LIOO Moving · Packing Guides
How to Pack Dishes & Glasses for Moving
Dishes break for two reasons: plates stacked flat (the weight concentrates on the bottom plate) and boxes with room to shift. Fix those two things and a full kitchen travels safely even on a bumpy I-285 leg. Here is the exact sequence, box by box.
Step 1 The right box
Small boxes only (1.5 cu ft). Dishes are dense — a medium box of plates is already too heavy to carry safely. If it goes over ~40 lb, split it.
Double-walled if possible. A true dish pack (dish barrel) has thicker walls; it is worth it for a full kitchen. See the moving box guide for sizes and how many you need.
Tape the bottom seam three times. One strip along the seam, two across it.
Step 2 Wrap & load plates
Cushion the bottom with 3–4 inches of crumpled packing paper.
Wrap each plate individually. Corner of the paper over the plate, roll and tuck. For speed you can bundle 3–4 same-size wrapped plates together with one outer sheet.
Load plates vertically, on edge, like records in a crate. A plate on edge can take road vibration; a flat stack cracks from the bottom up.
Heaviest items lowest: plates and serving dishes on the bottom layer, bowls in the middle, glasses on top. Add a paper layer between layers.
Step 3 Glasses & stemware
Stuff each glass with paper first, then wrap it. The inside stuffing is what saves thin glass.
Stemware wraps twice: once around the bowl, once around the whole glass with the stem padded. Load upright, never on its side.
Cell dividers help if you have them, but they don’t replace wrapping — they only stop contact.
Fill every gap. Crumpled paper in every void, a final cushion layer on top. The gentle-shake test: if you hear movement, add paper.
What the pros do differently
Speed comes from setup, not shortcuts: a clear counter as a wrapping station, a stack of paper, and one box for one cabinet at a time so unpacking stays sane. Label every box with the room and contents (“Kitchen — everyday plates”). If the kitchen is large, fragile-heavy, or you are short on time, professional packing handles it in hours with dish barrels and coverage on what the crew packs — it is the room most customers hand off first. For the rest of the house, start with the full packing guide and the supplies checklist.
LIOO’s packing crews pack full kitchens with dish barrels, paper, and labeled boxes — billed hourly, quoted in writing. Tell us the home size and how much is fragile.