How to pack jewellery when moving house

There’s so much to think about when you’re moving house that it’s easy to neglect the little things. But if you have a lot of jewellery, any very valuable jewellery, family heirlooms or any items with significant sentimental value, it’s a really important consideration. 

Jewellery might not take up a lot of room, but it should be packed properly. You want to make sure that your jewellery gets to your new home safely and well-protected so it isn’t damaged or lost in transit. It’s a good idea to carry any valuable jewellery with you rather than leaving it in the care of a removal company so that you know it’s well taken care of.

Here’s a quick overview of how to pack jewellery when you’re moving house:

1. Put necklaces and bracelets in individual sealable bags or do them up round a paper straw to prevent tangling
2. Pierce earrings through a thin foam sheet and tape dangly earrings down
3. Put rings in a paper-lined egg box
4. Take any valuable items with you in a cloth travel jewellery roll
5. Put everything else together in a paper-lined, labelled cardboard box

Equipment & supplies you need to pack jewellery

The equipment and supplies you need when it comes to packing your jewellery for moving house really depends on the type of jewellery you have, but this is a comprehensive list of everything you might need:

• A cloth jewellery roll, like these ones
• Small, transparent, sealable plastic bags to store items individually
• Mailing bags to store several items in the same place
• Paper straws or toilet rolls to prevent your necklaces from tangling
• Packing paper to line your cardboard box and provide extra padding
• An appropriate-sized cardboard box or plastic container that will accommodate all your jewellery
• A thin sheet of foam for earrings – piercing earring through foam keeps them together
• Masking tape for taping any dangly earrings to the sheet of foam 
• An egg box for storing your rings
• A marker pen to label everything clearly (especially the egg box, in case someone puts it in the recycling bin!)

How to pack different types of jewellery

Necklaces and bracelets, earrings, and rings all need to be packaged slightly differently due to their different styles and sizes. Here’s how to pack each one for moving:

Necklaces

Necklaces should be packed individually to prevent them from tangling with each other – detangling necklaces is frustrating, challenging, and time-consuming, so it’s best to prevent it happening in the first place.

You can do this in one of two ways:

• Put each necklace in its own small, sealable plastic bag
• To prevent necklaces tangling in themselves, thread them through a paper straw (you can cut the straw to size). If you have chunky or layered necklaces, you could use a toilet roll or kitchen towel inner for this

You can apply this same method for packing bracelets or anklets.

Earrings

If you have pierced ears and a collection of earrings, get a thin sheet of foam and pierce each pair of earrings through, keeping them together. If you have dangly earrings, tape them down with masking tape to keep them secure. When all your earrings are secure, wrap the foam in strong packing paper for protection, and/or put them in a protective padded bag.

Put clip-on earrings in individual, sealable plastic bags and then into a padded bag to keep them safe and altogether.

Rings

To safely store rings when you move house, line an old egg box with protective paper and place each ring in an individual spot, before covering them with more paper. Make sure you label this box clearly so that it doesn’t accidentally get thrown away.

Once you have your necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings packaged and secure, put everything that you’re going to transport in a removal vehicle in a labelled cardboard box that’s protected with strong packaging paper. As mentioned previously, we recommend keeping high-value items or those with sentimental value with you so you know where they are at all times.