection.
- Free moving boxes won't be specialized — Unlike new moving boxes designed and specialized to suit your packing needs, you are unlikely to find free specialized boxes.
- Used moving boxes could break easily during a move — Using free moving boxes means risking severe losses and damages.
- Free moving boxes may be dirty and contaminated.
- Finding perfect moving boxes could cost you a lot of time. The process of finding and locating enough usable boxes for your move can often take several days.
Where to Get Free Moving Boxes
- Local produce stores
- Friends and neighbors
- Home electronics stores
- Supermarkets
- Shopping centers
- Bookstores
Cheap Moving Boxes
You can decrease your moving cost during your next relocation with cheap moving boxes.
The Pros of Cheap Moving Boxes
- Cheap prices — When you need a lot of boxes, this can help you get the quantities you need at an affordable price.
- Better quality moving boxes compared to free moving boxes — These boxes should be in new and unused condition so they should be damage free.
- Discounts when you're buying in bulk — Great when you’re trying to make the most of your moving budget.
- Easy to find — These are commonly found at big box stores as well as shipping stores.
- Stronger and more durable when compared to free moving boxes — These boxes won’t have ripped handles or tears from tape being removed so they should be structurally sound.
The Cons of Cheap Moving Boxes
- No Customization Options — These boxes come in basic sizes which can be useful but may not specifically meet your needs.
- Some moving boxes require assembly — You'll need to make time to put these boxes together and be sure you have plenty of tape because assembling boxes will require you to use double the tape you may have planned for.
Quality Moving Boxes
Not all boxes are created equal. The best advice a professional mover will give whenever you're moving is to ensure you have the right moving boxes. By spending just a few extra dollars on purchasing high quality moving boxes, you could potentially be saving yourself money in the long run by preventing damages.
The Pros of Good Moving Boxes
- Highly durable — Not only will the quality construction of the boxes protect your items, but they’ll hold up while in transit.
- Safer and easier to carry — Better quality boxes often have easy carry handles that makes moving the boxes more comfortable.
- Offer the highest level of protection for your items — Double walled boxes hold heavier items but will also be better at absorbing impacts from other items during the moving process.
- Allow for heavier packing — Quality boxes often have double-bottom construction to withhold the strains of heavier items.
- Can be customized — The construction of quality moving boxes provides a more durable platform to work from when customizing the shape to fit objects that don’t fit well is square boxes.
- Different sizes, types, shapes — You have more options of higher quality boxes to better match what you’re moving to make sure you have the right tool for the job. You’ll have options like wardrobe boxes or boxes to protect you flat screen television, mirrors, dishes, and mattresses to name a few.
- Buybacks on unused moving boxes — Some retailers will buy-back or allow you to return unused boxes.
The Cons of Good Moving Boxes
- Good boxes are slightly more expensive — The old adage “you get what you pay for” is appropriate in the case of moving boxes. You’ll need to determine if the additional cost of better-quality boxes is worth the peace of mind knowing you’re not cutting any corners during your move.
Where to Buy Quality Boxes for Moving
Where can I get moving boxes? Specialty stores and home centers are the obvious first thought. However, these stores don’t always carry everything you need and are limited on sizes.
College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® is your number one moving supply specialist. We offer high quality moving boxes and supplies at affordable prices. Our team of HUNKS will assist in the planning process, recommend the quantity and type of materials you should use, and deliver world-class moving services.