How to Pack Dinnerware

Well, the packing has commenced.  Whenever you have a longer period of time to pack (say 1 week as opposed to 3 days), I recommend that you start your packing with whatever area of the home you use the least.  In my case, that would be the kitchen (I don’t cook).  Now, while I’m a packing expert from my dorm days, my mom taught me a trick the last time we moved that saves a lot of money when it comes to packing dinnerware.  Instead of spending tons of money on expensive packing items, just use paper towels!  Seriously.  Why didn’t I think of that?!  You can also use plastic grocery bags if you have some saved up–they provide great cushioning when wadded up.

I picked up some free boxes from my local Kroger’s produce department, and then picked up the cheapest paper towels on the shelf.  This is super easy to do, and saves money.  Please note, when I’ve used this method, it’s been for across-town moves or moves where we could pack our vehicles ourselves. Use this method with caution if you are using movers or packing delicate/valuable/heirloom dinnerware.

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To wrap glassware:

1. Shove 1-2 paper towels down in the glassware.
2. Take 2-3 paper towels connected together and wrap the paper towels around the mug diagonally. This will give you some extra paper at both the top of the glassware and the bottom of the glassware. Tuck the extra paper towel at the top down into the glass, and wrap the extra paper towel at the bottom around the glass (it just provides extra cushioning).
3. Place the glassware bottoms-up in the box.
4. Once you have a complete layer of glassware, shove extra paper towels down in all of the nooks and crannies between the glasses!!!
5. Repeat for your next layer.

Now, the steps I am showing are for packing glassware, but you can also use this for other dinnerware as well.  The process for bowels is very similar to that for glassware above.  The process for dinner and dessert plates, however, is different.  Start by placing 2-3 paper towels on the bottom of the box, place in a plate, and then layer 2-3 paper towels in between each plate as you stack them. Finish up but shoving extra paper towels in the nooks and crannies!

I am still trying to decide what to do with glassware that has stems, but I’ll try to update this post once we get those packed!

Do you have any packing tips for dinnerware? Or maybe some “I’ve learned the hard way” examples of what not to do? Let me know in the comments below!!!