How to Pack Fine China and Crystal for a Move
Fine china and crystal tend to be the things families worry about most when a move is coming up, and for good reason. A set of wedding china or a cabinet full of crystal often carries years of holidays and family dinners with it, and many of those pieces simply can’t be replaced. The good news is that careful packing goes a long way toward keeping everything in one piece, and none of it is complicated once you know how the pros approach it. Whether you plan to pack these pieces yourself or would rather leave them to the Veteran’s Best Movers crew, here is how to get them from your old San Antonio home to your new one in one piece.
In short
Use sturdy dish boxes and plain packing paper rather than newspaper, wrap every piece on its own, and stand plates on their edges instead of stacking them flat. Fill glasses from the inside before you wrap the outside, take the glass shelves out of a curio cabinet before it moves, and pad every box so nothing inside can shift.
Gather the right supplies first
The most useful thing you can buy for this job is a few dish boxes, which are made from thicker, double walled cardboard than ordinary moving boxes and are built to carry the weight of ceramics and glass without the bottom giving out. Alongside them you will want plenty of plain packing paper, some bubble wrap for the most delicate pieces, good packing tape, and a marker.
It’s tempting to use old newspaper because it’s free and already in the house, but the ink rubs off onto dishes and can leave you washing every plate once you arrive. Plain packing paper costs very little and keeps everything clean.
Pack plates on their edges, like records
Start by lining the bottom of the box with a few inches of crumpled paper so the dishes have a soft landing. Then wrap each plate on its own, and once you have three or four wrapped, wrap them together into a small bundle.
The most important step is how those bundles go into the box. Rather than stacking plates flat, stand them on their edges, the way you would file records in a crate. When plates lie flat, the weight of the whole stack presses down on the bottom one, and every bump on the road adds to that pressure. Standing on edge, the weight is spread across the rims instead, which is why movers pack plates this way.
Bowls and platters follow the same idea: wrap each one, nest them gently, and fill any space around them with crumpled paper so nothing can slide around once the truck starts moving.
Give glasses and stemware extra care
Glasses are strongest when they have support from the inside as well as the outside, so tuck a piece of crumpled paper into each glass before you wrap it. Wine glasses and champagne flutes need a little more attention around the stem, which is the part most likely to snap, so it’s worth adding a layer of bubble wrap there.
Once they are wrapped, glasses travel best in a box with cardboard dividers, so each one sits in its own space and can’t knock against its neighbors. The same goes for crystal vases, decanters, and figurines: wrap each piece separately, give anything with a thin neck or handle a little extra padding, and keep them in smaller boxes so they never end up underneath something heavy.
Empty the curio or china cabinet before it moves
A curio cabinet should never travel with anything inside it, and that includes its glass shelves. Take everything out first, then lift each glass shelf out one at a time, holding it flat with both hands so it doesn’t flex and crack. Each shelf can then be wrapped in packing paper and bubble wrap and packed standing upright in its own box, while the cabinet itself is wrapped in moving blankets with extra padding on the glass doors and corners.
China cabinets and curio cabinets are heavy, tall, and mostly glass, which makes them one of the trickier pieces in a house to move safely. If you would rather not take that on yourself, our fragile items moving team can take care of pieces like these for you.
Fill every gap, then label clearly
Before you close any box of dishes, give it a gentle shake. If you can hear or feel anything moving, add more crumpled paper until it stops, then finish with one more layer of padding on top before you tape it shut. Keep these boxes on the lighter side, too, because a heavy box of dishes is much more likely to be dropped or to crush the box below it.
Finally, write “Fragile” and “This Side Up” on at least two sides of every box, along with the room it belongs in, so whoever carries it knows exactly how to handle it and where it goes.
When to let the pros pack it
Plenty of families are happy to pack their own everyday dishes and leave only the heirlooms, crystal, and cabinets to us, while others would rather not pack a single plate, and either way is fine with us. Our professional packing service can take care of as much or as little as you like, and you can read more about how we approach it in our step by step packing process.
If you’re planning a move around San Antonio and want a hand with the breakables, you can call us at (210) 761‑6595 or request a free quote online, and we will be glad to talk it through with you.
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