How Do I Protect Glass During My Move?

Unfortunately, protecting your glass and breakables during a move isn’t as simple as bundling them up in newspaper. There’s an art to keeping easily broken possessions like glass safe when transporting them. It requires foresight, specific materials, and constant special care. We want to help!

Today, we’re covering everything you need to know about how to properly prepare, protect, and transport glass during a move. We’ll cover the protective materials you need, how to use these materials properly, and even how to store and move specific glass objects. If you need to move fragile glass, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s what you have to do: 

What materials do I need?

All you need to move glass are specially-designated boxes, cushioning, tape, and labels. These packing materials will give you all you need to secure your glassware. As you’re preparing to move, gather some of these packing materials and set them aside for your glass items specifically.

When packing and moving glassware, we recommend using small to medium-sized boxes. Smaller boxes are easier to move and give your stuff less space to jostle around in transit. Cushion your glass with packing paper, newspaper, soft towels, or bubble wrap. Fill up the box with packing material as fully as possible. The less space they have to move around, the better. If you use newspaper to accomplish this, be sure to wash your glass as soon as you take it back out of the box.

How do I protect hollow glass objects?

1. Stuff the inside of all hollow items with packing material. Tissue paper, packing paper, or newspaper (if you don’t mind washing off some ink) all work. 
2. Roll the item in packing paper. Take one corner of the paper and fold it over your glass diagonally. 
3. Secure the edge with a small piece of tape. Don’t use tape on the glass itself, because removing it might damage it.
4. Now wrap that in bubble wrap. You’ll just need to wrap it around the paper-covered item one time. Secure the bubble wrap with tape. 
5. Place the item in your moving box upside down. This limits the amount of pressure placed on fragile parts. Don’t stack, and keep items of similar shapes and sizes together. 
6. If you have them, fill empty spaces with packing peanuts. There’s no harm in extra protection. 
7. Make sure you’re thorough when sealing the box with tape. You don’t want the bottom falling out. 
8. Once shut and secured, label the box as fragile. That way, your movers know what’s inside and will handle the box accordingly. It might also help to specifically label the box. 

How do I protect flat glass objects?

1. Lay the object down on a padded surface to protect it while packing. You don’t want to break it before you even get a chance to wrap it up. 
2. Place a piece of cardboard against the glass. You can use pre-cut pieces or dismantle a box to create this protection. You don’t have to do this for small objects, but it’ll seriously help protect larger screens, frames, and similar large, flat surfaces.
3. Wrap it in packing paper. Wrap the glass as if it were a gift. Fold the edges over and make sure to completely cover the surface. If you need to, tape multiple pieces of glass together. 
4. Wrap that in bubble wrap. Take the same approach outlined above. Tape corners down. 
5. Stuff the bottom of your moving box with packing paper or peanuts.
6. Place the item on top of the packing paper. If you’re layering items, add packing paper or layers of bubble wrap between each layer.
7. Secure the box with lots of tape and label it accordingly. Any box containing breakable items should to be labeled as fragile so movers know how to handle it.

How do I protect oddly-shaped glass objects?

There is no step-by-step guide to wrapping oddly-shaped objects because each one is different. However, we do have a couple of general tips to make things easier.

• Don’t be afraid of tape. As long as you keep tape off of the glass itself, feel free to use it liberally. Wrap breakable items thoroughly and secure the wrap with lots of tape. Even if it looks silly, it will really help keep fragile glass cushioned.
• Specially-shaped items should get their own box. If something is awkwardly-shaped and can’t easily fit in a box, try placing it in its own box. Giving unique items their own space makes them less likely to bump, slide into, or otherwise hurt your other stuff.

Packing glass for your move is obviously only half the battle. Even after you pack all your glass up, there’s still the matter of actually moving it safely. Moving fragile glass can be challenging, no matter how well you’ve prepared it. Luckily, you don’t have to face this challenge alone.

If you need help moving your glass, enlist the experts at Wheaton. Get an in-home estimate to see how we can make moving your glass easy and stress-free.