Why Fragile Items Need a Different Approach

Anyone who has moved home in Bromley knows the feeling: the boxes are stacked in the hallway, the van is due at eight, and somewhere in the middle of it all is a crate of your grandmother's china. Glassware, ceramics, mirrors and framed pictures are the items most likely to be damaged on moving day, and they are also the ones that cannot simply be replaced. A cheap tumbler can be bought again; a hand-painted serving dish from a wedding gift cannot.

The good news is that fragile packing is not complicated. It is simply a case of wrapping everything individually, packing it tightly enough that nothing shifts, and labelling the box so that whoever lifts it knows to take care. Get those three habits right and your breakables will travel from a Beckenham semi to a Penge flat without a single chip.

Gather the Right Materials First

Before you wrap a single glass, put together a proper packing station. Improvising halfway through a box is how items get broken.

• Bubble wrap for glassware, ceramics and anything with a curved or delicate surface.
• Acid-free tissue paper or clean white paper for delicate finishes, china and anything that might react with newsprint ink.
• Plain brown paper for lighter wrapping and for filling gaps.
• Double-walled boxes in small and medium sizes. Small boxes are your friend here — a heavy box of plates is far harder to carry safely down a narrow Victorian staircase.
• Strong packing tape and a decent tape dispenser, plus masking tape for mirrors and frames.
• Corrugated cardboard sheets for lining box bases and separating layers.
• Marker pens for labelling, and a roll of fragile tape or bright stickers.

Old newspapers are tempting, but the ink transfers onto china and can stain. Save them for cushioning the bottom of boxes instead.

Wrapping Glassware, Ceramics and Mirrors

Wrap each item individually, even if it feels slow. Two glasses rattling together in the same box will chip each other; two glasses wrapped separately will not.

• Glasses and tumblers: lay a square of bubble wrap flat, place the glass on its side and roll it, then tuck the ends in. Pop a small piece of bubble wrap inside the glass to support the rim. Slide each wrapped glass into a clean sock for extra cushioning if you have spare ones.
• Wine glasses and stemware: wrap the bowl and stem separately, then roll the whole piece. A cardboard tube or a long, narrow box works brilliantly, with the glasses standing upright rather than lying flat.
• Plates and bowls: wrap each one, then pack them on their edge like records in a crate, never flat in a stack. Standing on edge spreads the weight and makes them far less likely to crack. Place a sheet of cardboard between every few plates.
• Mugs and jugs: wrap the handle with extra care — it is the first thing to snap. Cushion the inside of the mug with paper and nestle smaller items inside where sensible.
• Mirrors and framed pictures: run masking tape across the glass in a criss-cross pattern so that if it does break, the pieces stay in place. Never tape directly onto an antique or gilded frame. Wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap, then sandwich it between two sheets of corrugated cardboard and tape the edges.

Packing the Box So Nothing Moves

A well-packed box is one where you can shake it gently and hear nothing shift. Follow these steps for every fragile carton:

• Line the base with a double layer of bubble wrap or a sheet of corrugated card.
• Place the heaviest items at the bottom, lighter ones on top. Never put heavy items on top of delicate ones, even inside the same box.
• Fill every gap. Crumpled paper, bubble wrap or spare tea towels all work. Empty space is what allows movement, and movement is what causes breakage.
• Add a final cushioning layer on top before closing the flaps.
• Seal the box along the centre seam and both edges with packing tape. A single strip down the middle is not enough for a heavy carton.

Resist the urge to overfill. A box that bulges is hard to stack in the van and the pressure can crack what is inside.

Labelling and Stacking with Care

Clear labelling saves time, tempers and breakages. Write FRAGILE — THIS WAY UP in large letters on the top and at least two sides of every box, and add an arrow pointing upwards. Note briefly what is inside, such as "glasses" or "kitchen china", so nobody stacks a toolbox on top by accident.

For a house move around Bromley, Beckenham, Orpington or Crystal Palace, keep fragile boxes in the van's cab area or load them last so they sit on top. Never place them beneath heavier furniture, and never wedge them against a bike or a lawnmower. If you are moving into a first-floor flat with a narrow communal hallway, carry fragile boxes yourself rather than leaving them in a lobby where they can be knocked.

One final tip: unpack the fragile boxes first at the new property, before the furniture arrives. Put them somewhere safe and out of the walkway, and check each item as you unwrap it. If anything has been damaged, you will know straight away rather than three weeks later when you finally reach that box at the back of the spare room.