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The kitchen is one of the most frustrating and difficult rooms in the house to pack for moving. You must pack many items carefully so you don't break them, especially all the small appliances - microwaves, blenders, toasters, coffee machines, etc... On the other hand, you have all the plates, mugs, cups and glassware. Even thinking about everything in the kitchen is often overwhelming.
However, there is something tougher than all these things - your knives. It seems an easy job, but when you start to do it, you'll realize that packing a bunch of sharp metallic objects safely enough, so they won't damage anything else (including the movers) is not as easy as you thought. Don't worry. Just follow this guide for step-by-step instructions on how to pack kitchen knives, and they will be wrapped and packed for your move in no time.
Prepare Your Kitchen Knives for Packing
Preparing them before wrapping is key to safe and easy knife packing. Once they are all grouped, you can easily decide how to wrap them.
- Take all of the butter knives and group them together in one pile.
- Gather all of the steak and bread knives and the larger knives for cutting meat or vegetables. If there is a big difference in their size - group them into 2 separate piles.
- Take all of your chef's and carving knives. Usually, they are way bigger and sharper than the others, so it's best to separate them for separate packing.
Packing Materials for Best Ways to Pack Knives
All packing materials are packing tape, paper, and bubble wrap. To ensure the knives won't penetrate the wrapping, you'll need more packing paper and bubble wrap layers than usual.
- Prepare at least 3 layers of packing paper per knife stack.
- Find some smaller boxes (shoe boxes are great for this). Using a smaller box for the knives only is a great way to decrease the chance of incidents (with you, your movers or your other items).
- Line the box with a layer of bubble wrap or crumpled packing paper. This will provide extra cushioning for the knives.
Pack your Knives Safely
Now you are ready to pack your knives safely for the moving. Repeat the next steps for each knife pile you got after the preparation.
- Place 3 layers of packing paper on your table or counter.
- Spread all of the knives on the paper. Leave an inch or two between the knives.
- Starting from one of the ends - roll the packing paper over the first knife, wrapping it completely.
- Continue to roll the paper and wrap the rest of the knives. Make sure every knife is completely wrapped with packing paper, and no knife is touching another one. When you finish, you should have a roll of knives packed up in the paper.
- Secure the roll tightly with packing tape.
- Add an extra layer of packing paper or a layer of bubble wrap around the roll. This will provide an extra layer of cushioning and protection.
- Place the roll of knives in the lined moving box you prepared earlier. Don't forget to label the box, so both you and your movers are aware that the box is holding sharp objects.
Read our tips for packing dishes and glasses.
How to Pack Kitchen Chef Knives
- If you have a cutlery box for some of your chef knives - you can pack them together. Just secure the knives to the block with packing paper. Then wrap the block with bubble wrap or packing paper, and you are good to go. (the same goes for the kitchen knives)
- Chef's knives are very sharp, and they could penetrate the packing paper easily, leading to the danger of injury - both for your other items and your movers. In addition, if you are relocating on your own, make sure that you know how to transport such knives. For safe packing - wrap them in old clothes or kitchen towels for extra protection. You can check how in the great video from 50 Campfires below:
Already packed your knives? Maybe you should check how to pack your shoes before moving house if you still haven't checked this from your moving checklist.
If your time is too valuable or limited to dedicate enough time to do your packing properly, you can hire packers and movers to do it for you.
