Packing Material

Packing material for your move in Berlin

Good packing material determines whether your crockery, books and pictures arrive in one piece. You can request boxes and accessories from us using the form below. If we are also handling your move, we can deliver the material in advance on request so that you can pack at your own pace.

What you typically need for a move

• Standard-size moving boxes for clothes, kitchen utensils and odds and ends
• Small book boxes for anything heavy such as books, files or crockery
• Wardrobe boxes so that shirts and dresses can be transported hanging
• Packing paper and bubble wrap for glass and porcelain
• Packing tape and markers for labelling
• Mattress covers and stretch film for upholstered furniture

How much material do I need?

As a rough guide, many households calculate 15 to 20 boxes per room, and rather more for the kitchen and study. A table with guide values by flat size and packing tips can be found on our page Moving Boxes Berlin. If you would rather not pack at all yourself, our packing service will take care of it with its own material.

Packing tips

Fill boxes completely but not too heavily, and pad any gaps with paper. Stand plates on their edge and wrap glasses individually. Label each box on two sides with the destination room and contents. You will find further advice on preparation in our moving checklist and on the home page of your moving company Berlin.

Which box for which contents?

The most common packing mistake is using the wrong box for the wrong contents. A large box full of books can hardly be lifted, tears open at the bottom and becomes a hazard in the stairwell. A small box filled with duvets, on the other hand, wastes space. We therefore recommend a simple rule of thumb: the heavier the contents, the smaller the box.

Standard moving box

The normal moving box is the workhorse of every move. It is suitable for kitchen utensils, toys, shoes, towels, decorations and anything of medium weight. Make sure the bottom is additionally secured with tape, even if the box has a folding base.

Book box

Book boxes are smaller and can therefore still be carried when fully packed. Besides books, they are the right place for folders, files, tools, records, canned and jarred food and crockery. Better two reasonably light boxes than one that puts someone’s back out.

Wardrobe box

Wardrobe boxes have a rail on which you hang shirts, blouses, suits and dresses on their hangers straight from the wardrobe. The clothes arrive crease-free and can go straight back into the wardrobe at the new address. Especially for work clothes and evening wear, this saves a lot of ironing.

Padding material

Packing paper, bubble wrap and padded blankets fill gaps and protect delicate items. Newspaper also works, but its ink rubs off on light-coloured porcelain. For glasses there are special inserts with compartments, and for plates there are so-called plate boxes in which the plates stand on their edge.

Packing material for special items

Some items do not fit into any box. They need their own solutions so that they arrive without scratches or breakage.

• Televisions and monitors should travel in their original packaging if possible. If that is no longer available, we wrap the device in padded blankets and transport it upright.
• Mirrors, glass panels and pictures are packed with edge protectors and cardboard and also placed upright.
• Lampshades go into a box individually, with nothing pressing on them. Unscrew the bulbs beforehand.
• Mattresses get a mattress cover so that they stay clean in the stairwell and in the van.
• We wrap upholstered furniture in stretch film or blankets; delicate fabrics are first wrapped in blankets so that the film does not lie directly on the fabric.

How much packing material per room?

How many boxes you need depends less on the square metres than on how full your cupboards are. A kitchen with lots of wall cupboards often needs more boxes than a large living room. So go through room by room and roughly count the metres of cupboard space. As a guide from our experience:

• Kitchen: lots of small boxes for crockery and supplies, plus plenty of packing paper
• Living room: book boxes for shelves, standard boxes for decorations and media
• Bedroom: wardrobe boxes for everything that hangs, standard boxes for linen
• Bathroom: few boxes, but bags for anything that could leak
• Cellar and storeroom: often underestimated, ideally sort things out beforehand

If you are unsure, order a little more. It is annoying to find yourself without boxes the evening before the move.

When should you order the material?

Start packing about three to four weeks before the move. First comes everything you will not need until moving day: books, seasonal clothing, decorations, the cellar. The material should therefore be with you by then at the latest. If you order too late, you end up packing under time pressure, and that is exactly when things get broken. If we are carrying out your move, we coordinate the delivery of the boxes with the moving date so that you can start at your own pace.

Labelling correctly saves time when unpacking

A good labelling system makes moving in much easier. Write on each box the destination room in the new home, not the room it comes from. Add the contents in keywords and clearly mark fragile boxes. Some families assign a colour to each room and stick a coloured label on the boxes and on the door in the new home. That way every helper knows immediately where the box belongs.

A box for the first night

Finally, pack a box with everything you will need on the first evening and the next morning: bed linen, towels, toothbrushes, charging cables, a few plates and cups, coffee, toilet paper and tools. It is best to transport this box yourself.

Typical packing mistakes and how to avoid them

Most damage during moves does not happen while carrying, but already during packing. In our experience, the same mistakes come up again and again:

• Boxes are only half full. When stacked, the lid caves in and the contents slide back and forth. Fill gaps with paper or textiles.
• Boxes are too heavy. No box should weigh more than about 20 kilograms, otherwise the bottom tears or someone gets hurt.
• Plates lie flat on top of each other. Placed on their edge, they withstand knocks much better.
• Liquids are not secured. Shampoo, oil and cleaning products belong sealed in a bag before they go into the box.
• Screws get lost. Tape fittings in a labelled bag directly to the piece of furniture they belong to.
• Heavy items are on top. Always pack heavy things at the bottom and light things at the top, both in the box and in the stack.

If you would like to hand over the packing entirely or in part, our team will take care of it with its own material. Many customers pack clothes and books themselves and leave the kitchen, glassware and pictures to us. This way you save time exactly where the risk is greatest.

Packing material and sustainability

Good moving boxes last for several moves. Do not throw them away right after unpacking; fold them up and store them somewhere dry. Friends or neighbours who are moving soon will be glad of them. Packing paper can often be used a second time, too. And instead of bubble wrap, towels, jumpers and bed linen make good padding for crockery, saving material and space at the same time. If you have any questions about the quantity or type of material, we will be happy to advise you. Call us on 030 612 964 73 or use the form.

What we should know for your enquiry

So that we can suggest the right quantity, a few details help us: the number of rooms, whether you have a large kitchen or lots of books, how much is stored in the cellar and storeroom, and whether you would like wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes. Please also tell us when the material should be with you and whether someone will be at home for the handover. We will then get back to you with a concrete proposal.