How to pack drawers for moving

When you’re moving furniture with drawers, one of the inevitable conundrums will be whether you need to empty the drawers before packing up the furniture pieces for moving. It’s a fair question – one that, unfortunately, does not have a straight answer.

Leaving the drawers full will save you time and will leave more space in the moving truck but may compromise the safety of the whole furniture moving operation, potentially leading to property damage or even to personal injuries due to the extra weight.

Emptying the drawers will make things safer but will require extra time and efforts from you, as well as additional cardboard boxes to pack whatever items happen to be inside those drawers.

Read on to learn the best way to pack drawers for moving.

Should you empty the drawers before moving furniture?

So, do drawers need to be empty before moving? Basically, you’ll have to decide whether to empty the drawers or leave them full on a case-to-case basis.

To help you solve the puzzle, here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Is the furniture piece sturdy enough?

You don’t need to empty the drawers of high-quality furniture that is sturdy, well-built and in good overall shape. Those furniture pieces are heavy (usually made of solid wood) and will withstand the extra weight of their full drawers. In such cases, you’ll only need to secure the drawers in place using stretch wrap (see below for details).

You’ll need to empty the drawers of furniture pieces that feel cheap and flimsy, as is the case of ready-to-assemble furniture. (Note: You should always empty the drawers of IKEA-type of furniture). Also, don’t leave the drawers full if your furniture is fragile or old (antique furniture) because the extra stress may damage it (breaks, cracks, etc.) during the move.

Useful info: How to pack furniture for moving

Can you lift and move the furniture piece?

Loaded furniture pieces weigh more and are more difficult to lift, carry, navigate through tight openings and stairs, and load onto a moving vehicle. Also, you’ll need to keep those furniture items fairly upright when the drawers are full. So, if you’re moving by yourself, it’s usually better to empty the drawers to make the furniture lighter and easier to lift and carry.

On the other hand, if you have a bunch of strong helpers by your side or if you’ve hired professional furniture movers, then you can leave furniture drawers full to save valuable time.

See also: Is it better to move furniture or buy new one?

What’s inside the drawers?

Whether you empty furniture drawers or not will depend mostly on what’s inside them. That makes a lot of sense, if you think about it: you’re not only trying to protect the drawers by packing them adequately, but you’re also trying to keep the things inside those drawers from getting damaged while in transit.

If the drawers contain lightweight, non-fragile soft items such as clothing, towels, pillows, sheets, etc., you can leave them inside.

On the other hand, if furniture drawers have fragile items (objects made of glass or porcelain), small items (things that’ll shift too much), valuable items (jewelry, money, documents, etc.), or heavy items (books, too many CDs or DVDs, etc.), then you’ll need to take those items out of the drawers and pack them separately in suitable cardboard boxes.

Good to know: How to pack bedding for moving

How to pack drawers for moving

Packing drawers for moving seems pretty straightforward, and luckily, in most cases, it is just that. As long as you follow a few basic packing guidelines, you should be done packing your furniture drawers in no time. And safely too.

As mentioned above, you have two options to pack drawers for a move: 1) empty the drawers, pack their contents separately, and then protect the drawers, or 2) leave the drawers full and secure them so that they don’t open during transport.

Option 1. Empty the drawers, then pack them adequately

To sum it up, empty the drawers of your furniture when:

• the furniture is flimsy, old, antique, or not in good shape;
• the drawers contain fragile items, small items, heavy objects, or valuables;
• you don’t have the required manpower to lift and carry the extra heavy furniture pieces.

Here’s how to pack empty drawers for moving:

1. LINE the inside of the boxes with sheets of clean packing paper first for added protection of your belongings;
2. EMPTY one drawer at a time when the furniture has multiple storage compartments. Start from the bottom drawer and work your way up, if applicable;
3. TRANSFER whatever’s inside the drawer into suitable moving boxes;
4. STAY organized when packing. When you finish with one drawer, place two sheets of clean packing paper in the box as a divider, then continue with another drawer. This way, it’ll be much easier to unpack in the new home;
5. PACK everything firmly to avoid any movement during transport. If there’s any loose space when you’re done packing, place crushed paper to fill in those empty spaces;
6. TAPE the box shut and label it properly;

Now it’s time to CHOOSE how to pack the empty drawers once you’ve packed whatever was inside them. Basically, you have two options:

• Option 1: POSITION the empty drawers back into their original places in the furniture piece, then use a few small pieces of masking (Painter’s) tape (tape that won’t damage the delicate finish by leaving nasty residue on it) to keep it from opening during transport. Another thing you can do to keep dresser drawers closed when moving is to put a few layers of stretch wrap over them and around the entire furniture piece in order to immobilize them. Finally, wrap the entire furniture piece in protective furniture blankets.
• Option 2: PACK the drawers separately from the main furniture structure. This one’s easy: wrap each drawer in furniture blankets, then tape those protective covers with tape to keep them from unwrapping.

Pick the option that best works for you. Leaving the empty drawers in the furniture will save you storage space in the truck but it will make the furniture item a bit heavier to lift and carry. Then again, packing the empty drawers separately will take more storage room in the moving vehicle but it will make the task of moving your furniture pieces a fraction easier.

Read also: How to pack clothes for moving

Option 2. Leave the drawers full, then secure them well

To sum it up, leave the drawers of your furniture loaded when:

• the furniture is of high-quality, sturdy, and in really good shape;
• the drawers contain non-fragile and lightweight items such as clothes and bedding;
• you have secured enough manpower to lift and carry the extra heavy furniture items.

Note that this drawer packing method is very convenient and highly applicable when packing dresser drawers full of clothing and bedding.

Here’s how to pack full drawers for moving:

1. TAKE OUT each drawer and place it carefully on the ground;
2. ADD soft pieces of clothing or bedding items if the drawer is half-empty or if there are visible empty spaces in it. First of all, it’s important to minimize any instances of items shifting inside it. And secondly, since you’re using the drawers as moving containers, then why not fit more non-fragile and lightweight things inside them?;
3. PLACE a couple of clean paper sheets over the contents of the drawer as added protection;
4. WRAP the open top part of each drawer with several tight layers of stretch wrap (plastic wrap) to keep the items safely inside.

Once you’ve used plastic wrap around the full drawers as an effective sealing technique, you cannot put back those sealed drawers in their original slots. Instead, wrap each one in a moving blanket or two to make sure they reach the new home in perfect condition.

See also: How to use plastic wrap for moving