How to Pack Fragile Items, Art & Antiques for a Move

Start With the Right Materials

Good fragile packing starts at the supply table, not the box. The wrong materials undo careful work. The right ones do most of the work for you.

Glassware, China & Stemware

The kitchen is where most breakage happens, because it holds the highest count of fragile pieces. The method is the same for everyday dishes and heirloom china, only the care level changes.

1. Cushion the box. A double-wall dish box, with 2 to 3 inches of crumpled paper across the bottom to keep pieces off the hard bottom.
2. Wrap each piece on its own in two or three sheets of clean paper. Bare glass should never touch bare glass.
3. Stand plates on their edges, like records in a crate, not stacked flat. On edge, a plate resists pressure that would crack it lying down.
4. Heaviest on the bottom, lightest on top. Bowls and dinner plates below, glasses and cups above. Use cell dividers for stemware and wine glasses.
5. Fill every void with crumpled paper to keep contents from shifting in transit. Shake the box gently; if it rattles, add more paper.
6. Label and keep it light. Mark FRAGILE and THIS SIDE UP on several sides. Keep dish boxes under about 45 pounds so the lower layers are not crushed.

Framed Art & Mirrors

Framed art and mirrors fail the same way: a flat panel flexes when weight lands on it, and the glass or the canvas cracks. The fix is to keep them rigid and always on edge.

• Check the glazing manufacturer instructions before using low-tack protective tape. Coated glass and acrylic can be damaged by adhesive; tape is not a guarantee against loose shards.
• Protect the frame and corners, keep all wrapping clear of exposed paint, and add cushioning outside the protective barrier. An unglazed or fragile painting may need a travel frame; the Canadian Conservation Institute guide explains paint-surface clearance and travel frames.
• Box it on edge in a telescoping picture or mirror carton sized to the piece. For an oil painting, never let anything press on the canvas face.
• Load art standing upright in the truck, wedged between padded flat surfaces, never lying flat and never with weight on top.

Large, valuable, or irreplaceable pieces outgrow cartons quickly. That is the threshold for a crate, covered below, and the reason our fine art and antiques crews build to the piece rather than reach for a box.

Antiques & High-Value Pieces

Antiques add a problem ordinary furniture does not have: the finish itself is fragile and old, and the joinery may be loose. The materials that protect a modern dresser can mark or trap moisture against a century-old surface.

• Select a compatible barrier for the finish before adding padding. Plastic stretch wrap placed directly on an antique finish can trap humidity and cloud or lift the surface, so it goes over a barrier layer, not against the wood.
• Remove or secure loose parts: drawers, glass doors, marble tops, finials, and hardware travel wrapped separately and labeled, so they do not swing or slide.
• Support fragile joinery so the piece is not carrying its own weight on a weak joint during the lift and the ride.
• Soft-crate or custom-crate the most delicate pieces rather than blanket-wrapping alone. We use protective padding and runners on the route, and climate-aware materials for sensitive surfaces on longer hauls.

The logic is simple: if losing the item would be a real loss and a box cannot hold its shape under pressure, it belongs in a rigid crate built to its dimensions. That is the core of white-glove moving, and the same discipline our piano moving crews apply to instruments.

What Not to Do

• Do not use printed newspaper on china, glass, or art. The ink transfers.
• Do not lay framed art or mirrors flat, in the box or in the truck. Flat panels crack under weight.
• Do not overpack a fragile box to save cartons. A heavy box crushes its own bottom layer and is dropped more easily.
• Do not leave voids. Empty space is where things move, and movement is what breaks them.
• Do not put stretch plastic directly on antique or painted finishes. Select a barrier suitable for the actual finish first.

Handling and Liability: Set Expectations Early

Packing well is the part you control. It is also worth understanding how coverage works before the move, because the two are connected. Customer belongings are separate: basic $0.60 per pound per article liability applies under the signed moving agreement where that level is selected in writing. Additional protection may be purchased through a third-party provider, subject to its terms; Ontrack does not sell insurance or valuation. Ontrack carries $10,000,000 in combined business insurance policies, including building and premises liability, with separate limits and terms.

For genuinely high-value art and antiques, the right move is to review third-party protection terms and discuss custom crating during the estimate, because the best result is reducing the risk of damage rather than filing a claim afterward. If your pieces are heading out of state, our long-distance moving page explains how crating and transit are planned for a longer haul, and short gaps between homes route through storage in transit.

Working fragile packing into your overall timeline keeps it from becoming a last-night scramble. Our week-by-week Bay Area moving checklist shows where packing fragiles falls in the schedule, and if you are new to the region, the guide to moving to the Bay Area covers the bigger picture.

Frequently Asked Questions