Make life easier — learn some moving hacks

Have you seen the term “lifehacks” on the Internet lately? The concept is quite ingenious — it’s basically finding simple but very effective tips and tricks that make life a lot easier. It’s kind of like finding a cheat code in a video game — a hack — that can help you win with ease. So today we’re going to be following in the footsteps of this principle, but instead of lifehacks, we’ll be introducing some of our favourite ‘moving hacks’ for moving.

Five of our favourite moving hacks for packing and unpacking

1. Pack a box for your first day in your new house — Lifehack.org has a great tip that can save you a lot of rummaging immediately after you move into your new home. Basically, the site suggests that you create a box filled with all the things you’ll need for your first night after moving. So for example, if you know you will need coffee, a toothbrush, a fresh shirt and pajamas immediately after the move, put them all in one box. This will save you the trouble of rummaging through multiple suitcases for essential items.

2. The vacuum is your friend when packing clothing — A lot of people move their clothes by packing them in big plastic bags. This is a good strategy for the most part, but one downside is that air bubbles tend to get created. These bubbles can greatly increase the amount of space the clothes take up, which can result in more movingspace used. That can mean more travel with a moving truck and a bigger bill! In order to cut down on air bubbles, use a vacuum to literally suck out the air from every bag filled with clothes. Not only does this save on space, it also bug-proofs your clothing, provided there are no holes in the plastic. Moths and other clothing-eating pests can’t survive without oxygen!

3. Take pictures of complex arrangements before moving — The previously mentioned lifehack.org article suggests taking a picture of the back of your computer so it will be easy to remember how to put all the wires back in the right spots. But we suggest taking it a little further by taking pictures of all complex arrangements you have in your house. Do you have a unique setup for your entertainment system? A gorgeous dining room china cabinet plan that you’d like to replicate? Take pictures of those too! Make it easy to recreate your best arrangements!

4. Ask your movers to pack the heaviest things first in the moving truck — When loading your stuff into a moving van, you want to make sure that your possessions won’t go toppling all over the place. In order to make this happen, it’s best to put big, heavy items in the truck first. Sometimes people make the mistake of haphazardly piling items into a truck, but that often results in an unstable move. Think of packing a moving truck like building a tower. If you want a tower to be stable, it’s best to use the heaviest, biggest blocks as your foundation.

5. Label moving boxes in pencil — Since we are moving in Metro Vancouver, rain is pretty much a given. Ink runs when wet, making all those precious labels that you made useless. A perfect moving lifehack for this problem is to use pencil. We’d suggest using coloured pencils, which work in the rain and never get runny. The colours also help your labels stand out, just like a pen or felt.

Keep looking for better ways to move! Seek to constantly improve!

At Ferguson Moving and Storage, we’re always seeking ways to refine our moving skills. You should, too. Check out different websites like lifehack.org, which are constantly updating with new and interesting ways to make a move easier. We’re also always figuring out better ways to move tricky items, so if you need any help, call us at 604-922-2212.

If in the rare case we can’t move something for you, we can certainly at least give you some good pointers! We have nearly 100 years of experience to draw from!