Packing Silverware For Moving

One of the challenges while moving is packing silverware, it can get very unorganized if not packed correctly. Pack And Ship Movers knows how to pack silverware for moving so that theres no mess or tarnish to your silverware, which is one of the many reasons why we movers know how to properly pack your belongings with our many moving services.

But, as this is the age of the Do It Yourselves , those who don’t choose to hire Pack And Ship Movers can at least emulate many of the steps they will take to protect your silverware. After all, that fine silverware can be quite valuable.

Polish & protect

One of the things we recommend is that you begin your moving process by giving your silverware a good polish to protect them during the move. Be sure you do this a couple of days beforehand so that every piece is completely dry.

Next, it is strongly recommended that you obtain cutlery trays to use when moving. Chances are you already keep your silverware in an even better tray, perhaps even one that has a velvet fabric service, but at the very least, use plastic trays. After obtaining your packing trays, divide every type of silverware into bundles of the same type. The best item for moving is Acid-free tissue paper because it keeps your silverware from getting tarnished.

Spoons are by far the easiest to move

The best way to pack silverware for moving is to take a spoon, wrap it with tissue paper, and then put another spoon on top of it. You can bundle up to 10 spoons at a time. Once you have the spoons individually wrapped in tissue paper, then take packing paper and wrap it around the spoons, and then use rubber bands in several places to bind everything in place.

The forks

Then do the same process of wrapping your forks with tissue paper. To prevent the forks from bleeding through, you may want to use two or even three pieces of tissue paper between each fork. Tissue paper is cheap, so feel free to use plenty. 

Once this done, just as you did with the spoons, wrap the forks in packing paper in a bundle and then wrap with rubber bands. The object of the rubber bands is to keep everything tight together. In place of rubber bands, many people use a few zip ties.

The knives

Next are the knives, and we are talking here about flatware knives, not cutlery. Since ordinary knives will not flat, one against each other like forks and spoons will. the best way is to start by laying out a decent sized sheet of packing paper on your table or kitchen counter. Then one at a time, wrap each knife with three sheets of acid-free tissue paper. Then, with a smaller sized piece of packing paper, roll the knife so each one is completely protected and then protected by small rubber bands.

After a group of 10 knives are packed, then roll the protected knives into a bundle with the larger sheet of packing paper. Finally, secure the whole bundle of knives with either zip ties or larger rubber bands.

As the knives in a bundle won’t likely fit into a silverware tray, you likely will need to pack these separately. Some people prefer to pack around six knives together in the the aforementioned manner, and then tuck the small bundle of knives into a sock. This sock bundle can be placed just about anywhere into your overall packing, which makes it very handy. Just make sure that place a piece of colored tape on the outside of the sock bundle so that you can keep track of which are ordinary socks and which bundles contain knives.

If you have several sets of cutlery, chances are you already store them in cutting blocks. Store the knives in these cutting blocks, and use zip ties to keep the knives firmly in place in the cutting block.

Once the knives are in place, wrap the entire cutting board in several layers of packing tape and secure the bundles with packing tape. Some people go the extra step of wrapping the entire cutting block and knives in bubble wrap to ensure that nobody cuts themselves in the move.

Wrapping kitchen items

Besides packing silverware for moving, many amateur cooks have numerous kitchen items such as tasting spoons, ladles, etc. As these items are of odd shapes, they are frequently packed separately.

Our movers often recommend that these items be stored in a separate box.
Wrap each item in one to three layers of tissue paper, and then double wrap them in packing paper. Finally, secure the packing paper with tape.

Having Moving insurance

Another element that makes packing & more more effective is that before you have a moving company move your valuable silverware across the country, that you have your silverware evaluated for its worth. Unlike most items that a moving company does move, antique silverware, if it gets lost in shipment, is extremely difficult to expense.

First, realize that the moving company’s insurance will be limited if, in the rare case, it is lost while shipping. In every case, if you have valuable flatware, movers recommend that you purchase flatware insurance. Yes, there is such a thing, and it’s important to have if you are going to ship valuable silverware across the country. Without such moving insurance, the total loss covered by the moving company or your typical homeowner’s insurance policy may be limited to $500 or less.

Whether you are moving or not, contact your local homeowner’s insurance agent to get a rider on your homeowner’s insurance to cover the true value of your silverware. Some antique silverware is worth $10,000 or more, so if yours are lost in a move, you want to make sure that you at least get comparable dollar-value in filing a claim. The only way to do that is to have your silverware evaluated by an expert and then get the appropriate insurance for it.