How To Pack Wardrobe Boxes

Basic Bits & Pieces of Gold

We know a lot of you guys have been around a while. Long enough to know the ins and outs of properly packing a wardrobe box, right? But like everyone else we are always looking for more of those priceless bits of wisdom.

This month we thought we’d go over some of both – some basics of wardrobe packing along with a few bits of gold worth sharing.

Packing a wardrobe box: Basics & Gold

B – Keep your wardrobe carton flat until you get it to the place you’ll be filling it up. Setting up all your wardrobes in the hall may seem like a time-saver at first, but maneuvering them through doorways, around corners and among furniture and other boxes can be more than a bit of a hassle and potentially damaging. Plus they can really get in the way.

G – Tape the bottom of that wardrobe well, sealing up all the edges. Wardrobes usually end up on the floor of the truck – right along with any dirt, dust and (in a few cases) strange liquids. The clothes hanging in that wardrobe might not be touching bottom, but some things will when we follow this next basic bit…

B – Look for light items to place at the bottom of the box, to fill up all that empty space. Pillows, blankets, comforters and other similarly bulky and relatively light items are perfect for this.

G – Find these light, bulky items and place them in the wardrobe before hanging all those clothes in there.

B – Don’t go crazy trying to cram in as many shirts, blouses, suits, dresses and coats as you possibly can. It will all just end up wrinkled, totally defeating the purpose of the wardrobe.

G – Another reason not to go crazy: That bar is only going to hold so much weight. If that bar caves in the entire carton starts to go down, right along with whatever’s on top of it.

B – Once you’ve finished packing up and you close the flaps at the top, press the exposed ends of the wardrobe bar inward, to keep its edges from catching onto and possibly damaging something like a door jamb, another carton or your crew guy’s hand.

G – Take your damage prevention a step further and tape over these edges so that door jamb or carton or crew guy’s palm will slide right over, no damage done, no splinters and no blood spilled.

And the B & G of taping around the sides of your finished wardrobe, up near the top.

B – The flap on the front of the wardrobe that opens wide so we can get all those clothes in there will usually end up folded underneath the side flaps. This means there isn’t much to support that front top edge. Extra tape around your wardrobe like a LeBron James headband can help keep that side in place, preventing a slow implosion.

G – Run that headband over those bar ends (i.e. LeBron’s ears) and over the tape already there from sealing the top. This will help even more in keeping those suckers covered – and keep your crew’s hands intact.

As always, we welcome your personal golden nuggets of packing knowledge. Got any to share?