How To Wrap Dining Chairs For Moving

Are you thinking of cross country moving? Or are you in the process of shipping dining room furniture to another state or country? Then you might be wondering what the best way to pack a dining room set to protect them from damage is. 

Like all the other furniture in the house, dining chairs need to be carefully packed and protected when moving. But the good news is, preparing dining chairs for a move is pretty straightforward. All you need is to prepare the right materials and figure out whether they are detachable or not. If they are detachable, you can decide whether to detach them or wrap them whole. 

How to Prepare Dining Chairs for Wrapping

So how do you wrap dining chairs for moving? Well, before you can start wrapping your dining chairs, you need to go through these steps to prepare. 

Step 1: Cleaning Your Furniture

Naturally, you want to begin your new life in your new home with a clean slate—both literally and figuratively. The last thing you want is to bring dirt and dust into your fresh space. Therefore, before you settle in, start by thoroughly cleaning your dining chairs to remove any grime or dust.

Here’s how to effectively clean your chairs:

1. Gather Your Supplies: You’ll need a soft cloth or sponge, a bucket of warm water, and a mild detergent suitable for your chair’s material (such as wood or upholstery).
2. Prepare the Cleaning Solution: Mix a small amount of mild detergent with warm water to create a gentle cleaning solution.
3. Wipe Down the Chairs: Dampen your cloth or sponge in the solution and wipe down all surfaces of the chairs, including:
   • Sitting Area: Focus on the seat and backrest where dust and oils can accumulate.
   • Legs and Underside: Don’t forget to clean the back of the legs and underneath the chair, as dirt can easily collect there as well.
4. Rinse and Dry: If necessary, use a separate cloth dampened with plain water to remove any soap residue. Then, dry the chairs with a clean, dry cloth to prevent any moisture damage.

Give the chairs time to dry before you go to the next step. 

Step 2: Disassemble Your Chairs

If possible, disassemble the chairs before packing, as this can make the moving process easier and more efficient. However, whether or not you can disassemble your chairs will depend on their design.

Here’s how to determine if you can safely disassemble your chairs:

1. Inspect the Chair: Turn the chair upside down and examine the underside of the seat. Look for any visible screws, bolts, or connectors that may indicate that the legs are removable.
2. Check for Permanently Fixed Legs: If the legs are permanently attached to the chair and do not have any visible fastening mechanisms, do not attempt to remove them, as this could cause damage to the chair structure.
3. Remove the Legs if Possible: If you find screws or bolts that can be easily detached:
   • Use a Screwdriver: Carefully use a screwdriver to unscrew the legs from the seat. Make sure to do this gently to avoid stripping the screws or damaging the wood.
   • Organize Fasteners: As you remove each leg, keep all nuts, bolts, screws, and other fastening materials in a labeled bag or container to avoid losing them during the move.

Disassembling the chairs not only saves space during transport but also helps protect them from potential damage.

Wrapping Dining Chairs for Moving

First and foremost, make sure you have the necessary packing materials:

• Transport blankets or old plaids.
• Cardboard or unwanted cardboard boxes for disassembly.
• Packing film and packing tape.
• Bubble wrap.
• Stickers for labelling.
• Furniture covers.
• Wooden crates for valuable items.

Wrapping Non-Disassembled Dining Chairs

If your chairs are not detachable, then can easily wrap them whole using furniture blankets. You can also use the same method if you have detachable chairs, but you choose not to disassemble them. Here is how to wrap and pack full dining chairs:

1. Place a clean furniture blanket (or an old blanket) on the floor.
2. Place a chair on top (one at a time). Place the chair diagonally with the top of the chair facing you. 
3. Cover the back of the seat with one corner of the blanket. 
4. Now cover the left and right sides of the chair while pulling the blanket between the legs of the chair. 
5. Now take the hanging sides of the blankets that stretches out and then fold them inward and up between the legs of the chair, wrapping them tightly. 
6. Now put the chair back to an upright position and finish up wrapping the remaining loose ends. 
7. Now use a packing take all over the seat to snugly secure the blanket on so it does not come off and damage the chair during the move. 

Another way is to pack the elements of the chair individually. This is suitable if you do not have transport blankets or plaids that can protect the whole chair.

• Wrap the legs of the chair: cardboard, bubble wrap, fabrics and duct tape are all suitable.
• Wrap the back of the chair with bubble wrap or cardboard and secure.
• Protect the seat in the same way. Several layers of cling film can be used.

Wrapping Disassembled Dining Chairs

Good for you if you successfully disassemble your chairs. Now let's wrap them. 

1. Label your chairs and their legs. The last thing you need is to start figuring out which leg goes where while assembling the chairs in your new home. So use sticky pads (or whatever sticky material you have) to number the chair and number its legs 1, 2, 3, 4. 
2. Number the legs such that you know what seat it belongs to and which side it goes. For example, you can use the same sticky notes to number the spaces on the chairs where each leg is attached. 
3. Now wrap each leg in bubble wrap and secure it with packing tape. This will help protect the legs from damage while moving. 
4. Now follow the same process as wrapping a non-disassembled seat above to wrap the legless chair. Wrap them in blankets, ensuring all the parts are covered, and then finish up by wrapping them with packing tape. 

Packing of Non-Standard and Valuable Chairs

If you need to pack armchairs or chairs made of precious wood for your move, it makes sense to order wooden crates to fit.

In this case it is necessary to wrap the chair itself in any way described above, put it in the crate and fill the remaining voids with packing peanuts, crumpled paper, towels, blankets, cardboard. Filling the voids will prevent the chair from moving inside the crate during the journey and will prevent damage by rubbing against the crate walls. No external influences will be harmed in the same way.

Conclusion

Select the right packaging materials, specialised or even handy, and half the job is done. Pay attention to every element of the chair and your chairs will be safe and sound after the move 

If you have a tight deadline, you can save time by using a packing service or same day moving service from High Stream Moving by calling our managers at (800) 430-1537.