Pro Tips for an Easier Move

Summary

The Wirecutter Show: "Pro Tips for an Easier Move"

Date: May 20, 2026
Hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset, Caira Blackwell, Rosie Guerin
Guest: Kit Dillon (Wirecutter travel gear expert and part-time mover)

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Overview:

This episode is a deep-dive into practical strategies for making moving house less stressful, less costly, and more efficient. The Wirecutter team, joined by experienced mover and Wirecutter journalist Kit Dillon, shares actionable advice for before, during, and after your move—covering everything from choosing movers, packing efficiently, what (not) to do with your “chowder,” and the little-known importance of things like measuring your new space and tipping etiquette.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Realities of Moving

• Moving Is Almost Always Painful
  • The hosts reflect on the universal challenges of moving: stress, cost, complexity, and sheer physical and mental work.
  • "Is a move ever not painful?" (02:30) – The consensus: No, but there are ways to make it easier.

Hiring Movers: What To Expect and How to Choose

• What Good Movers Do
  • They “lower your stress” and move quickly, safely, and efficiently. "It should feel, once the process gets started, that your house is just moving out the door fast and everything is wrapped really well, everything's protected." – Kit (06:05)
  • Professional packing services are more expensive, but they’re extremely quick and precise—“I've seen a team come in and pack a…kitchen…with lots of crystal and everything in about under an hour. I mean, just so fast. Nothing breaks." – Kit (06:47)
• Door-to-Door “Concierge” Movers
  • For cross-country moves, consider whether the cost of full-service (packing, transport, unpacking) is worth a stress-free experience.
  • Look for a planning/concierge service; white-glove approach is ideal if you have valuable or fragile items. (08:28)

Key Tip: Scrutinize Your Movers

• Low quotes are a red flag. Always get several quotes and be wary if one is much lower than others (27:14).
• Check insurance—especially for valuable items.
• "Really in-depth reviews" (Yelp, Reddit, etc.) help identify reputable teams. Kit notes consistency and community in reviews (e.g., the same mover’s name popping up) is a good sign. (28:25)

Tipping Etiquette

• Always tip your movers in cash, and individually if possible. "Moving is one of those jobs… you should tip all your movers as well as possible…They’re putting that wear on their bodies rather than yours." – Kit (29:07)

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Packing Like a Pro

The Case for Uniform Boxes

• Buy New, Uniform Boxes
  • Uniformity makes moving (and truck packaging) vastly quicker and safer. Kit’s ideal: four matched boxes per hand-truck, stacked methodically. (11:10)
  • "If I'm moving one unwieldy box or two unwieldy boxes, I have to carry those often by hand…If I have very uniform boxes, I can put four on a hand truck, walk them out the door, get them into the truck, and then I can stack them in the truck really quickly." – Kit (11:10)
• Avoid Grocery Store / Reused Boxes
  • These slow the move, are more likely to break, and can bring pests (“I've seen that move and you've got bugs, you've got roaches…That's where they live. They love cardboard.” – Kit 12:40)
• Plastic Rental Bins
  • Highly recommended: sturdy, uniform, and eco-friendly in many cases; just as cost-effective as new cardboard. "So much better… you rent them and they're picked up after." Christine (13:33)

Essential Packing Supplies

• Heavy Duty Mattress Bags With Handles
  • Strong, reusable (Ikea-bag material) bags for mattresses are a favorite: they don’t rip like plastic and make carrying easier (14:14).
• Best Filler: Newsprint
  • “Just the good old-fashioned newsprint. That's the way to go.” – Kit (15:44)
  • Packing peanuts generally aren’t worth the trouble.
• The Right Packing Tape
  • Specialized tape for storage conditions (cold, moist, long-term) isn't just a gimmick—read the label and buy accordingly (16:15). “Holds our whole lives together." – Kit (16:30)

The “Chowder” Problem

• What is 'Chowder'?
  • “It’s usually lamps, tricycles, exercise equipment, vacuums…things you cannot put conceivably into a single box.” – Kit (18:37)
  • You end up “gather[ing] these up in your arms like big bowls of chowder.” These slow the process; minimize at all costs.
  • “To save the most money, you want to reduce the amount of chowder in your house…” – Kit (18:37)

Special Items: How to Pack

• Specialty Boxes & Self-Transport
  • TVs, artwork, delicate collections: use original or specialty boxes if possible.
  • For precious, delicate, or irreplaceable items (e.g., fully built LEGO kits), move them yourself. Use lots of newsprint to fill voids. (17:27)
• Plants
  • Not so tricky: “Plants are included in chowder…they will go last in the truck, you rope them up, push them against the side—it's fine.” – Kit (18:35)

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The Most Common Moving Mistakes

• Leaving Items in Furniture
  • Never use dressers or drawers as “packing boxes.” Empty everything—other-wise, drawers become unmanageable, break, and slow the move. (22:33)
• Using Garbage Bags for Packing
  • Avoid: “They're just going to end up on the floor of your moving truck just in a pile…there's something about the lack of care that a garbage bag represents.” – Kit (22:33)
• Trying to “Help” the Movers
  • Don’t interfere: “Just whatever allows you to emotionally regulate through that moment.” (23:52)
    • Common workaround: nervous homeowners fetch breakfast for the crew as a helpful distraction.
• Forgetting About Outdoor Gear
  • Kayaks, grills, hammocks—these are frequently overlooked until the last minute (24:34).

Memorable Quote: Measuring Matters

• “You gotta measure. That's the first step… people move in and then they maybe have a renovation in their home and they forget. And so something that could go out the front door once can no longer." – Kit (25:23)

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Hacks for a Smooth Unpack

• Prepare a “First Night Box”

  • Pack a box with essentials (bathrobe, toothbrush, book, devices) to open first at your destination. Mark clearly, keep with you if possible. “Despite everything else, if you can just open up this one box at the end of the day… it has… your favorite book, your iPod…” – Kit (26:43, paraphrased)

• Self-Honesty Is Crucial

  • Be honest about “how much stuff you have,” including weight, special items, and overlooked spaces (garage closets, outdoor items). Surprises slow down and increase costs. (16:40)

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Notable Quotes

• “To save the most money, you want to reduce the amount of chowder in your house.” – Kit (18:37)
• “Don’t let that happen to you. Do pack everything into boxes as much as possible.” – Kit (09:47)
• “Packing tape…holds our whole lives together.” – Kit (16:30)
• “You gotta measure. That's the first step.” – Kit (25:23)

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Key Takeaways: Final Practical Advice

• Uniform boxes are worth the investment—save time and prevent mess.
• Plastic rental bins are convenient, sturdy, and environmental.
• Minimize “chowder”—the loose, un-boxable items that bog down your move.
• Be honest and prepared for the movers: pack everything, don’t underestimate your stuff, and give a heads-up for specialty items.
• Read reviews deeply and trust reputable, well-insured movers.
• Tip generously in cash to each mover.
• Measure both old and new spaces for your biggest items—don’t get stuck!

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 05:00 – Introduction of Kit Dillon & his moving expertise
• 06:05 – What a good moving company should do
• 08:28 – What to expect from “concierge” moving services
• 09:47 – Essential pre-move packing tips; why you must be fully packed when movers arrive
• 11:10 – The importance of uniform, new boxes
• 14:14 – Mattress bag and packing material recommendations
• 16:15 – Specialty tapes and packing tape advice
• 18:34 – Defining “chowder” and how to avoid it
• 22:33 – Common packing mistakes and how to avoid them
• 25:23 – The necessity of measuring for large/funky items
• 26:43 – The “first night box” hack
• 27:14 – Choosing and vetting movers
• 29:07 – Tipping etiquette for movers

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Tone & Style

The episode balances empathy (recognizing the universal dread of moving) with light humor and deeply practical advice. Kit combines insightful, actionable guidance with a self-deprecating, knowledgeable insider’s view. The hosts keep the atmosphere relatable and engaging.

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Memorable Moments

• The recurring theme of “chowder” as a moving nemesis—invoking both frustration and laughter.
• The hosts’ pledges to never again use random boxes or under-tip their movers.
• Kit’s pride in perfectly-packed moving trucks: "The pleasure of it … is that to pack a sort of perfect truck is like the goal. And I have photos in my phone of perfectly packed trucks." (12:00)

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For More

All resources and moving advice referenced are linked in the episode's show notes at Wirecutter’s website. For specialty product picks (e.g., mattress bags, tape, Blueair air purifiers), check their relevant buying guides.

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This summary covers all essential moving tips, real-life mistakes, product recommendations, and memorable quotes from The Wirecutter Show's "Pro Tips for an Easier Move."

Transcript

[A]

This message is brought to you by Apple Card. For a limited time, when you get a new Apple card and purchase AirPods Pro 3 at Apple, you can earn back the cost up to 250 daily cash. New AirPods Pro and up to $250 daily cash back. Now that's music to my ears. Subject to credit approval, limitations and spend requirements apply. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs bank usa, Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at Apple Co AirPods.

[B]

Ultimately, in every move, there's what we call the chowder. It's usually lamps, exercise equipment, vacuums. Vacuums. The perfect one. Exactly. Yeah. Upright vacuums. Just things that you cannot put conceivably into a single box to save the most money, you want to reduce the amount of chowder.

[C]

I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[D]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[E]

I'm Rosie Garant. And. And you're listening to the Wirecutter show. The Gang's all here.

[C]

We're here.

[D]

Hi, guys.

[E]

It's so nice to be together, especially to talk about a universally miserable experience. Drumroll, please. Moving.

[D]

And we've all done it maybe too many times.

[C]

Too many times. Yeah, I've moved probably. Probably like 15, 20 times.

[E]

I'm patting myself on the back because I haven't moved in two years. Oh, well, congratulations. But before that, yeah, we're doing. I don't even have to skate over it. Skate right over that. Lot of moves.

[C]

Yeah. I think moving is a really painful process no matter how you do it.

[D]

And that's why I'm so excited to talk to Kit Dillon today, because Kit, while he is our travel gear expert here at Wirecutter, also moonlights as a mover on the side because he has

[C]

all of this great experience with moving as his side hustle. He actually helped us create an entire group of articles all about moving, and so we have those linked in the show notes. We cover everything in those from the essential packing supplies you want to have on hand. We also have a moving checklist. And then there's actually a couple pieces in there with some really great pro tips from Kit about how to actually pack your stuff and how to pack a moving van if you're doing it yourself.

[D]

We've spoken to him before on this podcast about luggage and beach gear. Because Kit has been covering these topics for over a decade here. I'm really excited to hear all his best tips for how to make your movie experience just a little bit better.

[E]

I should also say thank you to our listeners who sent in questions about moving for this episode. You'll hear a few of those as we go. Special thanks to Sarah in Mission Viejo, California, whose initial question inspired this episode. Sarah, thank you. I think we can get to the bottom of the question. Is a move ever not painful?

[C]

Yeah, the answer is no, but we will give you easier ways to handle it.

[E]

There's hope. All right, we'll be back after the break with Kit.

[A]

This podcast is supported by Northwestern Mutual. As someone who trusts expert advice, you should do the same with your finances. So now is the right time to talk with a financial expert about money recommendations. Northwestern Mutual can match you with a financial professional who'll build a plan based on what's important to you, looking out for your blind spots and finding new opportunities to help grow your wealth and protect what you've worked so hard for. Find a better way to [e-mail], the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. For a limited time, when you get a new Apple card and purchase AirPods Pro 3 at Apple, you can earn back the cost up to $250 daily cash. New AirPods Pro and up to $250 daily cash back. Now that's music to my ears. Subject to credit approval, limitations and spend requirements apply. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch Terms and more at Apple Co AirPods.

[C]

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[D]

Welcome back with us now is Kit Dillon, who spent over 10 years covering luggage and travel gear for Wirecutter. And he does live in Hawaii, so naturally he covers beach gear for us too. And in his free time, Kit actually works as a mover, so he's pretty knowledgeable on the do's and don'ts of moving.

[C]

Kit, welcome to the show.

[E]

Hello Hi Kit.

[C]

It is so great to have you back. So we are here to talk about moving. We are taking you out of your regular beat of travel to talk a little bit about the painful process of moving and how to make it easier. And you did a bunch of Reporting for this whole series of articles that we have for moving. But you also do this on your free time. You help out a friend who owns a moving company, right?

[B]

That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, for the love of the game, I'm still doing moves every so often.

[C]

So we want to really dig in a little bit today to get the inside scoop on the best ways to approach moving. You know, moving can be really expensive. It can be very stressful, time consuming, and basically just like a huge pain.

[E]

Trying to think of, like, are there any positive adjectives?

[C]

I mean, of course if you're moving something somewhere you love, then it can be exciting, but the whole process can just be very overwhelming. So when people need to move, they have a lot of options. I have hired movers a couple times. I've had it done a couple ways. I'm curious, from your perspective, what do you think good movers do for you? What should you expect from them? Because I think there's probably a range of services that movers will offer.

[B]

The key thing a moving company should do is just lower your stress. It should feel, once the process gets started that your house is just moving out the door fast and everything is wrapped really well, everything's protected. Moving blankets around sort of fragile pieces is a sort of sense that this will all happen before the end of the day.

[C]

But just to clarify, some movers will pack your stuff for you, but some movers are just coming to your house to move the stuff you've already packed, right?

[B]

Yes. Most professional moving companies will offer packing services usually the day before, sometimes the day of.

[C]

But that's more expensive.

[B]

It's more expensive. It's much more expensive generally.

[D]

But like, how do you trust people to pack your house for you? Like, you know, where everything is, what everything is. How do you trust somebody to do that job for you?

[B]

I mean, you have to prepare, you have to sort of get things in the right place for everybody. You don't want, want say, you know, half your living room in the kitchen and half the kitchen in the living room, that kind of thing. I have a terrible time packing kitchens. I just, I'm too slow and I, I want to wrap everything carefully and put it in. And suddenly I think what's going to take a day takes like two weeks. And I've seen a team come in and pack a very expensive kitchen with lots of crystal and everything in about under an hour. I mean, just so fast. Nothing breaks. Everything's done well. Yeah, you're really paying for just the skills of somebody who knows how to do this very quickly and very well.

[E]

I don't fantasize about like buying a boat or having a second home. I fantasize about like having a driver, having a chef, and then anytime I need to move, being able to hire the full service that is going to pack and move me.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. These are very practical.

[E]

This is my 1%, my 1% reach. We have a listener question from a listener called Barbara. She wants to know if the services that include everything like packing and moving your stuff, unpacking when you get to your destination, are they worth it for a move across the country?

[B]

I find these sort of questions, like kind of tricky because they're so personal for you. It might be worth it. That's a pretty stressful move. Right. Because you have to get yourself across country.

[E]

I've done it.

[B]

I've done it too, but I did, I did a self packing one, but I was younger. If I were older with the family, I would probably just want to do a concierge door to door. You've got to get yourself on a plane or drive yourself. The truck has to go its own distance and maybe you just want to land and have most of it already unpacked for you and ready to go.

[E]

Are there any things to look for in that door to door service that you were talking about?

[B]

It should feel like a concierge service. You should feel sort of that there's someone planning with you, working with you before the move, sort of helping you get prepared. Team should come in. There should sort of be somewhat of a white glove service. You don't want to sort of feel anything that's sort of fly by night at that point. Particularly if you know your stuff is going to be on a truck for four days going and you're not with it.

[E]

What if someone wants a super fast move?

[B]

Yeah. So the easiest way to move yourself as quickly as possible is to use the move as an opportunity to rid yourself of all the extraneous stuff and weight of your past life and move into your new home a brand new person.

[C]

Liberating restart. Yeah, to that point, Kit, I think when we were working on these moving articles, one thing that we talked about is you should make some calculations around how much would it cost to replace your couch or your dressers or your beds or something if you're on the fence and they're not that nice? You know, let's say you've got the IKEA level of stuff, moving that stuff can actually be pretty expensive. And if you're already on the fence with that stuff. It might actually be a better value to just get rid of it and get something new in your new destination. Right.

[B]

I think so. Often.

[C]

We know that hiring professional movers is definitely going to cost more than moving things yourself, but do you have any pro tips to make it any less costly?

[B]

Yeah. So it's going to sound strange to say this, but you want to really make sure everything's packed. The number of times I've walked into a home where everything is not packed on the day of the move, including walking in on a family just having breakfast and there were no boxes at all.

[D]

No.

[B]

Yeah, it's.

[E]

And to be clear, they had not paid for the concierge service.

[B]

No, they had not paid for the concierge service.

[C]

It's an extreme form of denial, I think.

[B]

Yeah. I think some people just resist the notion that this is about to happen. So don't let that happen to you. Do pack everything into boxes as much as possible. If you're in a small home or a single story home, obviously there's sort of a little easier. But if you're in New York or major city and you're in an apartment, everything becomes more complex. If you have an elevator, you have to talk to management about booking the elevator, blocking it off. Potentially a lot of buildings only have a single elevator. They don't have a service elevator that creates its own thing. You also have to budget that as a time issue. Movers can be exceedingly fast. And if there's sort of a slow elevator on either end of your move, it can add hours to the move. Just because. Because you are bottlenecked through this one moment. Basically you're just trying to think it through and figure out, well, what would allow for these people who come into your house to move as efficiently as possible through your house, emptying room after room after room. If there's anything sort of in their way or slowing them down, then that's ultimately going to eat up your budget.

[E]

What are some moving staples you think everyone should have pre move?

[B]

You really want to buy, I think, brand new boxes as uniform a size as possible. When you have a house where everything is uniform, boxes well packed, not too heavily packed, the move can just absolutely fly. And the reason for that is that if I'm moving one unwieldy box or two unwieldy boxes, I have to carry those often by hand. Sometimes they don't fit on a hand truck. If I have very uniform boxes, I can put four on a hand truck, walk them out the Door, get them into the truck, and then I can stack them in the truck really quickly. And if you have two or three people doing that, you can fill a truck so fast. The basic ideal of moving, and this will sort of reveal an insight into my own mind, but the pleasure of it, for many movers, I find, is that to pack a sort of perfect truck is like the goal. And I have photos in my phone of perfectly packed trucks.

[E]

The platonic ideal there is.

[B]

So it's beautiful when you have row after row after row of perfect boxes, and if you can get that like eight rows deep before you put up the mattresses to sort of seal it all in. I mean, it's just. It feels really good.

[C]

This seems like a pretty clear argument against what I've seen a lot of people do, which is like beg, borrow and not steal, but beg and borrow boxes from their local market or maybe somebody else who moved or whatever. And then they end up with sort of like a hodgepodge of boxes.

[B]

I've seen so many people do that, and it seems like such a good idea because you're already spending so much money, but that you end up losing more money, I believe, because you've slow. You're slowing down the move itself because

[C]

you might have to pay the movers more. Because you have to pay them more hours.

[B]

Yeah, just if you run into the. You know, especially if it's an old box and the box collapses and then, you know, or worse comes to worse, you've put one of those boxes on the bottom layer and then you've started stacking boxes and then it breaks and suddenly, you know, your wall and the truck is starting to fall over and you got to brace it and so you just. All these little things can start to happen. Definitely don't get it from the supermarket, though. I've seen that move and you've got bugs, you've got roaches. It's. You don't think about it, but that's where they live. They love cardboard. Yeah, right. Yeah. So, you know, you're putting your bedding in an old box from the supermarket. Just. I wouldn't.

[E]

What about those plastic bins that you see now where you can rent them? What do you think about those?

[B]

Yeah, those are great. I mean, that sort of solves the problem on a couple. Right, the uniform, they come with their own rollers and casters. Often, in many cases, you can stack a bunch of them and roll them down a hallway really easily. And then when you're done with them, they're out of Your life you don't have to kind of worry about what am I going to do with all these moving boxes?

[C]

I've done this twice with these rental boxes and I thought it was the best way to move. The company you rent them from comes and picks them up. So you don't. You're not fil recycling area with all this trash and you're not having to break stuff down. And you know, I'd like to think it's more environmentally friendly. I think we'd have to do some kind of like life cycle analysis to actually prove that out. But it is just very, very convenient. And it honestly, when you compare the price against buying boxes is not that different.

[B]

I think they're great

[C]

kit. One of the things I loved the most in the packing supply guide that you helped with is that you really recommend getting these heavy duty mattress bags with handles. Tell us about those.

[B]

Yeah, so they're these bags that we use as a moving team that are. This is a material similar to an Ikea shopping bag. They have built in handles and they're so much better than the plastic wrap mattress bag that you often see. You tape it up to the thing, you try and lift this thing. And mattresses are getting sort of increasingly complex, increasingly difficult to lift. Those plastic bags just rip so fast the minute you sort of grab them or they're just unwieldy. And these blue mattress bags that we recommend I think are just top notch. Your mattress is going to inside. Stating here that the goal as a mover is to really pick up once and put down once. Right. So if you're picking up a mattress, it's like the American flag. You don't want to ever put it down. But if you're doing it yourself or you know, there's just circumstances where you have to. You really want to make sure that at least your mattress is well wrapped and well protected. And that's why I love these bags.

[C]

What about packing peanuts or plastic wrap? What do you recommend for keeping glass items and delicate items, you know, keeping them protected?

[B]

Yeah. Your best thing is still the old fashioned newsprint. Just rolls of light newsprint paper that just sort of seems to be borne out again and again from seeing people pack and unpack. And it's the easiest to sort of clump up and put into a box. It sort of provides the most structure. Packing peanuts. I find there are few items that maybe, maybe rise up to packing peanuts, but I just generally don't find them worth the time and expense. Newspaper print can wrap glasses individually. Then you can pack in between the spaces. It's all about sort of void filling. Just the good old fashioned newsprint. That's the way to go.

[D]

Anything else on your list of moving staples?

[B]

Good packing tape. You know, if you want to really want to wire cutter it, you want to get really nerdy about it. It depends on where your boxes are going. So if you're going to put them into storage and if there's a climate controlled storage and there's special tapes that, tapes that are good for cold storage, tapes that are good for room temperature. There are quick tapes, you know, one day long lasting ones. So you can really start to get into it. But yeah, really good tacking tape does make a huge difference. If you're just kind of buying a cheap roll, doesn't stick to the cardboard. Well, that can be annoying.

[C]

Will these packing tapes have that type of information listed on them? Like good for cold storage, good for, you know, moisture?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

So look for that on the roll.

[E]

Yeah, that's actually very interesting. I would have assumed that that was a marketing gimmick.

[D]

Yeah, me too.

[B]

No, you know, different glues, different purposes. Holds our whole lives together.

[D]

Well, what are some things that you really wish people would just tell you as a mover before you start moving their house?

[B]

You know, I wish people were just honest about how much stuff they had going into the move.

[C]

Maybe they're not being honest with them.

[E]

I was gonna say, what is that about? Do you think I'm so guilty of that?

[B]

It's a really trick. I mean it's, you know, some I think are, I've seen other times where, you know, you're about halfway through the move and then suddenly the client just remembers that there are four closets in the garage that are full of toys or something and you're just like, oh man, you know, so don't do that kit.

[E]

What do you recommend for tricky, delicate, maybe specialty items? For instance, Sarah, our listener who wrote in, she asked about little kid LEGO kits that are fully built. I'd imagine artwork and maybe some other items would have similar issues and fall into this category.

[B]

For certain items there are specialty boxes. You want to get these things. I think any sort of specialty box for specialty items, if you can find it, you should have it. There's the tv, which is always a big one. If you're really forward thinking, you've kept your TV box and they're huge. Put the tv, they're huge. And some people keep them, which is great with the styrofoam and all. And it Just slips right in. And that's, that's great for the reader's question. Lego, I have never really come across that one before. I guess if it was sturdy and you could put it in a box and then you could fill in all the void with newsprint, I, I would still probably move that box myself if there, if I knew there was a precious Lego set in there and I didn't have the instructions anymore or, you know. Yeah. So there's a couple items you might want to flag and say, you know what, those are going in our car. And then you have the specialty items like a piano. You want to hire movers that specialize in this thing, very heavy objects. And I think you just need to be honest with yourself. Someone's like, oh, it's just, I have a dining room table. And you get there and it's like a Game of Thrones style, like oak, you know, it takes like a 10 man team to just to lift.

[D]

What about plants?

[B]

Yeah, no, plants are actually okay. Plants usually will go last in the truck ultimately in every move. There's what we call the chowder. Plants are included in this. It's usually lamps, tricycles, exercise equipment, vacuums. Vacuums. The perfect one. Exactly. Yeah. Upright vacuums. Just things that you cannot put conceivably into a single box. And it's inevitable you're going to have some of it. To save the most money, you want to reduce the amount of chowder in your house, and we call it chowder, because as you're moving at the end of it, you sort of have to gather these up in your arms like big bowls of chowder, and walk to the truck with them. And so that's what slows everything down. And then you have to find places and sort of, you know, precariously build this like tesseract of ropes and clips and things to hold everything in place for that last bit. So, yeah, plants oddly not, not actually as hard to move as you think. You just kind of put them in one place and you rope them up and you push them against the side of the truck. It's fine.

[C]

Just so far. If you're facing a move, the first thing to decide is are you going to do it yourself? Are you going to hire someone to help you? And you just need to make a personal choice on finances, on ease of mo stress, all that stuff. Once you've decided there are some universal things anyone should be doing, which is get the right supplies. You should have uniform boxes, you should have good tape, you should have your stuff packed when you're ready to move. If you've hired movers, be honest with yourself and with them about how much stuff you have, how much it weighs, and just like give them a heads up on the sort of logistics of sort of the tricky stuff that you might have in your home. And then for certain items, you probably want to figure out ahead of time which ones you're going to carry in your own car.

[E]

Okay, we're going to take a quick break and when we're back, we're going to talk to Kit about some common packing mistakes that he has seen, plus his best tips for shopping for the right movers. We'll be right back.

[A]

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[C]

Welcome back Kit. We just went over some of the basic things you want to think about before a move and what you should have on hand. And now we want to talk about the things that you've seen go terribly wrong. We want to learn from other people's mistakes. So what are the common mistakes that you've seen people make?

[B]

The first one that's always sort of the most baffling is People who see their wardrobes as packing boxes themselves. So leaving every drawer full of as much stuff as possible, or, you know, sideboards still with, you know, plates. And I put napkins in there, but also the plates, you know, that just makes every object so heavy to carry. And then we just have to end up emptying the drawers out and carrying those individually. And so really try and empty everything, pack everything where possible. Break down everything. Right. So have the drawers already out. The next thing, garbage bags, really just. You don't want to use garbage bags as boxes. They're just going to end up on the floor of your moving truck just in a pile. They get torn or anything happens. And I don't know if it's kind of an emotional thing, but there's something about the lack of care that a garbage bag represents that I think also, you know, I'm a professional, but I'm still affected by that, and I. I treat them a little less carefully than maybe I should, because it's a garbage B. Just some care and some preciousness with your own stuff, please. And then one of the big ones we always see is trying to sort of help the movers yourself. And I get the draw of this one. I think often you see. You see sort of the nervous dad as sort of a common trope. You know, just don't interrupt the flow. This is a team that knows what they're doing.

[D]

But, like, what am I supposed to do when people are packing up my house to move? Then just stand there and watch them? What do I do?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, kind of just whatever. Whatever allows you to emotionally regulate through that moment. Yeah, go get burritos. You know, you could go get some food. I always love when someone brings back breakfast. That's usually the dad trick, is when someone's really invested in sort of being part of the team is like, oh, boy, I'm getting pretty hungry. You know, any good burrito? You know, and then off they go, and you're like, there's a good mission.

[C]

You know, I think my experience with that is kind of opposite. Like, I'm the anxious one in my relationship, and my husband's super chill, so I leave him with the movers, and I go to the new place because I can't handle the anxiety of watching all these people with my stuff.

[B]

So it's very unsettling, and I absolutely understand.

[D]

What do you find is something that a lot of people forget during their

[B]

move, either to pack or just to check outdoor equipment. I think people are so focused inside the house that Sort of the move happens, you know, everything's done, and then suddenly there's like, oh, we have this kayak. Or it's like, oh, there's this huge hammock. What do we do with that? Or God forbid, you know, the grill, which is usually just encrusted with charcoal and oil and dust, and then that's got to go in the process. A small truck with all your nice stuff.

[D]

It sounds like you hate grills.

[C]

Do people just. What do you have against grills?

[B]

I think, well, as a mover, I mean, you know, you. You really are trying to protect everything. I would often just leave really old grills. Just leave them. That's one of the things you can discard.

[C]

What about really big stuff? I. I once couldn't get a big picture into my apartment because we hadn't realized that the ceiling was too low on the stairs.

[B]

Uh, well, you gotta measure. That's the. That's the first step. I think the hardest thing often is people move in and then they maybe have a renovation in their home and they forget. And so something that could go out the front door once can no longer. And then you have to, like, drop it out a back window. Measuring your own place and then also measuring where you're going, especially for the large objects, and just trying to be honest with what you think can possibly happen.

[E]

How about some hacks for making sure your life isn't just horrible when you're unpacking your things.

[B]

After the movement, my colleague Dory Shevlin has a great bit of advice that I would not often think of myself to Give yourself a treat. Have something ready, maybe in the fridge at your new place. Anything that will sort of make that first night a little more bearable. And then when you're first starting to pack is to think, what are the sort of priorities that you will need. You can usually start with a nightstand. These are the things that you keep with you, you have on hand all the time. And you put those in sort of a single box and you mark it. If it has to go in the truck, you mark it really, really well. Hopefully it gets loaded last. If you can, you can bring it with you. You should sort of carry that with you yourself. Ideally, despite everything else, if you can just open up this one box at the end of the day and it has. I'm going to imagine here for you, but a bathrobe, your toothbrush, your favorite book, your ipod, if you still use it. You know, these kinds of things.

[C]

I mean, the kids are using ipods, these Days, so. Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Right. Prestige understands. We're disconnecting your first night box. It's perfect.

[C]

Okay. Kit, you have given us so many great tips on just how to pack, how to approach it, the nightmare situations you've seen. I think a big part of the move, obviously, is who is moving you. So do you have any guidance on how to pick the right mover?

[B]

Yeah, you can kind of get any range of movers anywhere from guy with a van who had a Craigslist ad all the way to large professional organizations, organizations that have offices and distributors across the country. And then ultimately, it's this very personal experience. You're trusting these people with coming into your life and sort of intimately and moving your things around. So it's a really big decision. I think low quotes are sort of my first red flag that I come across. So you should always get a couple quotes anyway. And if one company comes in and they're very, very low compared to everybody else, I would generally be wary of that. Most companies have a pretty good sense of what a move should cost and how many hours it will take. If anyone's really low, the way to, to get that low is to go with speed, or they don't have insurance, or they don't have a very good truck, they're cutting a corner somewhere or their team's not paid very well. You definitely want to ask about their insurance. It's sort of a general marker of professionalism, particularly if you have nice stuff. You also want to make sure it's protected. And then you want to read reviews, really in depth reviews. You really want to sort of see everyone's personal experience. You can't just sort of take an aggregate.

[C]

And so when you're doing that, are you talking like Yelp reviews, getting on Reddit in your community? All the usual suspects in that way?

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

You really have to sort of do a deep dive, I believe. I find there's companies that you can sort of see where the. The owner or somebody close to the owner is sort of working with the crews a lot. So you'll see that sort of a name will sort of pop up in the reviews. You know, that means that there's sort of a consistency within the teams and that's like a good sign. Right? So that's something I look for myself usually. You'll see, you know, Yelp, you search things like, it'll be out of Steve. You know, it's like, oh, Steve was so blah, blah, blah. And then like two reviews down, I'll be like, hey, Steve, Was that you sort of see that and you're like, oh, okay. There's like a. There's sort of a communal effort here, not just randos. That's important in and moving.

[D]

So let's say that you're all moved in and the movers are about to leave. What about tipping etiquette? Should you tip and how much?

[B]

I mean, yeah, you should tip. I think as a mover myself, I think you should tip all your movers as well as possible. Moving is one of those jobs. It's a very taxing, physically demanding job that you are hiring other people to do, not only because they do it quickly and hopefully have some skills in doing it, but because they're putting that wear on their bodies rather than on yours. If the move went well, I think you should consider it. And ideally, just as a note, cash. Give that cash directly to each mover. Put it in their hands if possible. I know some larger companies now, you can add it to the bill and such, and that's probably trustworthy if you're working with a small company and a small crew. Ideally, give it to each person individually.

[D]

Well, Kit, we've made it to our final question, which is what's the last thing you bought that you've really loved?

[B]

I really like these air purifiers that I've been sort of putting throughout the house.

[C]

Which ones are they?

[B]

They're the blueair air purifiers. They cut down on dust. I've been getting more allergies as I get older. So let's go with the blueair air purifiers.

[C]

And that's one of our picks in our air purifier guide.

[D]

It better be.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah. So they're great.

[D]

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Kit.

[E]

Thanks, Kit.

[C]

Thanks, Kit.

[B]

Thank.

[D]

You.

[E]

We love Kit.

[C]

Oh, he's so great.

[E]

So knowledgeable, chock full of advice. What are you taking away from this one?

[C]

My next move. I'm gonna try my best to avoid chowder. I'm gonna not let the chowder happen. As the daughter of a commercial fisherman, I do love chowder, but I do not like that kind of chowder. But also, I am now very curious about the different types of tape. So I'm gonna be going to my hardware store, and next move, I'm gonna buy the right tape.

[D]

Tape.

[E]

I like that.

[D]

Mine is definitely going to be measuring your old house and your new one. I never think to measure. Well, pretty much anything, but definitely not the new house. To make sure that everything will fit. Genius.

[E]

Really smart.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

For me, it's going to be uniform boxes, not cutting corners, getting boxes from here, there and everywhere. And also tipping. Tip in cash. Always tip. Obviously, tip in cash. Bonus is a thing that I like to do, which is to buy pizza for the movers.

[C]

Oh, that's nice.

[E]

I like to buy them pizza. Pizza and bottles of water.

[C]

You're pretending they're your friends. Is that what you're doing?

[E]

I'm like, please be nice to my kids. That is it for us. If you want to find out more about Wirecutter's coverage, if you want to check out any of Kit's moving advice, check out our website. You can find a link in the show notes.

[D]

Good to see y'.

[B]

All.

[E]

See you soon.

[C]

Bye.

[D]

Bye.

[E]

The Wirecutter show is executive prod produced by me, Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Matty Mazziello and Nick Pittman and the audio was mixed by Katie McMurran. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheva Etoupe Rowan Namisto, Katherine Anderson and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor and CH chief.

[D]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[C]

I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[E]

And I'm Rosie Guerin. Thank you for listening.

[B]

You know, what do you mean you have a kayak?

[A]

Your gut isn't just about digestion. It's the command center of your whole body. New Ollie. Precise probiotics are made with clinically studied strains to provide targeted benefits. Benefits beyond digestive health. By supporting your metabolism, skin health or stress response, Start giving your body what it needs. Shop precise probiotics with skin, stress or metabolism support at your nearest Walmart. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.