How to pack a kitchen for a move
Pack the kitchen last-used-first: start with what you will not touch before the move, wrap glassware piece by piece, keep every box liftable, and label by cupboard so it unpacks the way it lived. The kitchen is the slowest room in the house to pack - start it earlier than you think.
What you need before you start
Proper double-walled boxes in two sizes (small for heavy, large for light), packing paper rather than newspaper (newsprint ink transfers onto china), good tape, and a marker. Resist the supermarket-box economy: a box that fails on the stairs costs more than every box you saved.
The packing order that survives the van
Last-used-first. Begin with the things you will not touch again before the move - serving dishes, the baking shelf, small appliances you can live without - and leave a small last-days kit out: kettle, a mug each, one pan, washing-up liquid. Keep every box to a weight one person can carry properly; a small box of crockery is heavy enough.
How do you pack plates and glassware?
Plates travel on their edge, not flat - wrapped individually and stood in the box like records, they take knocks that would crack a flat stack. Glasses are wrapped one by one and packed upright, heavier pieces below, with paper filling every cavity. A packed box should make no sound when you rock it gently; if it rattles, it needs more paper.
What about appliances?
Defrost and dry the freezer well ahead of the day - a day is not too much - and leave the fridge door propped open once empty. Washing machines need their transit bolts refitted before they travel; without them the drum can damage itself on the road. Anything gas-connected is a job for a qualified engineer, and appliance disconnection and reconnection can be added to the move itself.
What should not go in the van?
Anything that can leak travels badly next to everything you own, and we can’t carry paint tins, gas bottles or anything pressurised at all. Perishables should be used up or given away. Pack a first-night bag - spare clothes, documents, valuables, the essentials - because anything irreplaceable, the things you would grieve, travels with you, not in the load.
Rather have the crew pack it?
Full packing, fragile-only, or just the kitchen and breakables - the same accountable crew, with materials included and a transparent price.
Common questions
Can you pack just the kitchen for me?
Yes - fragile-only packing exists for exactly this. We pack the kitchen and breakables, you do the books and the wardrobe.
Do you supply the boxes and materials?
Yes. Boxes, crates, and materials come in fixed kits, delivered before the day - or included when the crew does the packing.
How early should I start packing the kitchen?
Earlier than the rest of the house. Everything except a last-days kit of kettle, mugs, and one pan can usually be boxed well before moving week.
Twenty years on the road in removals across SW London and Surrey. Patryk sets the prices behind every Movans quote and writes these guides from the van, not a marketing desk.