To ensure that your package doesn’t get damaged during the
transit, here is a simple guide you can get help from.
Countering issues of
containment
Start by picking the right box. The item you are going to
ship would need some room in the box. This space prevents item’s breakage in
case the package is handled in a rough manner during transit. Thus, you will
have to make sure that walls and flaps of the box are not touching the items.
Furthermore, this space allows the receiver to open the box without damaging
the items.
Provide cushioning to
the items
Only leaving the space isn’t enough to ensure the package’s
safety. As a matter of fact, a freely moving item in the box has more chance of
breaking. Hence, cushioning the item in order to restrict its movement in the
box is one of the precautionary measures without which the chances of item’s
breakage are increased by many folds. There are a number of packaging materials
which can be used for cushioning purposes.
- Bubble rolls are highly effective in providing safety to the items that need to retain their 100% integrity to ensure functionality. Electronic items like computers and their hardware are secured most commonly with the help of bubble rolls and bubble wraps. It’s a general advice to tape the bubble roll after wrapping it around the item. Nevertheless, professionals don’t recommend the use of these rolls when shipping slippery breakables like dishes and glasses.
- Peanuts are a great option to fill the void in the box that contains toys and breakables meant to be used in kitchen. However, the use of peanuts is not encouraged in order to provide cushioning to electronic items because this packaging material contains static electricity. Moreover, peanuts aren’t reusable.
- Peanuts are messy, so the better alternate may be the use of packing paper. Packing paper provides satisfactory padding to the light and delicate items. The harsher handling of shipping boxes can produces a pressure that can be absorbed well with the help of packing paper. Another advantage of packing paper is that it can be reused.
Things to watch out
for
Breakables, important documents and heavy items need more
attention than standard packaging supplies. Hence, the packaging of these items
needs to be done keeping worst case scenario into consideration.
- To pack highly delicate or breakable items, use some extra layers of bubble wrap. Fill remaining void with peanuts and tag the box with a label ‘Fragile’.
- You can’t afford your important documents, such as legal documents, to get damaged during the transit. Using padded mailers can be the good option but it’s even better if you use cardboard mailing box or a mailing tube.
- Heavy items aren’t only self-damaging but they can injure the handler too. The best practice to pack these items is to make sure that you are not putting extra weight on any of the side of the package. Doing such would destabilize the package during transportation. Stretch wrap is recommended to provide safety to heavy items.
