Moving is one of the life’s most stressful experiences. No matter how many times you’ve done it, there’s a couple things you’ll need: a good, reputable Toronto moving company and as much help and advice as you can get your hands on.

Here are twenty tried-and-true moving tips, tricks and hacks that really do work. They can make your residential relocation smooth and efficient.

1. Take photos of the rear hookup panels of your electronics before you disconnect them. Getting reconnected in your new home will be a snap, with a photo of what cord goes where.
2. Use clothing and linens as wrap for breakables. A t-shirt wrapped around a glass dish works as well as costly packing materials. You can also kill two birds with one stone by putting a pair of rolled up socks inside glassware. Towels and sheets can also be used as pads in boxes of breakables.
3. Use Saran Wrap and Glad Press ‘n Seal for keeping tiny things intact and in their original trays, drawers and display stands. This works particularly well with jewelry!
4. Place a styrofoam disposable plate between breakable plates, stack ’em up and box ’em.
5. Fill every container, basket, box and anything with open space. Put your containers to work for you! Fill them with smaller items to conserve on space in moving boxes. Don’t forget about your reusable fabric shopping bags with handles. Filling them before packing will help to keep your moving boxes organized.
6. Use suitcases for heavy items such as books. Luggage can be your best moving box. Large suitcases with wheels are particularly helpful for moving heavy items like books.
7. If you’re DIYing the packing, color code your boxes with brightly colored duct tape. Pink for kitchen, Blue for bedroom, Green for bathroom, etc. Specific contents can be written directly on the tape.
8. And no matter how you color code, label boxes on at least two sides (not the top) so that when they’re stacked, you can see the label.
9. If you’re moving yourself, keep boxes small. You can get free photocopy paper boxes from office supply stores. They have built-in handles and are perfect for small heavy items like books.
10. Put a cotton ball or cotton pad in your powder or compact cosmetics, such as powder and blush, to keep them from breaking.
11. Cover the openings of liquid toiletries with Saran Wrap. Take the cap off, cover with the plastic wrap, then put the cap back on. If the lid accidentally pops open during the move, the plastic wrap will prevent spills.
12. Keep cords from being a big tangled mess by first filling a box with toilet paper tubes, upright. Put each cord into its own tube.
13. Keep hardware together with the disassembled furniture it goes with by putting it in a snack size Ziploc bag and taping it to the largest pieced. Tape remotes to the TVs that they belong to.
14. If you have more than one bed of the same size, color code your mattress and box springs if you want to keep them in the same bedrooms they had been in before. You won’t be able to tell them apart when they’re brought into your new home.
15. Save partially full containers of basic cleaning supplies for your moving day cleaning kit. Keep them in a bucket that you don’t mind tossing. After the moving crew leaves, you can clean your house top to bottom and throw away the empty or near empty cleaners.
16. Unpack the bedroom and your personal bathroom items first. At the end of a long moving day, you’ll want to shower and hit the sack without any further heavy lifting!
17. Make the local library your first stop in your new town. Libraries are a valuable resource for newcomers. Find the community calendar, and the rack of fliers and brochures for classes and programs offered. And don’t forget to get your new library cards!
18. Stop buying liquids and flammables well before your move date. Most moving companies won’t take anything flammable and some won’t take any liquids that have been opened. So don’t buy the value sized bottle of cooking oil unless you know you’ll use most of it by moving day.
19. Don’t cheat. Your moving company in Toronto has rules for a reason. Don’t sneak something into a box that you know is forbidden. If there’s a mishap, you’ll be responsible for the damages.
20. Don’t move everything. In particular, outside trash cans, some indoor trash cans, toilet brushes, cleaning rags, and other items that are just unpleasantly “used up” should be tossed and replaced with shiny, brand new items for your new home.

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Diane Laney Fitzpatrick is a writer, blogger and author of Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves. She writes about moving and other adventures in coping at www.DianeLaneyFitzpatrick.com.

About Viktoria Professional Movers Toronto

Viktoria Professional Movers Toronto is a professional moving and storage company operating out of Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada. By helping to educate our clients on topics that can help them plan and execute a successful move, we are fulfilling our directive of taking the stigma out of hiring professional movers, and helping to make the moving process a stress free experience overall. To hear first-hand about our high quality moving services, please visit Homestars page where you can read reviews on our company submitted by many of our satisfied customers.

Call Viktoria Professional Movers Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or office moving needs to and from the GTA and Metro Toronto area.