How to Protect Furniture While Moving in Abu Dhabi

What materials do you need to protect furniture when moving?

Most damage happens because the wrong thing is touching the furniture. These are the materials that do the job, and what each one is for:

Supermarket boxes and bin bags are not enough for a full home. Most packers and movers in Abu Dhabi bring blankets, film and corner guards, but ask before you book. If you want everything wrapped for you, materials are included with our packing services.

What is the right order to wrap furniture?

Wrapping in the wrong order is where most scratches and marks start. Follow this order for every large piece:

1. Empty it: drawers, shelves and wardrobes. Full drawers make a piece heavy and stress the joints.
2. Take off what comes off: legs, handles that stick out, glass shelves, mirrors and doors where possible.
3. Bag the hardware: one bag per piece, labelled, taped to the inside of the frame.
4. Soft layer: a blanket or thick paper over the whole surface.
5. Corners: guards on every corner and edge.
6. Stretch film last: wrapped around the blanket to hold it, firm but not crushing.
7. Label: which room it goes to at the new home.

How do you protect each type of furniture?

Sofas and armchairs

Take the legs off if they unscrew, so they do not snap in a doorway. Cover leather and fabric with a blanket or a sofa bag before any film. Carry sofas level, or on end only if the frame is strong, and never drag them across the floor by the arms.

Beds and mattresses

Take the bed frame apart and tape the slats together in a bundle. Put the mattress in a bag and carry it on its side, not folded. Keep the headboard flat between two blankets, especially if it is upholstered or has a padded panel.

Wardrobes

Empty them fully. Lift off sliding doors and mirror panels and wrap them separately. Large wardrobes need taking apart to fit lifts and stairs, then putting back together square at the new home, which is where most self-moves go wrong. Our page on furniture movers in Abu Dhabi explains how the crew dismantles and reassembles them.

Dining tables and glass tops

Remove the legs. Take the glass top off and wrap it in cardboard sheets with corner guards, then carry and load it upright, on its edge. Glass laid flat in a truck cracks under the slightest weight.

Marble and stone tops

Marble is heavy and can snap along a vein if carried flat with no support. Carry it on its edge, with two people, wrapped in blankets.

Mirrors and artwork

Tape a cross on mirror glass with masking tape, add corner guards, wrap in bubble wrap and a blanket, and keep them upright, standing between mattresses or sofas in the truck.

TVs

Use the original box if you still have it. If not, wrap the screen in a blanket with padding on both faces and corner guards, and keep it upright the whole way. A TV laid flat can crack from its own weight. Take the bracket off the wall and bag its screws with the TV.

Fridges and washing machines

Defrost and dry the fridge a day before. Tape the doors shut over a blanket, not straight onto the paint. Keep it upright, and leave it standing for a few hours at the new home before switching it on. For a washing machine, drain it and fit the transit bolts if you still have them, so the drum does not swing.

How does Abu Dhabi heat affect furniture during a move?

From June to September a parked truck can get far hotter than the air outside. That heat causes damage you do not see until later:

• Plastic straight on wood or leather: traps heat and moisture and can leave marks on lacquer and leather. Always put a blanket or paper underneath.
• Glue and veneer: cheap veneer can lift at the edges in long exposure. Do not leave loaded furniture standing in a hot truck.
• Wax, candles, vinyl records and some electronics: can melt or warp. Move them in your car with the AC on.
• Medicines, perfume and food: also travel in the car, never in the truck.

In summer, ask for the earliest start time you can get, and plan the move so the truck goes straight from loading to unloading without long stops in the sun.

How do you protect the building and floors when moving?

Damage to the building costs you money too, through the security deposit or the community's damage deposit.

• Lifts: many Abu Dhabi towers ask for padded lift covers on moving day and a booked service lift. Check with building management when you apply for the move permit.
• Door frames and corners: wrap the corners of narrow corridors and door frames with cardboard or foam.
• Marble and tiled floors: lay cardboard or floor runners on the route, and never drag furniture across marble. It scratches easily.
• Villa stairs and walls: carry heavy pieces with two people on the stairs, and keep one person watching the walls on tight turns.

How should furniture be loaded in the truck?

1. Heaviest first: fridge, washing machine, wardrobes and sofas go in first, against the front wall of the truck.
2. Flat pieces on edge: tabletops, mirrors, headboards and glass travel upright, padded between mattresses or sofas.
3. Boxes in the gaps: heavy boxes at the bottom, light ones on top, filling spaces so nothing moves.
4. Tie it down: straps across each section, so a sharp brake does not throw a load forward.
5. Last in, first out: load the things you need first at the new home last.

If you are moving a whole villa, the loading plan also decides how many trips the truck makes, which is part of what our guide on villa moving cost in Abu Dhabi covers.

How do you check furniture for damage after a move?

Before moving day, take photos of your valuable pieces from each side, in daylight. At the new home:

• Check each large piece as it comes off the truck, while the crew is still there.
• Unwrap glass, mirrors and TVs first and look at the corners.
• Open and close every reassembled wardrobe door and drawer, and check beds are level and firm.
• Report anything straight away, with photos, before signing off the job.

Ask your mover before the day how they handle damage, so there is no argument afterwards. A crew that wraps properly rarely needs that conversation.