When something arrives broken, it usually didn't break because the truck hit a pothole. It broke because it could move inside its box. The whole principle of packing fragile items is simple: nothing should be able to shift, and nothing fragile should touch anything else fragile.
Start with the right box. Fragile items belong in small boxes, not large ones. A big box full of dishes gets heavy enough that someone handles it badly, and it gives the contents room to shift. Dish-pack cartons are made from double-wall cardboard for exactly this reason, and they're worth the small extra cost.
Cushion the bottom before anything goes in. Two or three inches of crumpled packing paper on the base of the box absorbs the shock of being set down. Do the same at the top when you're finished, and fill every gap along the sides. If you can shake the box and hear movement, it isn't packed yet.
Plates go on edge, not stacked flat. This is the one that surprises people. A stack of flat plates concentrates the weight of the whole stack on the bottom plate, and a sharp jolt cracks it. Wrap each plate individually in paper, then stand them vertically like records in a rack. They are dramatically stronger in that orientation.
Glasses and stemware get wrapped individually and go in the top layer, never underneath heavier items. Stuff the inside of each glass with a small piece of paper before wrapping the outside — it supports the walls of the glass against pressure. Cell dividers, the cardboard grids that slot into a dish-pack, keep them from knocking into each other.
For picture frames and mirrors, tape an X across the glass. If the glass does break, the tape holds the pieces together so they don't slice through the artwork or the box. Wrap them in paper, then stand frames on edge in the truck — laid flat is how glass cracks.
Label every fragile box on all four sides and the top, and write which room it goes to. A box marked only on the top is invisible once it's stacked. And tell your movers which boxes are fragile before we start loading, not after — it changes where they go on the truck.
Don't want to do any of this? That's exactly what our packing service is for. Call MTC Moving at (561) 612-1226 (English) or (678) 964-1358 (Español).