Aside from the emotional adjustment, you have to make when moving, the most significant obstacle is transporting your furniture. Properly packing and preparing your furniture for ensures that your one-of-a-kind living room set makes it to your new home in one piece. Here are a few tips to follow to ensure your furniture is protected during your relocation.

1. Clean the furniture first

Dirt and grime may not seem like such a big deal, but some debris is abrasive and can scratch your furniture during the moving process. Besides that, do you want to drag dirt into your brand-new home? Cleaning your furniture beforehand will keep it protected when it is wrapped. This step is especially important if you plan to move your things into a storage unit as a thorough cleaning can help prevent mold and mildew from growing on the upholstery. Here are some tips on how-to from Molly Maid.

2. Remove knobs and the drawer handles

Take a few minutes before you begin packing to remove any knobs or pulls that jut out from your furniture. This will make them easier to pack and prevent these items from catching on in other pieces of furniture and potentially tearing the upholstery. As House Logic suggests, keep track of these small pieces by placing them in a Ziploc bag and attaching them to the furniture using plastic moving wrap.

3. Dismantle the furniture

If at all possible, dismantle furniture completely. This reduces the overall weight of your furniture and makes it easier for large items to fit through narrow spaces and doorways. It also makes it much easier to lose the furniture in the moving truck. For example, remove the legs from your couch, and if possible, remove cushions from the seat. Keep the owners manual on-hand during the move so you can properly reassemble the furniture when you arrive.

4. Wrap furniture in plastic wrap

Fragile wooden pieces can be wrapped in bubble wrap, but you should use a thick plastic wrap to protect your upholstered pieces. This wrap is designed to be sticky and will prevent scratches from marring to the surface of your beloved furniture. Is a good idea to find pieces of cardboard to put in between more fragile sections and wooden sections. If any of your furniture has glass sections, use bubble wrap to protect it. You should also place an “x” on the glass surface so that if it does break it is less likely to shatter. If you’re moving your upholstered pieces to storage, wrap them in a breathable fabric, like a moving blanket or sheet instead of plastic, so they don’t mold.

5. Arrange the furniture carefully inside the truck

The final step in protecting your furniture is ensuring it is arranged carefully during transit. This is the time when damage is most likely due to bumps in the road and heavy pieces shifting inside the truck. As Penske recommends, place the heaviest pieces of furniture in the truck first and arrange everything else around these pieces. If you use the cardboard correctly, even if items crash into one another, the protective wrap and the cardboard will cushion the blow and prevent damage.

Moving is never a fun experience, but you can reduce the stress and the chance of damage to your belongings by following these five steps. Take the time to plan your move of time, and you will worry less when the day comes.