How to Pack Rugs for Moving: We Got It Covered

So, you’ve got a house move looming? It’s okay, we got you covered, like we always do.

Some household items will always be more difficult to pack and move than others. For example, all the area rugs in your home – you can’t just pack those in cardboard boxes, can you?

Oh, and you shouldn’t just roll your area rugs any way you feel like and throw them into the back of a moving truck.

When packing rugs for moving, you just have to follow the proper packing steps to make sure the floor coverings reach the new home in pristine condition.

That’s especially critical when you’re moving very expensive and even more valuable oriental rugs, such as high-quality hand-woven Persian rugs.

Read on to learn the best way to pack area rugs when moving – both the ordinary stiff-backed inexpensive rugs and the extraordinary hand-made super-expensive Persian rugs.

How to pack rugs for moving: small area rugs

First of all, let’s describe in great detail how to pack rugs when moving – the small fairly inexpensive types of rugs that can be commonly found in most homes.

The good news is that small area rugs are much easier to pack and move than large expensive oriental ones – you can wrap those rugs all by yourself and you’ll only need some basic packing supplies such as packing paper, a couple of strings or twines per rug, and some packing tape.

The bad news? You may have a hard time deciding whether it’ll be worth packing and moving some of your cheap area rugs in the first place.

After all, you should bear in mind that it can be much more expensive to move area rugs to another home than to just leave them behind and buy new ones after the move.

Here’s how to pack a rug for moving:

Step 1. Decide if moving your rug is worth it

Decide on a case-by-case basis whether your common area rugs are worth the time, money, and effort to be packed and transported to the new home.

Here are some questions to help you decide the fate of your rugs:

• Are they relatively new?
• What’s the quality of their craftsmanship: high, low, really low?
• Are they worn out, stained, or torn?
• How much did you pay for them in the first place?
• Do you like them, like REALLY like them?
• Do they have any sentimental value for you?

Step 2. Clean the rug before packing it

Clean the rug before packing it for a move because you wouldn’t want to move any accumulated dust, dirt, hairs, bad odors, and all sorts of unwanted debris to the new house or apartment. Don’t skip this step, especially when you have a dog, a cat, or a bird as a pet.

So, vacuum the area rug thoroughly, then, if possible, leave the rug out in the sun for several hours.

If an area rug happens to be seriously stained or soiled up but you’re still not willing to part with it, then you can have it professionally cleaned before packing and moving it.

Step 3. Turn the rug upside down

You need to do this when you’re about to roll a rug for shipping so that the rug pile is facing the floor during the packing process.

This is an important detail to have in mind to avoid untimely damage to your area rugs and small carpets.

If you choose to disregard this safety step and roll your rug with the fibers facing you, then you’ll put additional pressure on the rug’s backing and m stretch or even crack it since the majority of inexpensive rugs happen to have stiff backs.

Step 4. Identify the direction of the rug pile

Identify the direction of the rug pile. Area rugs are manufactured in a way that creates a specific direction of the fibers – aka as a nap. So, to pack area rugs properly, you’ll need to determine the nap orientation.

Do this by lifting one end of the area rug and running your palm over its fiber surface – you should feel the resistance of the fibers when you’re going in one direction and a smooth feeling when you’re going the other way.

When folding rugs for moving, you’ll need to do it against the grain.

Step 5. Roll the area rug against the grain

This step is all about learning how to roll a rug for shipping.

So, start rolling it slowly and carefully in order to form a tight cylinder-like bundle. Keep folding your area rug straight – should you feel that the fold is starting to go left or right, go back a little bit and straighten it up.

Ultimately, a good and tight rug roll will guarantee you much easier and safer transportation of your area rug to the new residence.

Step 6. Tie up the area rug

Tie the rolled-up area rug using one piece of string or twine on one end, and another one on the other end of the cylinder-shaped rug bundle.

You don’t want your folded area rug to start unfolding while you’re carrying it to the moving vehicle or worse – inside the truck.

You’re strongly advised not to use packing tape to tie up your rug as it will damage it.

Step 7. Wrap up the area rug

Wrap your rolled-up area rug completely using a couple of sheets of hard brown paper – also known as Kraft paper, then tape it up.

One big roll of brown Kraft paper (30 x 1800 inches, 150 feet long) costs around $20 and can be bought online or at most home improvement stores.

If you don’t have that specific type of wrapping paper, then you can use the regular white soft packing paper, but you’ll need to use more sheets at the same time to provide the same level of protection.

Step 8. Use paper only for wrapping your rug

Use only paper to wrap a rug for shipping.

Don’t wrap your rug in plastic because thick plastic materials will prevent the rug fibers from breathing and may trap moisture, thus creating the perfect environment for mold and mildew to form and grow.

That’s especially important if you’re wrapping a rug for storage.

How to Protect Floors When Moving

How to pack oriental rugs for moving: large Persian rugs

If you’re lucky enough to own very big and very expensive oriental rugs (most likely Persian ones), then you won’t need to waste any time figuring out whether you’ll take them with you to the new residence or not.

In general, hand-made Persian rugs cost a fortune and are often too valuable to part with them under any circumstances, so you’d better get ready to learn how to pack an oriental rug for moving.

Below you’ll find the best way to pack an oriental rug for moving – in this case, it’s a hand-made Persian rug with dimensions 10 feet x 13 feet.

The important thing to remember when packing large oriental rugs is that they are not rolled up like small inexpensive rugs – rather, valuable and expensive Persian rugs are folded in a special way (read on to find it out) that makes them much smaller, way more compact and definitely safer to transport to a new home.

Here’s how to pack an oriental rug for a move:

Step 1. Vacuum the oriental rug

Vacuum the oriental rug carefully before packing it up to avoid taking any unwanted dust, dirt, or odors to the new home.

If the large carpet has any persistent stains or dirty spots, then you should probably consider hiring professional carpet cleaning services to get it cleaned properly before the move.

Step 2. Turn the Persian rug upside down

You need to do this so that the fibers are facing the floor.

Due to the serious dimensions of the oriental rug, it’s best to do this step together with a helper – a family member should be enough. Nevertheless, you can still do it entirely on your own – it’ll just take more time and more effort from you to do it.

Don’t underestimate the importance of this step – transporting big rugs to another home is not a joke, especially when it comes to seriously expensive Persian rugs.

Step 3. Fold the Persian rug lengthwise into thirds

Now, this step on how to fold an oriental rug is really crucial, so pay close attention.

Take one carpet corner and fold it toward the center until you reach the imaginary central longitudinal line of your big carpet. You don’t have to measure it perfectly, just gauge it roughly.

After that, take the other end and place it over the folded part so that your large oriental rug gets folded into thirds. In the end, you should have a long 3-ply fold of carpet ready for the next step.

Step 4. Find the direction of the nap

Figure out the direction of the nap (rug pile) as explained above when we talked about how to pack a small area rug for moving.

To do it, rub your hand to and forth over the fibered surface and see which direction feels smooth (with the nap) and which direction offers resistance (against the nap).

This is an important step because you’ll need to fold and then roll the Persian rug against the rug pile.

Step 5. Fold the oriental rug properly

Fold the oriental rug from the proper end.

To do this, step onto the folded-in-thirds rug (take off your shoes before you do it), walk to the appropriate end, take it with your hands, and fold the rug over itself as you walk backward.

Again, do this against the rug fibers to keep your expensive rug damage-free.

Do not fold the rug all the way to the opposite end but leave about 3 feet of the carpet uncovered.

Step 6. Roll the oriental rug

Roll the oriental rug starting from the end you just folded over and go in the direction of the uncovered 3-feet part.

Roll it tightly in a bundle – it should take you approximately 3 or 4 folds to get to the exposed section which you’ll fold over in the next step.

Step 7. Form a rug bundle

Complete the oriental rug bundle by folding the 3-foot section onto itself one time, then folding that same two-fold section over the big rug bundle to complete it.

The best thing about using this special carpet folding technique is that it does not put too much pressure on its core (foundation). How?

That technique takes advantage of the innate inclination of the large area rug to roll and fold in a natural way without exposing it to any strong external forces that can damage it during the house move.

Step 8. Secure the folded rug

Secure the folded-up Persian rug with two pieces of string or twine at each end.

Don’t tie it up too tightly – the idea is to make sure it won’t start to unfold during the haul.

In the end, your huge oriental rug measuring 10’x13’ should be reduced in size to a 4’ x 2’ tight bundle that’s ready to be moved more safely and much more easily to the new home.

Step 9. Wrap the rug bundle with paper

Wrap the Persian rug bundle with Kraft paper so that it won’t get dirty during the actual move.

This final packing step can save you from headaches after the move in case your expensive oriental rug does get filthy.

So, stay on the safe side, use as many paper sheets as you need to cover the folded rug completely, then tape those sheets to keep them in place.

Packing rugs for moving is not a complicated task, so you should be able to do it without any major issues even when you don’t have anybody to give you a hand.

As you can see, there’s a fundamental difference between packing and moving a cheap small area rug and packing and moving a super-sized and super-expensive oriental rug to another home.

Despite the differences in both packing techniques, the last thing you’d want is to see any type of damage to your valuable or even priceless oriental rugs.

So, if you feel nervous about your skills to pack your rugs for moving in the safest way possible, get a free quote from professional packers to know how much they’ll charge you to pack all your area rugs professionally, plus any other household items you wish to take with you.

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