Why You Should Use Moving Blankets
Professional movers rely on moving blankets (also known as furniture pads) to protect furniture, appliances, and other large items that otherwise can’t be boxed or bubble wrapped during a move. Additionally, moving blankets can be hung up or laid down in your home to protect walls, doorways, elevators and floors from dents, dings, and gouges while moving or when having large items delivered. While you can move without moving blankets or use your own throw blankets, comforters and sheets, the best option is to invest in some professional quality moving blankets to safeguard your possessions and home.
Types of Moving Blankets
Furniture blankets come in two styles: heavy duty quilted blankets and light duty woven textile blankets.
The quilted, heavy-duty moving blankets look like a big blue quilt with a light blue side and a darker blue side that are stitched together with a padded inner lining. While these are usually blue, they do come in other colors as well. The outer layers are often a cotton/polyester blend while the inner layer is cotton. Quilted moving blankets provide superior impact protection, but they can be heavy and expensive.
Light duty textile or felted blankets are gray or brown in color with many differently colored individual threads or strands that are tightly woven together and have a felted feel. These blankets are a single layer of soft cotton that provides moderate impact protection at an affordable price.
How to Use Moving Blankets
When loading a moving van or truck, use a moving blanket to cover any large furniture pieces like tables, dressers, desks, chairs, beds, and sofas. Be sure to tuck the sides of the blanket down the side of the object as well to protect the sides from bumping against the truck walls while in motion. If using a quilted blanket, a little tip is to treat the light-colored side as the “clean” side and place this side on your furniture. The dark side is the “dirty” side and should be facing out. This way you keep dirt, dust, or stains on the “dirty” side away from the item you are trying to protect. Once covered, you can safely place boxes or other items on top without worrying about scratching the finish. To keep blankets from slipping off, gather the sides and loose corners of the blanket, pull tight, and secure with packaging tape, mover rubber bands, or plastic stretch wrap. Quilted blankets can stand up to repeated use and having tape pulled off the polyester outer; however, textile blankets can fray or tear when removing tape, so rubber bands or stretch wrap is the ideal choice.
In addition to protecting furniture surfaces, use moving blankets to cover and protect appliances. They will protect your shiny stainless steel refrigerator, stove, and glass cooktop during the move. Washers and driers can have easily chipped enamel coatings that need protection as well. Moving blankets also reduce movement and shifting of your load as well as cushioning bumps along the road. This leads to a safer move and safer unloading.
How Many Blankets Do You Need
Furniture blankets typically measure 6 feet long by 4 ½ feet for lightweight and 6 feet by 7 feet for the heavyweight ones.
Before you start packing, go from room to room, listing the items that will need moving blankets, then determine how blankets you’ll need for each based on the guidelines below.
Items small enough for one blanket:
· Nightstands and end tables
· Coffee tables
· Small bookshelves
· Microwaves and mini fridges
· Chairs and bar stools
Items needing two blankets
· Larger bookcases
· Recliners
· King-sized headboard
· Office desks
Items needing three blankets
· Large kitchen or dining room tables
· Pool tables
· Refrigerators
· Washers and dryers
· Sofas
When in doubt, err on the side of having too many blankets.
To Rent or To Buy
Renting moving blankets makes sense for two reasons: cost and storage. It costs less money to rent moving blankets than to purchase them. Expect to pay $10 to $20 per quilted moving blanket if purchased individually and $6 to $8 if purchased in a pack. Light-duty textile moving blankets are much more affordable, around $3 each when buying in a pack. Renting comparable moving blankets costs as little as $1 per blanket. Plus, when you finish moving, you can return them and not have to store them.
However, if you can reuse the moving blankets, it’s worth the money to purchase them. After a move, you can use furniture blankets to soundproof a music room in your home, to protect your car’s seats when taking your pet to the vet, or as a beach or picnic blanket. You can also use them to safeguard your furniture during a remodel or keep dirt off items in storage, and they are perfect for covering floors and furniture when painting. Then, when you’re ready to move again, you’ll have moving blankets already on hand.
