Moving can be a chaotic and time-consuming process filled with packing, organizing, donating and traveling. Make it easier on yourself by understanding what you can and cannot pack into a moving truck for transportation.
Whether moving yourself or hiring a professional moving company, you’ll want to save yourself stress on the big day by separating your items into things going onto the truck and those being transported separately.
What Won’t Movers Pack?
Movers have relatively short lists of things they won’t take. You can always contact your company before moving and ask for a full list. However, most companies will ban the following items and groups due to safety and liability issues.
Things Not to Pack When Moving:
- Hazardous Items
- Delicate and Valuable Trinkets
- Important and Sentimental Pieces
- Nail Polish and Nail Polish Remover
- Firearms and Ammunition
- Household Plants
- Food
- Dirty Furniture
- Pets
Let’s review each section and walk through the dangers, complications and solutions to moving each.
Hazardous Items
These aren’t just cumbersome to move, they’re potentially dangerous to yourself, your moving crew and the other items being transported. Chemicals could activate with movement or, if something is leaking, combine to create dangerous gasses or flammable fumes.
Common hazards are aerosol cans, gas (in any type of canister), heating agents, fire extinguishers, paints, varnishes, ammonia, bleach, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, auto batteries, charcoal, lighter fluid, lighters, matches and all other combustible products.
It is extremely unsafe for moving companies to move these items and often they might not be worth moving at all. If possible we recommend replacing them once you get to your new home.
Delicate and Valuable Trinkets
Sometimes it is best to just give yourself peace of mind and transport overly delicate or valuable items yourself. This includes pieces like jewelry, fine china, lace, artwork and collections. Moving companies can move these items for you but overall you will probably feel better taking them to the new place yourself to ensure that they don’t accidentally get damaged or lost.
Important and Sentimental Pieces
Much like your delicate and valuable trinkets, we highly recommend transporting your important and sentimental pieces in your own vehicle. These include family heirlooms, family photos, important documents (birth certificates, social security cards, marriage certificates…) and cash.
Bekins has an exceptional track record with valuables, however accidents can happen. In the case that your item is lost or damaged, we offer valuation protection. We do recommend keeping items that cannot be replaced (heirlooms, family photos, cash) safely packed away in your car where you can keep track of them.
Nail Polish and Nail Polish Remover
It might surprise you to know that nail polish and remover are considered hazardous materials. The chemicals in each are considered highly flammable, the risks elevated by the glass bottles they’re housed in. We recommend securely packing your collection and transporting it yourself.
How to Pack Nail Polish for a Move:
- Get rid of old or empty bottles
- Add a layer of bubble wrap to the bottom of a box
- Individually roll each bottle in bubble wrap
- Tape the bubble wrap closed
- Place the wrapped polish in the box
- Fill the extra space with more bubble wrap or newspaper to ensure that nothing will wiggle around in the box—potentially exposing the bottles to breakage
Firearms and Ammunition
Under no circumstances will a moving company pack firearms or ammunition into their trucks. You will have to carefully disassemble, wrap and carry these to your new home yourself.
Household Plants
If you’re moving to a new state or country there may be laws or regulations regarding transporting live houseplants. These laws are meant to minimize the spread of harmful insects, diseases and pests that can appear in exotic or newly imported houseplants. Before you pack up and prepare for your move, check to see what your new state allows.
You may also just want to lean on the safe side and transport all houseplants yourself to ensure that they don’t get damaged or exposed to extreme weather during transportation.
Food
Do you have a fully stocked kitchen that you’re worried about moving to your new place? Well, unfortunately, most moving companies won’t transport perishable food for you. You’ll have to eat all your leftovers, drink your milk and juice and consider giving away the rest of your perishable food to family, friends, neighbors or shelters nearby.
If you have non-perishable food, like canned goods, your moves can take those during relocation!
Bekins is involved with Move For Hunger, an organization committed to the fight against hunger. You can opt into this organization if you have any non-perishable items that you don’t want to keep but also don’t want to waste.
Dirty Furniture
If you have old, dirty or dusty furniture, movers are allowed to deny moving it. The grime and dust on furniture can get to the point of being hazardous to the health and safety of movers. Consider deep cleaning all of your furniture pieces before moving, not only is this considerate to the movers but will also allow you to bring only clean pieces into your new place!
Pets
This is probably obvious, but you should always plan on transporting pets yourself. There simply isn’t any safe space for them in a moving truck and they’d probably be less anxious having you as a traveling companion anyway!
Get to Your New Home Safely with Bekins Van Lines
If you need a moving company that’ll go the distance, get in touch with Bekins Van Lines! We’re here to help you through every step of your relocation. Looking for more packing tips? Check out our blog! Or, if you’re ready to partner with us for your next move, get in touch with your local agent right away.
