How to Pack for a Removal: A Practical Guide From Perth Removalists

Packing is the part of moving that most people underestimate. You book the removalists, sort the lease dates, organise the truck, and then the week before, you realise you haven't packed a single box. We've seen it hundreds of times. We've also seen what happens when someone packs their entire house into black garbage bags to save money on boxes. More on that shortly. Here's how to actually do it properly.

Before You Pack Anything

First, declutter. You're paying to move everything that goes on the truck, so don't pay to move things you're going to throw out at the other end anyway. A garage sale or a trip to the tip before you start packing saves time, money, and space.

Get the right boxes. This is where most people go wrong before they've even started packing. Small boxes are for heavy items: books, tools, canned food. Large boxes are for light, bulky items: pillows, linen, clothing. Not the other way around. A large box full of books is a back injury waiting to happen, and a box bottom waiting to give way.

On tape: don't just run one strip down the centre seam of a box base and call it done. Run three parallel strips across the seam, then two strips across the edges to form an H shape. It sounds excessive until you've watched a box bottom fall out halfway down a front path. The H-tape method distributes the weight across the structural folds of the cardboard. It takes 20 extra seconds and it works.

For a 3-bedroom house, start four weeks out. Not the weekend before. Here's a realistic breakdown:

• Week 1: Declutter. Pack the things you won't touch before moving day: shed items, holiday decorations, books, anything in storage.
• Week 2: Spare bedrooms, formal dining room, high-shelf kitchen items you rarely use.
• Week 3: Main living spaces, artwork, most of the kitchen.
• Week 4: Daily clothes, the last of the kitchen. The only things left unpacked should be what's going in your essentials box.

Room by Room

Kitchen

Plates and bowls go in vertically, on their edges, like records in a crate. Not flat in a stack. Plates are structurally stronger on their edge and handle the vibration of the truck much better that way. Each glass gets wrapped individually with packing paper stuffed inside the cavity, then packed upright. Never on their sides.

Put a layer of crumpled packing paper at the bottom of every fragile box before anything goes in. It acts as a shock absorber. If you've run out of bubble wrap, clean towels, tea towels, and winter jumpers all do the job. Avoid newspaper, the ink transfers and you'll be washing every plate when you arrive.

Don't pack aerosols, chemical cleaners, open tins of paint, pool chemicals, or anything flammable. Removalists can't legally transport them, and a hot Perth summer truck is not the place for a can of spray paint.

The kettle goes in the essentials box. Not the truck. More on this below.

Bedrooms

Wardrobe boxes are worth it if you have a lot of hanging clothes. They have a built-in rail and your clothes transfer straight from the wardrobe on their hangers. No folding, no creasing, and they unpack straight into the new wardrobe.

Heavy items like jeans, winter coats, shoes go in your rolling suitcase. Suitcases are built to take that weight and they wheel easily onto the truck. For dressers with clean clothes still folded inside, leave them in the drawers. Pull the drawers out to lighten the dresser itself for the move, then slide them back in once the frame is in the truck.

Bag the screws when you dismantle bed frames and tape the bag directly to the frame. You will not find loose screws in a box of 40 identical boxes at 11pm. You will find the bag taped to the frame.

Living Room

TVs, large mirrors, and framed artwork, leave these to us. Unless you kept the original manufacturer's box with the custom foam inserts, a flat screen TV wrapped in a doona and some tape is not adequately protected. We use padded TV crates and purpose-built picture boxes with corner guards. It's not worth the risk on a screen that cost $2,000.

Lamp bases can be wrapped in packing paper or a pillowcase. Remove the shade and pack it separately shades crush easily if anything goes on top of them. Books go in small boxes, always. A large box of books is not a box anyone can safely lift.

Bathroom

Toiletries leak under pressure in a moving truck. Put lids on tight, then double-bag them in a zip-lock or a tied plastic bag before they go in the box. It takes 30 seconds and saves you unpacking shampoo-soaked towels at the other end. Medications that need temperature control travel with you in the car, not the truck.

The Essentials Box: Do This First

Pack this box before anything else and put it in your car, not the truck. On moving day, especially in the middle of a Perth summer, you will need it before the day is done.

What goes in it:

• Toilet paper
• Phone chargers for everyone in the house
• Bedding and pillows for the first night
• A box cutter to open everything else
• Basic toiletries and medications
• Pet food and a bowl if you have animals
• The kettle, two mugs, coffee or tea
• Water bottles: fill them before you leave
• Sunscreen if you're moving in summer, which in Perth is most of the year

The items people most commonly forget to put in the essentials box are the kettle, the router, and phone chargers. All three end up somewhere in the middle of a fully loaded truck. Finding them at 9pm is nobody's idea of a good first night.

How to Label Boxes

Write on the side of the box, not the top. When boxes are stacked on the truck, in a garage, or in a hallway, you can only see the sides. A label on the top is invisible until the box is the last one left.

The system that works: room name, top three contents, and where it goes in the new place. "KITCHEN — Pots, Pans, Baking Trays — Lower Cupboards" is useful. "KITCHEN STUFF" is not.

Colour coding speeds things up on moving day. Pick a colour per room, use that colour tape or marker on the box, and stick a matching piece of coloured paper on the doorframe at the new house. We can match colours without asking questions, which keeps the job moving. Mark fragile boxes on the side and on the top, and add "THIS WAY UP" with an arrow. If it's only on the top, it gets missed when the box is sitting in a stack.

The Most Common Mistakes

Overpacking large boxes with heavy items is the one we see most often. The box looks like it can take more, so more goes in. Then no one can lift it, or the bottom gives way. Use small boxes for anything heavy. Fill large boxes with the light stuff.

The worst packing situation we've come across: a customer who packed their entire house into large black garbage bags to avoid buying boxes. Over 80 bags, all identical, including clothes, kitchenware, bedding, and some fragile ceramics. On moving day, none of the bags could be stacked because they had no structure, so everything had to go flat across the truck floor. That took up twice the space and nearly twice the time. During the move, family members helping out grabbed three bags they assumed were rubbish and put them in the council bulk waste bin at the front of the house. The bin was collected an hour later. Those bags had electronics and family photos in them. Gone permanently. All because the bags looked identical to actual rubbish bags.

Buy boxes. It is not where you save money on a move.

What to Leave to Us

Some things are better handled by the removalist team rather than packed by the customer.

Flat screen TVs are at the top of the list. Unless you have the original box and foam inserts, let us crate it. Large mirrors and framed artwork need purpose-built picture boxes and corner guards that not cardboard taped around the edges. Mattresses get heavy-duty commercial mattress bags from us. Garbage bags taped together are not the same thing and they don't protect the mattress properly in transit.

If you want help with the full pack as well as the move, we offer a packing and unpacking service in Perth. Worth considering for a large house or if time is tight before moving day.

Need Help With Your Perth Move?

If you've got the packing sorted and need a reliable crew for moving day, get in touch. We handle home removals across Perth and furniture removals, fully insured with no hidden costs.

You might also find these useful before you book:

• How to choose a removalist in Perth without getting burned
• How much do removalists cost per hour in Perth — 2026 guide

FAQ SECTION

How far in advance should I start packing for a move?

For a 3-bedroom house, four weeks is realistic. Week one for decluttering and packing things you won't need before moving day. Week two for spare rooms and rarely used kitchen items. Week three for main living spaces and most of the kitchen. Week four for daily clothes and the last of the kitchen, leaving only your essentials box for moving day. Starting the weekend before always ends the same way, panic packing at 3am.

What should I put in my essentials box?

Toilet paper, phone chargers, bedding for the first night, a box cutter, basic toiletries, medications, pet food if needed, the kettle and mugs, and water bottles. This box travels in your car, not the truck. The most commonly forgotten items are the kettle, the router, and phone chargers": all three are miserable to hunt for at the end of a long moving day.

What items can removalists not transport?

Gas bottles and jerry cans, aerosols, spray paint, open tins of oil-based paint or thinners, pool chemicals, pesticides, heavy bleach, and open food containers that can leak or ferment in transit. Insurance and safety regulations rule these out. Use them up, dispose of them properly, or arrange separate transport before moving day.

Should I pack my TV myself or leave it to the removalists?

Leave it to us unless you still have the original manufacturer's box with the custom foam inserts. That packaging was designed specifically for that screen. We use padded TV crates. Wrapping a flat screen in a doona and taping cardboard around the edges is not adequate protection in a moving truck.