Deciding to move overseas can bring about plenty of excitement, as well as plenty of nerves. While there are a number of things to consider, hiring an international removalist can help alleviate much of the stress that comes with the moving process. With that said, there are still ways you can make the jobs of your removalists easier through careful planning and preparation. Here are 6 tips to help you prepare for your international removalists when moving day rolls around.
Try to Keep Kids and Pets Out of the Way
While it’s quite possible that your children are excited for the move, it’s easier on everyone if you arrange to have them out of the house when the removalists are performing their work. This is so that they don’t get in the way of the workers and don’t accidentally cause any injuries to themselves or those around them. If you can, arrange for moving day to occur when your kids are at school, otherwise, organise a babysitter or a playdate for them.
Pets can be another potential hindering factor for removalists. Afterall, it isn’t easy to carry large boxes and pieces of furniture when you have cats and dogs running around your feet. Arrange for a pet sitter to take care of your furry friends or place them outside or in a room away from the workers on moving day.
Dismantle Your Furniture
If you’re paying for international removalists, you probably don’t want half of their time spent pulling apart your furniture. This is just going to waste time and money that could be better spent in other parts of the moving process.
So, before the removalists arrive, grab a screwdriver and get to work disassembling your furniture. Flatten out your bed frame, remove any legs from your tables and chairs, and take out any shelves and drawers from bedside tables, bookshelves, and dressers. This way, once the removalists get to your place, they can focus solely on safely moving and storing your furniture.
Defrost Your Fridge
If you’re planning on moving overseas with your fridge, then you need to make sure that you have properly prepared it in time for the removalists to arrive. This involves taking out all the food and liquids from inside the fridge and placing them in eskies (or eating them, of course). Afterwards, you need to unplug your fridge and open its doors so it begins defrosting. This process may take a few hours, so it’s best to begin defrosting a day before the international moving company shows up.
We also recommend you place towels under your fridge while it’s defrosting so that any runaway liquid doesn’t go all over your floors. Finally, wipe down the insides of the fridge, and it will be all ready for moving.
Tape Down Any Doors
Taping down any doors on your belongings will ensure that they don’t accidentally swing out during the move and cause damage to themselves or other pieces of furniture. Grab some packing or masking tape, and secure any doors on your fridge, entertainment unit, bookshelves, or display cases. In some of these cases, you may be able to remove the doors entirely and reattach them once you arrive in your new country. Either way, securing your doors will save you a lot of worry during your move.
Be Clever with Your Packing
If you are packing boxes before the removalists arrive, then make sure you are being strategic with how you sort out your belongings. As a general rule of thumb, heavier objects (such as books) should be placed in smaller boxes while lighter items (such as clothing) should be placed in larger boxes. This way, you will be saving the structural integrity of your boxes as well as the backs of your removalists.
It’s also important to use the appropriate packing material to protect your fragile belongings. Bubble wrap and wrapping paper are the surest way to safeguard your valuables while in transit overseas.
Label Your Boxes
Finally, when packing your belongings in preparation for international removalists, you’ll want to carefully label your boxes so that unpacking in your new country will be a breeze. Using a permanent marker, write down what items are in that box and what room they will be in once they arrive at your new home. We also recommend you label every side of your boxes, as you won’t know how they’ll be stacked once they finish transporting overseas.
Conclusion
There are a variety of ways you can prepare your belongings and home for international removalists to make their job and your life easier. While there are a lot of things to consider when moving overseas, if you follow these tips and thoroughly plan ahead, then you’ll get to enjoy a stress-free moving day.