The DO’s and DONT’s when Moving
As you begin to run around getting things organized and prepped for your upcoming move, you can add another chore to your ever-growing list of things to do, namely clearing and giving away items you shouldn’t be packing.
Unfortunately, not everything in your home is going to make it to your new dwelling with you. That’s mostly due to the concern for the safety and health of the movers doing the labor for your relocation. Identifying the items that can’t move with you is fairly easy, but oftentimes the hardest part is throwing perfectly good stuff in the trash.
So what exactly are the items not allowed by moving companies? In a nutshell, anything flammable, perishable, and valuable should stay off the bed of a moving truck.
Read on for a more comprehensive list of stuff you shouldn’t be packing before or on moving day.
No Flammable or Explosive Material
Moving companies will NOT accept the following on their trucks: acid, ammunition, batteries (including car batteries), bleach, charcoal, cleaning fluid, fireworks, gasoline, lighter fluid, loaded weapons, motor oil, nail polish and their removers, paint, paint thinner, pool chemicals, and non-refillable propane tanks.
If you’re moving equipment that requires fuel, like a lawn mower, be sure to properly drain and dispose of the fuel before the movers arrive in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Propane tanks need to be of the refillable variety and must be professionally sealed after all of the gas has been eliminated.
Firearms will have to be fully unloaded and encased, including ammo, and travel with you. For the other flammable liquids, contact the local waste management sites and ask about when they accept hazardous materials for recycling or disposal. DO NOT pour your liquids down the drain. Aside from being a lazy solution to your immediate problem, the hazardous liquids will end up in the water supply, not to mention damaging your local environment. Don’t do it.
No Live Plants, Produce, or Open Food
Moving companies do not allow perishable items. Perishables include: houseplants, garden plants, living animals, opened food, and produce. This means that your favorite houseplants will have to travel with you or be left behind if your trip is longer than a day. The only exception to this rule is if your goods will be delivered in 24 hours within 100 miles of your old home in the same state, and if all of the plants have been properly packed beforehand. All live animals should be traveling with you. Opened food needs to be trashed.
No Highly Valuable Collectibles or Jewelry
Because of the liability of moving highly expensive goods, such as antiques and jewelry, plan to pack those items to move with you and not the moving company. Here are some other items you shouldn’t box up for the movers to handle: checkbooks, coin collections, furs, certificates of stocks and bonds, deeds, and stamp collections. Keep in mind that items like photo albums and videotapes may not have monetary value, but are irreplaceable in the event that the moving company loses them. Pack those in a suitcase to be moved with you.
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