Moving Boxes

ECT stands for Edge Crush Test — a measure of how much crushing force the board takes on its edge before it fails. It is the number that matters for stacking, which is what kills cartons in a move or in storage, and it is printed in the box maker’s certificate on the flap of a shipping carton.

• ECT-32 single wall — one fluted layer between two liners. The standard grade for general moving and shipping cartons, used on every rectangular size we stock from 12 x 12 x 10″ up to 24 x 18 x 24″.
• ECT-48 double wall — two fluted layers. Used on our wardrobe cartons, which are tall, get hand-carried loaded, and take a hanger bar under load.
• 51-ECT double wall — the dish pack grade, for the one carton in a move that is guaranteed to be full of fragile, heavy, irreplaceable objects.

The practical rule: match the grade to how the carton will be handled, not to what goes in it. A light load in a tall carton that gets stacked four high still needs the stronger board.

A wardrobe carton is a portable closet: clothes transfer on their hangers, travel upright, and get hung again at the other end without ever being folded. All three of our upright sizes are double wall ECT-48 with a write-on panel and hinged hand holes, five to a bundle.

• 20 x 20 x 45″ — suits, shirts, jackets and uniforms.
• 24 x 20 x 46″ — wider hanging capacity, same height class.
• 24 x 22 x 60″ — full-length coats, dresses, gowns and vestments.
• 36 x 21 x 10″ flat wardrobe — for folded and off-season clothing; cheaper, ECT-32, and it stacks flat.

Add a steel hanger bar (20″ or 24″, rated 150 lbs, sold 50 to a case) so the garments hang instead of piling in the bottom of the carton. Hotels, uniform services and theatre companies buy the bars by the case and reuse them indefinitely.

Breakage in a move is almost always kitchenware, and almost always because plates were packed flat in a single-wall carton with nothing between them. The dish pack exists to stop that.

• 18 x 18 x 28″ dish pack — 51-ECT double wall corrugated, 5.2 cubic feet, hinged hand holes and pre-printed fragile warnings, five per bundle.
• Dish pack partition kit — three interlocking partition sets plus two layer pads, sized for the 18 x 18 x 28″ carton. Sold as one kit per box.
• Newsprint sheets — clean 15 x 20″ newsprint for wrapping. Use unprinted sheets, not newspaper, unless you enjoy washing ink off china.

Pack plates and platters on edge, one per cell, each wrapped individually. Glasses and stemware go in the upper tier. Then fill every remaining void — a cell with movement in it is a broken plate waiting for the first pothole.

Floor lamps, rolled rugs, curtain rods, banner stands, tripods, artwork and anything else that is long in one dimension does not fit a rectangular carton. Telescoping boxes solve it with an inner box that slides inside a slightly larger outer box, so the finished length adjusts to the item and the carton closes tight around it.

• Inner and outer boxes are sold separately and ordered as a pair.
• ECT-32 single wall, in bundles of 15 to 20 depending on size.
• Stocked pairs run from 10 x 6 x 57″ and 10 x 10 x 48″ up through 12 x 12 x 48″ and 10 x 10 x 72″.
• The outer box is a half inch larger in each cross-section dimension so the two slide without crushing — 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 48″ pairs with the 12 x 12 x 48″ inner.

Moving blankets

Quilted textile pads for furniture, appliances, cabinets and freight — reusable, and far cheaper over time than replacing what they protect. All are 72 x 80″ and sold six to a case, in four grades:

• Economy — 21.4 lbs per case, heavyweight reusable pads for general protection.
• Standard — 37.2 lbs per case, cotton/poly woven faces with 100% linear batting and zigzag stitching.
• Deluxe — 43.6 lbs per case, woven top with non-woven bottom and 50/50 cotton/poly batting. The heaviest pad we stock.
• Camouflage — 30.5 lbs per case, cotton/poly faces with linear poly batting.

Case weight is the honest indicator here: a heavier case means more batting per blanket, which is the only thing standing between a desk corner and a doorframe.

Air bubble roll

1/2″ bubble, 48″ wide, 250′ per roll, cross-perforated so it tears off cleanly at length. Anti-static pink versions are available for electronics. View product

Newsprint sheets

Clean, unprinted 15 x 20″ newsprint for wrapping and void fill, sold by the 50 lb bundle. Cheaper per cubic foot than any foam. View product

Tape and sealing

Carton sealing tape, hand dispensers and strapping — see our sealing and strapping supplies. Two strips across the bottom seam, not one.

Mattress and furniture bags

Poly mattress bags in twin through king, 1.5 to 4 mil, plus furniture and sofa bags. Not all sizes are listed online — call for the size and gauge you need.

A commercial move is a different problem from a household one. The volume is predictable, the contents are mostly paper and equipment, and the real risk is not breakage — it is not being able to find a file on Monday morning.

• ✓Standardise on two carton sizes so stacks are square and truck loading is efficient
• ✓Use file storage boxes for active records so they go straight onto a shelf at the other end instead of being unpacked twice
• ✓Number cartons by department and destination room, and keep the list off the boxes
• ✓Wrap desks, cabinets and monitors in blankets rather than boxing them
• ✓Take deliveries in phases so each department gets cartons the week it packs

We supply the cartons and the shelving they land on, which is usually where an office move goes wrong — boxes arrive before there is anywhere to put them. If records are staying boxed long term, look at records storage shelving or high-density mobile shelving before you rent more square footage.

1. Measure the volume

Walk the space and estimate the cubic feet of contents by area: closets, kitchen, records room, workstations. Volume, not floor area, is what fills a truck.

2. Pick two or three sizes

Dense material into 12 x 12 x 10″ and 16 x 12 x 12″; general contents into 18 x 18 x 16″; bulky and light into 18 x 18 x 24″ and 24 x 18 x 24″.

3. Divide by the cube

0.83 / 1.33 / 3.00 / 4.50 / 6.00 cu ft respectively. Dish pack is a rated 5.2 cu ft; the 20 x 20 x 45″ wardrobe is 10.4 and the 24 x 22 x 60″ is 18.3.

4. Round up to bundles

Bundles are 25, 20, 15, 10 or 5 depending on size. Order whole bundles of two or three sizes rather than a mixed handful.

5. Add the specialty cartons

One wardrobe per two to three feet of hanging rail, one dish pack plus partition kit per kitchen cupboard of china, one mirror carton per framed piece.