How to Pack Pillows for Moving

If you choose to pack up your home by yourself – that is, without using professional packing services, then the packing process will take you from room to room until you’re completely done with the most time-consuming task of them all.

Hopefully, you should know that it does matter where you start packing for a move. Ideally, you will tackle first the most difficult rooms to sort and pack – all storage spaces within the house such as the garage, basement, attic, and any spare rooms. And then, when ready, you should continue the crucial task with the easier rooms to pack when moving – the living room, bedroom, and bathroom. 

Packing a bedroom for moving may seem like a fairly straightforward task but that’s not always the case. You may find yourself really unsure about to how to pack some bedroom items, especially extra voluminous soft ones such as pillows, for example.

Are pillows difficult to pack for a move? They can be, yes.

So, what’s the best way to pack pillows for moving?

Take a look at these 6 different ways to pack your pillows so that they arrive in the new place perfectly intact.

Why can pillows be tricky to pack for moving?

At first glance, packing pillows seems easy because those soft goods cannot possibly get broken during a move even if you accidentally drop the boxes that contain them. But the major problem when packing pillows for moving is not their fragility – rather, it’s their large volume that can prove a bit problematic during the house packing process.

Bedding items such as pillows, cushions, blankets, sheets, and comforters do take up plenty of space when packed in cardboard boxes. Also, the soft goods tend to trap air inside the containers they are packed in, which in turn will waste even more valuable storage room during the relocation.

Basically, you don’t want to be forced to pack one single pillow in one large cardboard box. If you do, you’re going to need roughly as many large packing boxes as the number of pillows you’re moving with you. And needless to say, that’s a less-than-ideal option to transport the pillows you own to the new place.

How to Pack Bedding and Linens for Moving

What to do before packing up your pillows

Before we explain the 6 different methods of packing pillows for moving, there are a couple of things you should do first:

Pre-packing task 1. Sort your bed pillows

There’s really no point in packing and transporting some of your bed pillows only to either throw them away shortly after the move or never, ever use them again.

While it’s true that a few more pillows won’t affect the total shipment weight, they will surely take more space than you like inside the rental truck (when moving on your own) or inside the movers’ vehicle (when using a moving company).

So, make sure you sort out all the pillows you have in the house before packing them up. As a rule of thumb, you won’t want to move any pillows that

• are already too old to be used again;
• are too worn out or stained to be used for their intended purpose. Some of them may be torn in places, with their stuffing visible and all;
• you’ve never really liked them or you’ve always found them uncomfortable to sleep on (too thin or too thick);

Since you’re getting ready to move out, it seems like the ideal opportunity to get rid of the pillows, as well as the rest of the bedding items that you don’t intend to use in the foreseeable future.

Pre-packing task 2. Prepare the packing supplies

Once you figure out which pillows you will move with you, it’s time to make sure you’ve got the required packing materials to complete the job.

Here are the major packing supplies you’ll need to protect your pillows:

• Cardboard boxes. Since pillows are big but lightweight, you’re going to need large (18″ x 18″ x 24″, 4.5 cu/ft) or even extra-large (24″ x 18″ x 24″, 6 cu/ft) cardboard boxes.
• Packing paper. You’ll only need clean white wrapping paper to line the moving boxes before you pack them up with pillows.
• Plastic bags. Get hold of brand-new trash bags that are durable as well.
• Vacuum bags. You might want to use vacuum bags to pack up your voluminous pillows, especially if your storage space is very limited.
• Tape. Regular packing tape is just fine.
• A marker. You’re going to need a black marker to label the boxes appropriately once you pack them up.

Where to Get Free Packing Supplies

Option 1. Pack pillows in drawers

One of the best ways to pack pillows for moving is to place them inside the drawers of a chest of drawers or a dresser.

If you’ve already decided to move a piece of furniture with multiple drawers, then it would be an enormous waste of useful storage space to haul those drawers empty.

As a rule of thumb, a chest of drawers is not meant to be moved around with any extra weight inside them, but the good news here is that pillows are very lightweight items, so they are the perfect household items to be tucked inside empty drawers and be transported to the new home that way.

In fact, you should feel free to pack pillows inside any drawers you’re taking with you regardless of which type of furniture they belong to. Sometimes beds will have a few drawers underneath them as extra storage, so you can tuck some of the pillows in there as well.

Also, if you happen to be moving a desk and its drawers are empty, then consider inserting a few bed pillows in them too.

Packing pillows in drawers is super easy – just place a sheet of clean packing paper on the bottom of the drawer and place a pillow inside it. Then, use masking tape to secure the drawer if the latter will be transported together with the main furniture structure. If the drawer will be moved independently, then use stretch wrap over the open part of the drawer to protect the pillow and the drawer itself.

Moving Drawers: In or Out? Empty or Full?

Option 2. Pack pillows in cardboard boxes

Most commonly, you’ll be packing your pillows in large or extra-large moving boxes. Remember that since soft voluminous goods are generally pretty lightweight, you can safely transport them in large cardboard boxes.

Here’s the best way to pack pillows in boxes:

• Pad the bottom of a large cardboard box using several sheets of clean, white packing paper.
• Inspect carefully each pillow you plan to pack inside cardboard boxes. Your pillows have to be 100% dry before you pack them up to avoid potential mold growth. If you find out that they, or any of your bedding items, are even slightly damp (mostly from sweat), then place them in direct sunlight so that they can air dry, or use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process.
• Pack a pillow into the cardboard box.
• Place another pillow over the first one, if the space allows it. Press down on the second pillow to let out any trapped air between the two soft items.
• Add a third pillow to the box, if possible. If not, position a sheet of wrapping paper on the very top and close the container.
• Tape the box shut and label it appropriately by writing PILLOWS, BEDROOM on it.

Packing Timeline: What to Pack When for Moving

Option 3. Pack pillows in wardrobe boxes

If you’ve decided to pack your expensive designer clothes into specialized wardrobe boxes, then you should definitely use the storage space that’s created between the end of the hanging clothes and the bottom of the box.

You can use that bonus storage room inside the wardrobe boxes to arrange shoeboxes full of properly protected shoes (see How to Pack Shoes for Moving). However, you can also use the storage space to pack several pillows that won’t affect much the weight of a wardrobe box when it’s full of hanging clothes.

How to pack pillows in wardrobe boxes? It’s easy enough.

• Make sure the pillows are completely dry. If not, let them air dry in the sun or use a hairdryer.
• Insert the pillows in large plastic bags, preferably brand-new garbage bags that are also durable enough not to rip off almost immediately.
• Arrange the pillows on the bottom of the wardrobe boxes. If there’s enough space, you can stack the pillows one on top of the other. However, make sure you don’t stack them too high up into the hanging clothes – otherwise, they may cause the clothes to wrinkle up which will defeat the original purpose of the wardrobe boxes.

Types of Moving Boxes: The Best Moving Boxes for Your Packing Needs

Option 4. Pack pillows in plastic bags

Without a doubt, the easiest and quickest way to pack pillows when moving is to insert each one into a large garbage bag and then load all of them into the truck and position them strategically, usually between breakable items for additional padding.

Packing pillows in plastic bags is a great option when you’re running out of time and your things need to be packed really, really quickly.

• Get brand-new plastic garbage bags. Pick a brand that you’re familiar with simply because you want to be sure that the plastic bags you’ll be using will be strong enough for the job.
• Insert a pillow into a plastic bag that’s big enough to accommodate it.
• Use pieces of tape to close and seal the open part of the bag. Ensure that the packing tape won’t come into direct contact with the pillow.
• Close the plastic bag using the drawstrings when you’re using drawstring garbage bags, then tie up the strings to secure the pillow.
• Load the plastic-wrapped pillows onto the moving vehicle and place them in such ways as to protect breakable items or to fill in any sizeable gaps created during the truck-loading process.

Note: If the trash bags you’re using seem too thin, then insert each bed pillow into two plastic bags for extra assurance that the soft items will stay protected throughout the move.

Option 5. Pack pillows in vacuum bags

The good news is that pillows are not fragile in any way and you don’t have to worry about breaking them during the relocation. The bad news is that the volume of those bedding pieces is so large that you’re likely to find yourself in dire need of more packing and storage space.

An alternative way to pack pillows for a move is to shrink their volume considerably using specialized vacuum seal bags.

Keep in mind that vacuum storage bags are not used only for storing large yet soft items such as comforters, quilts, blankets, winter jackets, and of course – pillows.

Those airtight plastic bags can be used efficiently during a house move where packing space becomes critical for the success of the entire house-moving operation.

Vacuum seal bags are not very cheap but they should be a good investment because you can also use them for storing voluminous items after the move is complete.

Best of all, using vacuum storage bags is super easy – all you have to do is fill such a vacuum bag with pillows, seal the open end properly, remove the cap of the air valve of the bag, and then suck the air out of the bag using either a vacuum cleaner or a hand pump.  

Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use. Vacuum bags are supposedly able to shrink the original volume of soft goods by 80%, or at least that’s what some manufacturers say.

Option 6. Pack pillows into boxes with other breakables

The final method of packing pillows when moving to a new home is to pack each pillow separately into a box that contains extra-fragile items such as kitchen plates, glasses, lamps, or pieces of art.

Think about it: sleeping pillows are excellent padding materials and since you’re moving them to the new place, why don’t you use them to help protect some of your most breakable possessions?

Here’s what you should do:

• Pack a pillow in a plastic bag as described above;
• Leave enough space on the very top when packing highly breakable items made of porcelain or glass;
• Place the pillow on the top when you’re done packing those super-fragile things. In reality, the pillow will create a very thick padding layer that will cushion the breakables and keep them safe during transport.

How to Pack Fragile Items for Moving

In most cases, packing pillows for moving is a no-brainer task that you shouldn’t worry about too much. Nevertheless, you may still need professional packing services for your other stuff, including all the breakable items in your home.

Also, when you’re moving in a real hurry, professional packers can really save the day for you with their practical experience and operational know-how.