But there’s more to it than just throwing a few things in suitcases…
Firstly, moving home is a brilliant time to sort through your wardrobe and get rid of anything you don’t wear. There’s no point in spending time – and money, if you’re using professional removers – to take things that aren’t useful from one property to another. So, be ruthless.
A good general rule of thumb is to ditch anything that you’ve not worn for a year. You'll probably want to keep those special pieces like a dinner suit or ballgown that you only wear very occasionally or things that are classic and expensive that will last for years.
For anything else, if you’ve not worn if for twelve months the likelihood is that you won’t use it again. So, pop it on the recycling or charity shop pile.
Once you’ve whittled down your clothes to those that you’ll actually use, you can start the process of packing them up. At this point, there are a few clever tactics you can employ.
The first are temporary wardrobes. These are ingeniously designed and are essentially wardrobes made from cardboard with a rack inside them which means that you can hang coats, suits, dresses or other items whilst they are in transit.
Simply remove from your current wardrobe, pop into the temporary one, then once you get the other end, remove and hang up in your new wardrobe. It makes the whole process pretty painless, quite frankly.
If you’re using a removal company, ask them up front if they have temporary wardrobes you can use and if they are included in your quote. If you’re self-moving, check online to see if you can rent them from a local packing materials company.
Vacuum bags are a great way to move bulkier clothing items which don’t need to be hung up, as once the air is sucked out of them, they will take up little space yet you can cram loads in.
The trick is to fold everything as neatly as possible when you’re stacking things in the bag, as well as protecting the contents by lining it with packing paper before you start. One word of warning though, vacuum bags won’t offer a lot of protection for their contents, so don’t stack other things on top of them or leave them outside, particularly in wet weather.
If you’re using standard cardboard boxes, before you start to fill them with your clothes, it’s best to line the box with a few clean sheets of packing paper first to ensure that your items don’t get dirty or dusty from the box itself.
Once you’ve completed all your packing, it’s important to label your boxes correctly. Rather than just writing ‘clothes’ on the side, try to write who’s items they are and what they are on each box to turbo-charge your unpacking, for example ‘Jane – knitwear’. This will make it so much easier to find things if you’re not able to unpack everything the day you move in, as well as making it simpler to work out what goes where when you do get around to it.
One final tip…if you run out of boxes, laundry baskets are great for transporting foldable items, such as t-shirts and jeans. Just remember to empty them first, so you don’t get the stuff that needs washing confused with your clean clothes!
