Packing Advice
Your personal effects are carefully wrapped and packed into specially designed cartons. Each piece of furniture is wrapped in protective material. Depending on the overall size of your shipment, it is loaded into large wooden crates or steel sea containers. The sea containers are loaded onto a container ship and sent to your destination port. There it is off-loaded and cleared through customs.
Cardboard boxes
ESL can send you cardboard boxes and all other packing materials prior to your move day if you want to pack any particular goods yourself. If you choose to pack some goods yourself please keep the following advice in mind:
- Follow a timetable - people often underestimate how long it takes to pack!
- Start with items you won't need right away, such as belongings stored in the basement or garage
- Packing room-by-room will help you stay organized
- Establish work areas in each room
- As you complete a room, sort packed boxes by weight (light, medium, heavy) to make loading the moving van easier and quicker
- Limit cartons to a maximum weight of 25 kgs
- Be sure to write on each box what is stored within
For best results, have your mover pack:
- Marble or glass tabletops, heavy wall ornaments and mirrors 40" x 60" or larger
- Pool tables and pianos
- Bulky, fragile items like large trophies, statues, chandeliers, etc.
- Major appliances
The following items should not be packed and should go with you in person:
- Nail polish remover
- Paints and paint thinners
- Lighter fluid
- Gasoline
- Fireworks
- Oxygen bottles
- Propane cylinders
- Automotive repair and maintenance chemicals
- Radio-pharmaceuticals
- Matches
- Plants and seeds
- Family photos
- Food in glass jars and perishable foods
- Prescription medicine needed for immediate use
