Most Moving Hacks You See Online Are Terrible. Here’s What to Do Instead.

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Moving ranks as one of life's most stressful experiences. So it's unsurprising that many people, when faced with boxing up their entire existence and hauling it to a new home, look for hacks that can make it feel a little less overwhelming.

Social media is lousy with creative ways to pack more efficiently or schlep less strenuously. But most of the moving hacks you see on YouTube or TikTok are just that: lousy. They offer very little in the way of convenience or protection, and they can end up costing you time and (if you hire professional movers) money.

"You don't want to cut a corner up front in a way that makes loading the truck take longer," said Kit Dillon, Wirecutter's Hawaii-based senior staff writer who's also worked for the past five years as a professional mover (on weekends and holidays). "I see it so often. Someone spends an extra $500 on movers because they wanted to save an extra $30 on packing materials."

Every move is different, of course. When it's just you and your car (or maybe you, a friend, and that friend's pickup), packing fast and loose is bound to happen, and that's fine. But for larger relocations that involve a rental truck and several warm bodies (be they friends or pros), proper packing can streamline and de-stress the whole process better than most hacks.

To help you out, below we’ve debunked several of the internet's most popular moving hacks, and we tell you what to do instead.

Not everything. Covering all of your stuff in shrink wrap—aka stretch wrap or mover's wrap, as this one Kit recommends from U-Haul is called—is a waste of time, money, and resources. But when used strategically, shrink wrap is a really smart way to protect certain items.

"Shrink wrap is meant for furniture with doors or drawers that can swing open or slide out during a move," Kit said. "Something like an entertainment console with glass doors, I’d shrink-wrap that for sure."

He also suggests using shrink wrap to secure moving blankets around your most precious, oddly shaped antiques. You could also use it to shore up your cheapest, crappiest furniture—the kind that requires assembly and is held together with dinky pegs—as it hangs on for dear life in the back of a truck.

"That flat-packed, pegged furniture is really only meant to be assembled and then left in one place. I’ve had entire desks fall apart in my hands because they’re cheap," Kit said. "So shrink-wrap that stuff that needs help keeping its structure and shape as much as you can, in a way that keeps everything tight."

What? No. Trust that the sheet's going to fall off pretty fast and offer hardly any protection. For any mattress that costs more than a couple hundred bucks, Kit recommends protecting the investment with the Belador Extra-Thick Mattress Bag with Handles. "Mattresses get dirty really fast during a move. It's almost unbelievable," he said. "With this bag, you can drop it in a hallway, you can put it down on the street, and it's fine. And the handles make it so easy to move that you and a friend will be able to do it in a heartbeat."

Don't do it. Many of the boxes sold by moving outfitters like U-Haul already have handles on the sides. If you’re working with a box that doesn't, cutting your own runs the risk of weakening the box. Also, if lifting a box from underneath is something you want or need to avoid, there are better workarounds. Kit suggested borrowing or renting dollies or hand trucks to roll stacks of boxes like the pros do; this will save both time and your back. You could also opt for plastic containers with handles. We’ve recommended renting these from BungoBox or Rentacrate. Or you could buy Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Totes, which can then serve as super-durable basement or garage storage after your move. Alternatively, you could just pack less stuff in each cardboard box so they’re lighter to carry.

Yes, most of the time. Emptying dresser drawers is something Kit calls a "golden rule" for professional movers, and he estimates this can reduce the overall weight of a dresser by 100 pounds or more. Definitely take the drawers out of an old, mammoth dresser with a marble top, for example. However, since today's mid-century-modern–inspired furniture tends to be relatively light, you can probably get away with moving that kind of dresser with drawers intact (in which case, shrink-wrap the whole thing first). And if you’re doing a smaller move with room to spare in your rental truck, it's fine to take the drawers out but leave the contents inside; then shrink-wrap each one and put it in the truck.

Good idea, terrible execution. Nobody likes taking clothes off their hangers pre-move only to put them back on post-move. So a hack that lets you side-step that process by bagging up a bunch of clothes still on their hangers (as seen in this video) is certainly appealing. As popular as this trick is, though, using a garbage bag as a garment bag actually uses up more time and space.

"A mover can only move two, maybe three of those bags at a time," Kit explained. "So instead of stacking several boxes on a dolly, I’m grabbing just two bags. Then I’m throwing them onto the floor of the truck because I can't do anything else with them. There's nowhere else for them to go, and if I put them on top of something else, they’re just going to slide off anyway."

As popular as this trick is, though, using a garbage bag as a garment bag actually uses up more time and space.

Instead, try a wardrobe box, like this uBoxes model, which Kit recommends. It's around $20 and comes equipped with a metal hanging bar. So you can keep clothes on their hangers during a move—and each box fits more than you might think. "I’ve seen families of four or five people fit all the clothes they own into two wardrobe boxes," Kit said.

In certain scenarios, actual SpaceSaver bags are better. This hack involves shoving your clothes or other soft home goods into a garbage bag (video), vacuuming out the air, and then tying off the drawstrings to approximate what a proper compression bag can do. However, garbage bags aren't designed for compression and thus are unlikely to stay compressed, which is just one reason why Kit doesn't recommend using this hack. As mentioned above, garbage bags tend to wind up sliding around the floor of the truck, and if the bags start to open, all kinds of schmutz can get inside. (If you really want to try this trick, at least load your compressed bags into a box for extra protection.)

Kit said a zippered duffel bag would be much better at protecting your clothes. Or, if you are moving your stuff primarily by car and need to maximize space, he recommends using brand-name SpaceSaver bags; since they’re built to be airtight, they shrink down a lot more. This is how senior staff writer Elissa Sanci moved her entire wardrobe and all of her linens from New York City to Denver in her teeny hatchback. She stacked the SpaceSaver bags into suitcases because her trunk couldn't accommodate the bulk of moving boxes. Once you’ve invested in them, SpaceSaver bags could also provide good seasonal storage in your new place.

Don't bother. Although socks can prevent scratching as well as newsprint or packing paper can, they’ll do nothing to preserve your breakables if the box is dropped. Plus, the type of cushioning around the glasses is much less important than the box you pack them in.

The right box for wine glasses is made of sturdy cardboard, with dividers that allow each glass to stand upright in its own chamber. Don't pack glasses lying flat, since they’re more prone to breakage that way. And choose a box that offers only a little extra space on all sides; then you can stuff that with things like newspaper, inflated packing filler, or foam peanuts, until the contents feel nicely compressed, with scant wiggle room. You could use socks or other textiles like dish towels for this step. But, as Kit notes, fabric is heavier than those other packing materials, so it will add unnecessary weight.

If you’ve got fancy glasses, and you kept the boxes they came in, that's the way to go. If not, consider investing in wine-glass moving boxes, which will offer the best protection for your fine drinkware. Kit suggests this one from Bankers Box if you have only a small amount of glassware; he recommends this Uline set of five boxes for anyone with a large kitchen setup (it includes specialized boxes for glasses and for plates). If you need a safe way to store glasses in your new place, consider purchasing stemware storage cases, which come with padding and dividers, like these from Popoly.

For less valuable glasses, you can probably get away with repurposing divided boxes from the liquor store, as long as the cardboard doesn't seem flimsy.

Just use paper. Similar to the socks situation, all of these materials will prevent scratching between plates, according to various online videos. However, packing paper prevents scratching while also doing a superior job of filling the rest of the box's empty space. So this is what you really should use to ensure evenly distributed weight and a tight fit, both of which matter more in preventing breakage. (You could also use newspaper, but Kit has found that packing paper tears less easily and provides better cushioning when balled up.) Also, stack plates vertically, one on top of the other, rather than horizontally, because plates are made to bear weight from the top down.

No. Just no. Sliding a bunch of blades into a hand-shaped oven mitt (video) and then just letting them jostle around against one another seems "deranged," according to Kit.

Instead, wrap blades in several layers of newspaper. Or cut a makeshift sheath out of cardboard, and then secure it either with rubber bands or heavy-duty tape.

Meanwhile, stash oven mitts—along with aprons, dish towels, napkins, spices, or other small items—inside kitchen gear that has lots of empty space, like stock pots.

This one is a yes. A simple square of plastic wrap, cling wrap, shrink wrap, or whatever you’ve got is great. (You may have seen videos in which several bottles are placed into one zip-top bag and their caps are then screwed on over the plastic. But Kit said this approach seems "a little dicey and a little awkward.")

The most important thing here is to keep your liquids separate from the rest of your belongings so they don't ruin anything else if they leak. Kit recommends keeping them in your car, rather than in the back of a truck. And if you’re doing a long-haul move, consider giving away the toiletries, cooking oils, and sauces that are easily and cheaply replaced. Don't worry: There will be more shampoo and soy sauce where you’re headed.

This article was edited by Alex Aciman and Annemarie Conte.

Rose Maura Lorre

Rose Maura Lorre is a senior staff writer on the discovery team at Wirecutter. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Salon, Business Insider, HGTV Magazine, and many more. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, and lots and lots of houseplants.

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