How to Pack for a Move: The Complete Melbourne Guide

Moving house doesn't have to mean broken glasses, missing cables, or seventeen unlabelled boxes marked "miscellaneous." Here's the system our removalist crews wish every client used.

Start four weeks out: the purge

Before you pack a single box, go room by room and decide what's coming with you. The rule is simple: if you haven't used it in 12 months and it has no sentimental value, it doesn't make the truck. Moving is the best time to audit your possessions. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, and St Vinnies will take almost anything.

The less you move, the less you pay. A 3-bedroom house move with smart decluttering can easily drop from a 3-man crew to a 2-man crew — saving you hundreds of dollars.

Two weeks out: get your boxes right

Don't use random supermarket boxes — they're inconsistent sizes and often damp. Get proper moving boxes from a hardware store or ask your removalist if they supply them. You need:

• Small boxes for books, tools, pantry items (heavy stuff)
• Medium boxes for kitchen items, toys, clothes
• Large boxes for pillows, doonas, light bulbs, lampshades
• Wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes — worth every cent

A good rule of thumb: 10 small, 15 medium, 5 large boxes per bedroom. Add 20% for kitchens and garages.

The packing system that actually works

Pack one room completely before moving to the next. Label every box with: (1) the room it goes to, (2) a brief content description, and (3) a number. Keep a spreadsheet or notes app list — Box 14: Kitchen - saucepans, colander, spice rack.

This feels like overkill until you're unpacking at 10pm and desperately need the box with the bedsheets.

Weight distribution

Heavy items (books, appliances, tools) always go in small boxes. You should be able to lift any box with one hand. A large box full of books is a back injury waiting to happen — for you and for our crew.

Fragile items

Wrap plates vertically (like records), not flat. Use clothing, towels, and tea towels as padding — saves on bubble wrap and means less to buy. Mark fragile boxes on all four sides, not just the top. Our crew looks at the sides when stacking.

One week out: the furniture plan

Measure doorways at both properties. Know in advance that your king-size bed frame won't fit through the hallway without disassembly. Our crew can disassemble and reassemble standard furniture — just tell us when booking so we bring the right tools.

Draw a rough floor plan of your new home and note where major furniture pieces go. Even a rough sketch saves 20 minutes of "can you move that to the other wall" on moving day.

Moving day: what to do

Be ready when the crew arrives. This means: boxes sealed and stacked near the door, appliances defrosted and disconnected, parking arranged for the truck, and children and pets somewhere safe (not underfoot).

The number one cause of delays on moving day is a client who isn't ready. Every hour of delay is an hour of labour cost — and often it pushes the job into overtime rates.

The "open first" box

Pack one box last, load it first, unload it last. Contents: phone charger, toilet paper, kettle and coffee, a change of clothes, medications, kids' essentials, and bed linen. Everything you'll need in the first 12 hours before any other unpacking happens.

This box has saved sanity on thousands of moves. Trust us on this one.