Packing Techniques for Moving Art and Other Valuables

A professional mover carefully wrapping a large framed oil painting in thick brown packing paper and bubble wrap.

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Packing Valuable Items for a Move

When it comes to your fine art and other valuables, it's important to properly pack and transfer these items during your move. You are going to need the correct packing supplies for art to ensure the safety of these meaningful possessions during the moving journey. You will also want to follow proper packing techniques to move art during the moving process. Fine art and valuable glassware can easily become damaged when moving, and the St. Louis movers at All My Sons Moving & Storage want to help ensure that you keep your valuables protected. We understand how important and sentimental these items are to people, so use our packing technique guide for properly handling and moving art and valuables during your next move.

Large Framed Artwork and Canvases

You want to invest in heavy-duty picture boxes to pack your large artwork in. These work best for ensuring minimal damage once unpacking. You then want to find painters tape or masking tape to mark an “X” over large pieces with glass. This tape technique prevents the glass from shattering when in the box. All My Sons St. Louis recommends applying this quick method to all art that lives behind glass. Normally you would wrap glassware or other valuables in newspaper, however in this case, you don't want printed ink to transfer onto your art canvas. This could easily happen, so we suggest you find plain brown wrapping paper for all canvases. For extra protection, you can add corner protectors to all artwork and add a layer of foam in the front and back of the piece before you store it in a box. Finally, you want to securely store the properly packed artwork in the picture box carefully. No damage will occur if you follow these procedures!

Small Accent Wall Art

You still want to handle your smaller art pieces with the same care as the larger artwork to ensure safety. Individually wrap each piece with newspaper as well as bubble wrap before packing it up. Place each item vertically into a box that is lined with foam padding. You can substitute the foam padding with bubble wrap for the same effect. You can apply the same tape technique for small pieces that are shielded with glass. Apply these packing techniques to move art of any size.

Valuables and Antiques

Antique sculptures may seem harder to pack and protect because of their unique shapes and sizes, however there are techniques for tackling these valuable items. Protect your antiques by adding pieces of foam padding into the crevices and around the delicate components of each item. Once this step is completed, you should wrap each valuable into a sufficient layer of bubble wrap. Place the wrapped item into an individual box that is filled with foam padding. For your valuables, you can also use packing peanuts inside the boxes to ensure protection.

Make sure you take the time to properly pack each art piece or valuable when you begin the moving process. The last thing you want is to open damaged items that could cost a fortune to fix or are even unrepairable. These packing techniques to move art will guarantee your precious items a successful move.

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