4 ms·

Having loads of books is great until you have to move home.

mbg721 4y ago
I would think you'd have to have an awful lot of them before it became a problem. Books tend to be pretty small and less oddly-shaped than most other stuff you have to move. They're so efficient to pack that you end up with some really heavy boxes if you're not careful, but after the first one or two, you get the hang of how many to pack.
- Freak_NL 4y ago
  Also, the glorious invention known as the banana box helps. Planning a move? Start collecting banana boxes from supermarkets (they put them out for customers to take for free, because it saves them having to tear them up and fill their paper waste bin with it — don't forget the cardboard inserts for the 'gap' in the bottom of the box). For most books these have a much better shape than ordinary moving boxes, and they are sturdy enough (unlike the former). Free, easy to lift, easy to stack, and it saves the books from damage. Second-hand booksellers who visit bookfairs swear by these boxes.
  - yetanotherloser 4y ago
    This is true. A very different plan that also works is sorting by exact size and packing the smaller sizes very neatly and densely in carrier bags. Push one against each end and then fill the middle so you don't end up pushing a book downwards against the bag end, just books against books. Fill so there's no rattle room and start another row. They form tight blocks that keep the corners safe.
  - mbg721 4y ago
    My dad's big tip was to ask the guys at Kinko's for old printer-paper boxes, for similar reasons.
ekianjo 4y ago
> until you have to move home. True. But then you have to make the hard choices of what to keep, and it's better to do that on a regular basis to avoid being a book hoarder.
OJFord 4y ago
Having just packed, I can tell you books were great - not that they account for 80% of my stuff, but in similar Pareto-ish fashion they were very easy to slide into boxes and make a big visible impact on packing process. It's all the fiddly little things that take time (do I even need that) or things that need to be well protected - glasses etc. And things that you frequently use and deliberate over whether you need again before the move.
- Hamuko 4y ago
  Books are heavy as shit though. If I take two similarly-sized boxes and fill one of them with books, and the other one with random stuff, the box with the books is going to be the heavier one. Pretty sure the densest box that I had in my last move was the one where I had all of my books.
larve 4y ago
Collect vinyl as well, that way books will seem lighter than air.

I would think you'd have to have an awful lot of them before it became a problem. Books tend to be pretty small and less oddly-shaped than most other stuff you have to move. They're so efficient to pack that you end up with some really heavy boxes if you're not careful, but after the first one or two, you get the hang of how many to pack.

Freak_NL 4y ago
Also, the glorious invention known as the banana box helps. Planning a move? Start collecting banana boxes from supermarkets (they put them out for customers to take for free, because it saves them having to tear them up and fill their paper waste bin with it — don't forget the cardboard inserts for the 'gap' in the bottom of the box). For most books these have a much better shape than ordinary moving boxes, and they are sturdy enough (unlike the former). Free, easy to lift, easy to stack, and it saves the books from damage. Second-hand booksellers who visit bookfairs swear by these boxes.
- yetanotherloser 4y ago
  This is true. A very different plan that also works is sorting by exact size and packing the smaller sizes very neatly and densely in carrier bags. Push one against each end and then fill the middle so you don't end up pushing a book downwards against the bag end, just books against books. Fill so there's no rattle room and start another row. They form tight blocks that keep the corners safe.
- mbg721 4y ago
  My dad's big tip was to ask the guys at Kinko's for old printer-paper boxes, for similar reasons.

ekianjo 4y ago

> until you have to move home. True. But then you have to make the hard choices of what to keep, and it's better to do that on a regular basis to avoid being a book hoarder.

OJFord 4y ago

Having just packed, I can tell you books were great - not that they account for 80% of my stuff, but in similar Pareto-ish fashion they were very easy to slide into boxes and make a big visible impact on packing process. It's all the fiddly little things that take time (do I even need that) or things that need to be well protected - glasses etc. And things that you frequently use and deliberate over whether you need again before the move.

Hamuko 4y ago
Books are heavy as shit though. If I take two similarly-sized boxes and fill one of them with books, and the other one with random stuff, the box with the books is going to be the heavier one. Pretty sure the densest box that I had in my last move was the one where I had all of my books.

larve 4y ago

Collect vinyl as well, that way books will seem lighter than air.