Every move carries with it a certain level of tension. No matter how prepared and organized you are, the whole family is still in an emergency.
The relocation itself takes one day, but the preparations take much longer. Smart and responsible people listen to the advice of experienced professionals and leave enough time for gradual and careful packing, without rushing.
It is normal for everyone to worry that their property is not damaged during loading, transport, and transportation. All credible moving companies like ours have insurance for such cases. Nothing is left to chance.
However, there is a special category of removals, where the clients are art lovers and owners of works of art, which can often be very valuable.
Whether the artworks have a market or purely sentimental value, special attention must be given to packing them for moving.
Best Way to Pack Art for Moving:
The first piece of advice we can give is to hire a professional moving company. We are trained and equipped to pack and transport various types of art objects, as well as other categories of antique furniture, mirrors, sculptures, etc.
If you are organizing the move with family and friends, you must take enough time to pack the artwork to the fullest extent possible.
1. Classify your artwork
To begin, make a list of everything valuable that you own. These can be large or small paintings, framed family or art photos and posters, various sculptures in various sizes, shapes, and materials, antique dishes, mirrors, cases, and zinnias from Murano, Baccara, Bohemian glass, etc.
Regardless of what is at stake, fragile pieces must be adequately packed; otherwise, you risk damaging them. Objects can be separated by size, shape, material, and degree of fragility, giving a complete overview of what we will be handling.
2. Measure dimensions
The next step is to measure the dimensions. How will you know what you need from packing supplies if you don’t know the size of what you are packing?
Carefully and accurately measure the dimensions to avoid problems later during the final packaging.
Therefore, everything with a regular geometric shape can be easily packed in boxes of the appropriate size. With good protection, transport will be easy and risk-free.
Measure the following dimensions:
- Length x Width x Depth
- Length x Width x Height
Fragile objects and those of irregular shape require special treatment. They don’t need that kind of measurement, but a good judgment about the type of protection and the way of packaging.
3. Packing supplies
There is a wide range of packing supplies for every material and shape. The ones you need, because you are interested in how to pack art for moving, are:
- cardboard boxes of various sizes
- corrugated boxes (they have more layers than cardboard boxes)
- corrugated sheets
- corrugated board paper roll
- stretch wraps
- bubble wraps
- plastic containers
- brown paper
- wooden wool
- adhesive tapes
- stickers
- foam sheet
- styrofoam in various forms (boards, moldings, foam peanuts)
- scissors
- ropes
- marker pen
4. How to Pack Art
It’s time for packing. If you do it yourself, it would be a good idea to go to a nearby gallery or museum. Their expert staff will give you the best advice on how to wrap paintings for moving.
Canvas paintings must be packed particularly carefully. They are not wrapped in bubble and stretch foils due to the possibility of moisture condensation during transport. That would be a real danger of damaging the image. Canvas is packed in brown paper with an acid-free structure and then in corrugated paper. Protect the corners of the frame with special covers, and only then wrap them in bubble wrap or foam padding to protect them from damage.
Then, it is placed in a box of the appropriate size, and a wooden wall or foam peanuts are added to it so that the picture does not move during transport.
Each painting must be separately packed and transported. It must not be exposed to light, heat, moisture, or cold. Artworks like this must be handled with the utmost care.
Another way of packing canvas paintings is to remove them from the frame and put them in special tubes. The tubes have full protection and are usually placed in two. One is inserted into the other for better efficiency. There are also wooden boxes where unframed canvas paintings are packed between acid-free paper and two thin pieces of cardboard and then put into wooden boxes specialized for that purpose. Taking a picture out of a frame and putting it back in is a delicate job, not for amateurs.
Paintings in frames are packed vertically, never horizontally. The frames are often valuable and have gilding and wood carving. They, too, are treated as separate works of art and must be protected.
If you already possess such value, do not allow it to be damaged. Hire a museum or gallery expert who knows exactly how to pack paintings for moving. That way, you will be the safest.
5. Packing framed photos, paintings and posters
Framed photos, paintings, and wall posters usually have glass on the front. First, an X-shaped tape is glued to the glass. This ensures that the glass is fixed during transport and cannot move or break.
Such artworks are first wrapped in paper intended for packaging, but it does not have to be acid-free. Never wrap artwork in newspapers. They contain lead and other chemicals that can damage the photo or painting. After wrapping it in paper, it is wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in a box.
Several smaller photos or paintings can be stacked in the same box, of course, separately curled and with layers of protection in between. However, it would be best to stack them upright.
6. Statuettes, fragile dishes and glasses
Statuettes can be made of marble, bronze, wood, clay, glass, or stone. They are wrapped separately in paper, corrugated paper, and bubble wrap. They are then placed in a box filled with wooden wool or foam peanuts.
Sensitive dishes must be packed separately, with several layers of paper, foil, and corrugated cardboard. They should be put in boxes with plenty of wooden wool or foam boards, peanuts, and maybe crumpled paper.
The boxes should not be too big so that the items do not slide during transport and get damaged or broken.
7. Test movement
When you wrap everything, put it in the box, don’t immediately close it, and glue it. First, shake it gently to see how the contents behave. Are they sliding, bumping, or scraping against each other? If you see that it is unsafe, arrange it another way, secure it with more protective material, or separate it into several boxes.
8. Closing and marking boxes
When you have reached this stage, you have done your best and carefully packed your valuables. Now is the time to close the boxes properly.
Before closing, add a thicker layer of bubble wrap to the top of the box. Then, close the box and stick it in several places with adhesive tape. Secure all joints and edges if they seem weak.
Along with the sticker where you wrote what is inside, write FRAGILE—HANDLE WITH CARE in capital letters with a marker pen on several sides of the box.
9. Positioning in the moving truck
This is an important part of the whole process. Furniture, large items, large boxes, and things that are not breakable are first brought into the truck. Then, the boxes with fragile elements fit on top of that.
You can use blankets or soft blankets to twist the boxes and secure them. A good idea is to put all the artwork boxes in one corner, preferably on one of the beds, and cover them with blankets. This way, you can transport mirrors and antique furniture.
Warn anyone participating in the move where artworks and fragile items are located. Keep everyone informed and ready to respond if there is a problem.
Conclusion
As you’ve realized, the process of packing artwork for a move demands a high level of expertise and attention. There are no quick fixes, but it’s crucial to have professional advice from professional art movers.
All boxes with valuables should be taken to a separate room when unloading. Do not unpack them until the whole house is furnished.
Artworks are decorations, and they are added last. You will also have to think about placing them in the new environment to make them stand out with their beauty.