How to Pack Plates for Moving: 5 Flatware Packing Steps

When you’re getting ready to move out, packing up your entire home should be, without a doubt, the task with one of the highest, if not the highest priority on your moving calendar.

If you take a closer look at that particular entry in your personal Moving Checklist, you should know that the packing process should always start from the premises that are the toughest ones to sort and pack, and end with the rooms or areas that are much easier to pack up for moving.

Of course, this packing strategy does make sense for a number of good reasons, the most important one being that you are expected to pack up your storage areas (garage, basement, attic, spare room) AND your kitchen before you run out of time, energy, and motivation.

Speaking of the most delicious room in a house or apartment, many home movers tend to underestimate the time required to pack up their kitchens when moving out.

Hiding in numerous cupboards and drawers, the staggering number of plates, dishes, glasses, cups, saucers, bowls, pots, pans, silverware, and other weird-looking objects – whose real purpose has been long forgotten – should be sending out a signal of packing urgency to their owners.

Packing your fragile and breakable kitchen plates can be rather challenging, especially if you’re moving out for the first time. However, you can still do it safely as long as you follow this guide on how to pack plates for moving.

Step 1. Gather the necessary packing supplies

You can’t possibly start the process of packing your plates for moving without having the proper supplies for a safe packing experience.

Keep in mind that packing kitchen plates for a move is a tricky business due to the fact that the shallow containers are made from ceramic materials (bone china, porcelain, glazed earthenware, or stoneware) and are extra fragile as a result.

So, when packing dishes for moving, your priority should always be to pad each delicate piece so well that it survives the house move in one piece. And this is exactly why you’re going to need the proper materials for packing kitchen plates.

Dish boxes

The best packing boxes for kitchen plates are called dish boxes – also known as dish barrels or even dish packs.

These containers are made of a stronger material – a double-layered corrugated cardboard compared to the single-layered one of standard moving boxes. Dish packs do cost a bit more than ordinary cartons but they are well worth the extra investment because their thicker walls provide much better overall protection for all the breakables found in your kitchen.

Have in mind that plates, glasses, and other fragile kitchen items can become heavy when stacked, so in order to risk less, use small to medium-sized moving boxes.

Packing paper

When packing kitchen plates in boxes, the main difference between a quick and safe packing process and a laborious and unsafe one is the abundant presence of soft white packing paper.

In reality, safety when packing dishes for a long-distance move depends primarily on the right usage of packing paper. The reason is simple enough – the more paper there is around a delicate kitchen item and inside the moving container, the more insulated that object will be against undesirable contact with the other objects in the box, as well as from harmful outside impacts during transport.

The use of newsprint can also be a good choice with some limitations – read on for more information.

Bubble wrap

Of course, the well-known plastic material with air-filled bubbles is designed to protect fragile and breakable items during transportation, so it’s only natural that it will come in very handy when packing dishes for shipping.

Be sure to get as much bubble wrap for your upcoming dish-packing marathon as possible but be aware that much cheaper alternatives are also available in your home – read on to find out what they are.

Packing tape

If you’re serious about packing your plates in the safest way possible, then you’re going to need a good amount of high-quality packing tape to seal your packing job with the success it deserves.

Alternative packing supplies

With the exception of a number of cardboard boxes that you can get without paying a single penny (free moving boxes), all other plate packing supplies will probably cost you. Therefore, it’s important to take advantage of free alternative packing materials that won’t burden your moving budget additionally.

• Old newspapers can be found lying around in most homes and they can be put to good use when packing plates for moving. However, be mindful of the ink stains that newsprint can easily leave on some surfaces, so only use cheap paper as cushioning material or wrap it over a layer of clean packing paper.
• Towels are excellent padding materials that will let you achieve two mini-goals with minimum effort – moving your towels with you AND keeping your kitchen breakables safe at the same time.

A set of markers

You should prepare at least two permanent markers for labeling the dish packs once you have packed them. Use the black marker to write the content of each box (PLATES) and the destination room (KITCHEN). Then, use the red marker to label each dish pack with FRAGILE and HANDLE WITH CARE.

How to Pack Fragile Items for Moving

Step 2. Prepare the moving boxes

The cartons you intend to use should be ready before you begin to fill them up with various kitchen items. Here’s how to prepare the dish boxes (or standard moving cartons) for the task of packing kitchen plates when moving out.  

Tape the central bottom line of a small or medium cardboard box up to one-third of its sides to reinforce the bottom. This initial step will ensure that the containers filled up with porcelain plates will eventually withstand the weight of their fragile contents without breaking.

Insulate effectively the thin cardboard bottom of the container with your prized kitchenware. There are several ways you can make this happen:

• place a bottom layer of crumpled pieces of newsprint or packing paper to create a soft protective bed for your delicate kitchen plates;
• cover the box bottom with a few sheets of bubble wrap to absorb all possible transportation shocks; or
• lay a thick hand towel to serve as an excellent insulating material for the breakables you’re about to pack in the moving box.

And now that you have followed the above steps, it’s time to actually learn how to pack dishes when you move.

How to Fold a Moving Box

Step 3. Pack your plates using the individual packing method

This method is the most widely used one for packing breakable dishes while getting ready to move to another home. Follow the steps below to make sure your fragile kitchen plates remain perfectly safe throughout the move.

• SPREAD OUT your sheets of soft packing paper onto your packing station – in most cases, it’ll be your kitchen table – and place your first kitchen plate in the very center of the top sheet.
• GRAB two sheets of packing paper from one corner and pull them over the fragile piece of flatware until it is covered completely. Repeat this motion from the other 3 corners and tuck in the paper ends to better protect the plate.
• TRANSFER the wrapped-up kitchen plate into the box by placing it on its edge. Never lay packed dishes flat in the dish box as the weight of the top pieces could potentially damage the ones below them. In this line of thought, always make sure that your heavier dishes are placed first in the moving container while the lighter flatware pieces stay on the upper part of the box.
• REPEAT the above packing steps until the box bottom is completely covered with tight paper bundles. Then, create a second layer from crumpled newspapers, bubble wrap, or towels, and start arranging the second row of flatware pieces as described above.
• CONTINUE wrapping safely your plates with packing paper and transferring them into the awaiting moving box until the latter is full.
• FILL all empty spaces between the wrapped and arranged kitchen plates with newspapers in order to ensure that nothing moves inside the dish box during transportation. This space optimization step is essential, so don’t even think about skipping it.
• TEST whether you’ve managed to immobilize the fragile kitchen pieces inside the dish box by lifting it and shaking it very slightly.  Ideally, you won’t be able to feel anything moving inside the carton, not even slightly.
• PLACE one final protective layer of your preferred padding material, close the lids, and tape them shut with a generous helping of your quality packing tape.
• TAKE a marker pen and label the ready barrel box on at least 2 sides with its contents /KITCHEN PLATES/, destination room /KITCHEN/, and appropriate handling instructions /HANDLE WITH CARE, FRAGILE/ for whoever will be transporting them to the moving vehicle and then into the new residence.

This concludes the individual dish packing method. Repeat the above steps for packing any fragile pieces of flatware you own. Have in mind that the same steps can be successfully used for packing glasses for moving, as well as other kitchen breakables, such as cups, saucers, bowls, pots, and so on.

How to Pack Glasses for Moving

Step 4. Pack your plates using the bundled packing method

The individual plate packing method offers the best protection for your kitchen pieces but its main drawback is that it takes much longer to complete than its other alternative – the bundled packing technique.

The technique of packing kitchen plates in a bundle is known to save valuable time and a bit more space in the dish box, so take advantage of it as long as the kitchen pieces you’re about to pack are not too valuable and you don’t need the best possible protection for them.

For this particular dish packing approach, you will need plenty of inexpensive paper plates which you can purchase in bulk from your nearest supermarket.

Here’s how to pack plates for moving using bundles:

• LAY a kitchen plate in the middle of the stack of packing paper.
• PLACE a paper plate on top of it, then a breakable piece on top of the paper one, and so on until you have a neat pack of about 5- 6 porcelain plates. The breakable pieces can be fewer or more than 5 or 6 depending on the size of the plates.
• GRAB two sheets of packing paper from one corner and pull them over the very top fragile piece of flatware until it is covered completely. Repeat this from the other 3 corners until the top plate is well protected.
• USE packing tape generously to secure the entire bundle
• TRANSFER bundled plates in the already padded dish pack.
• REPEAT the packing process until you have a nicely arranged first row. Then, lay a protective layer as described above and begin your second row of wrapped-up kitchen pieces if the space in the box allows.
• MAKE sure there are no empty spaces inside the moving container by filling them up with appropriate filling and padding materials.
• LIFT the dish box off the ground and shake it slightly in order to test whether you have managed to secure all the kitchen plates inside. If you’ve done the job correctly, then you shouldn’t feel anything shifting inside, be it slightly.
• TAPE the dish barrel shut and label it properly as described above.

How to Pack Your Kitchen for Moving

Step 5. Follow these safety tips for packing plates

You should know that glassware and porcelain plates are right on the top of the list of the most commonly damaged items when moving house due to their extraordinary fragility.

So, to keep broken pieces and strong headaches away, here’s some additional advice on how to pack plates safely for moving.

• Inspect closely each kitchen plate before you pack it up for moving. If you notice that a piece of flatware is damaged in any way – cracked, chipped, stained, etc., then it won’t make much sense to transport it to the new home’s kitchen unless it has strong sentimental value for you. Save time and money by discarding the kitchen plates that are just not worth the effort.     
• Always use the individual dish packing method when packing expensive and valuable plates or plate sets. Also, make sure you add an extra protective layer of bubble wrap over the kitchen piece that’s already wrapped up in soft packing paper.
• Be careful not to make dish boxes too heavy – otherwise, you’ll run the risk of having the box bottom break under the very weight of its contents. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t go over the reasonable limit of 40 lbs. even for well-reinforced cardboard boxes.
• Be extra cautious when taking your ready dish boxes out of your home and loading them into the moving vehicle. One wrong step on your part could prove to be rather harmful to even a perfectly packed and padded dish box.

Know your own limitations as a packing expert. If you own expensive dish sets, antique dishes, or plates of high sentimental value, then it’s only normal that you should worry about their survival during the house move.

In such cases, as well as in instances when you are running out of time, the wisest choice is to let professional packers pack up your kitchen. Not only will the pro packers possess the extensive experience to pack your kitchen items quickly and safely, but the dish boxes packed by the pros will be properly insured while on the road to your new home.

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