Often the most high value selection of items in our home is our technology, which can make packing it tricky. Here are some tips to help you pack the items properly ready for moving home.

When you move home, you have so many different types of item to pack. From odd shaped kitchen equipment, to heavy furniture and delicate glass items – it can be quite the challenge figuring out how to adequately protect items to keep them safe during a house move. And in the era of technology we live in now, one of the biggest packing challenges is all that expensive and precious tech we have in our home. Tablets, TV’s, computers, games consoles, speakers – the list is endless. But how do you pack these items properly?

Here’s how:

Listen To The Manufacturer

Ignoring the manufacturer’s instructions can be forgiven when you’re excitedly setting technology up, but when you’re packing it and storing it, it’s time to get the old manual out and prick up your ears. The manual or box will have advice on how to properly store the item. Don’t have the box anymore? Contact the manufacturer or look on the manufacturers website  – this is especially important if you’re moving into rented accommodation and are storing an item in self-storage for a long period of time.

Use The Original Box

If you still have the original box the item came in, use it as it was designed to house the item properly.

Use Good Packaging Materials

If you don’t still have the original box (or even if you do but don’t have the padding) then you’ll want to use the best packing materials for your tech. There’s nothing wrong with using recycled or cheap materials for most of your household items, but for tech or other high value items – invest in the best packing materials. Buy polystyrene padding, thick boxes, labels and strong packing tape.

Climate Control

If you’re using self-storage you may need to use a climate controlled unit if you’re storing particularly sensitive tech like computers and laptops. Extremely cold weather or hot weather could break items like these so it could be worth investing in climate controlled self-storage, especially if the items are worth a lot of money.

Safety

Whether you’re keeping your tech in your empty new home or current home overnight, or putting it into self-storage, make sure you don’t clearly mark your tech boxes. Of course if the items are going straight to your new home and won’t be left alone, they should be clearly marked but otherwise, you’ll want to make sure they don’t clearly let potential thieves know what is in them. You could always create your own label guide that only you can understand, like different coloured dots on different boxes and listing what those colours relate to in a locked folder on your phone. It may sound over the top but you can never be too careful when it comes to storing high value items.

Dust Protection

It is important you protect your items from dust which can cause a lot of damage. Use dust cloths or paper as part of your packaging, and tape any gaps in box seals.

Remember, it might seem like a lot of effort to package your technology properly, but it’s worth the time and extra costs when you consider how much the items are worth to you.