Packing china for a short distance move

In addition to what MOM of Mason suggested, I would add that you need to drive slowly and carefully and ease your way around corners and over bumps. Stay off the freeway. Put the boxes in your car if you can rather than in a U-Haul type trailer or van.

We will be using a car and good advice about taking those corners slowly. There are a few bumps in the parking lot....speed traps, ya know, so those will be tricky. Love the suggestion, too, abut using the towels. Two things get moved at once that way. THANKS!!!!

Bubble wrap!

Pack plates vertically, not flat.

You don't need to pack as carefully for a few blocks as you do for cross-country, but the same principles apply.

I move a lot. Packers always use dish packs and paper with my dishes. Nothing has ever broken. They usually use 2 to 3 pieces per plate.

I'm still unpacking things since our new cottage was finished. I used paper towel and was able to just put those dishes right in the cupboard. I also saved the paper towel to use again. A win-win!!

On 7/8/2014 MOM of Mason said: Hand pack in clean dish or bath towels then put in small sturdy cardboard boxes. Load them carefully yourself in the vehicle, don't stack. Then when you arrive, unpack the dishes, put in cabinets and fold the clean towels and put in linen closet. We have moved several times over the years short distances and this is how I have always moved my good china and I have never had a piece to break. P.S. : My aunt also had the Desert Rose pattern and I enjoyed many good meals and company around her table. Good wishes to your Mom.....

I always move my glass and fragile things like this, and never broken a thing. It does kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I use laundry baskets to put the items in, as we find them easier to handle, not too heavy, and the handles on the side make them easy to carry in and out. Just be sure you used good strong baskets, not the cheap flimsy ones.

I usually empty my linen closet completely when doing this, so after the move, I run to the laundromat and wash up all the towels, wash cloths, and dish towels, and then they are all clean and freshened to put up in the new house (because some haven't been used for quite some time, and should be washed up every so often to keep them in good condition).

Consider one of the hard plastic storage containers, and, as was suggested, wrapping the pieces in towels or even in plastic grocery bags. If handled with even minimal care, the bast majority of it will do fine.

If you value these items, even for sentimental reasons, use invalid pads. Most antique dealers use them, including me. Much cheaper than bubble wrap. They are in the adult diaper section of your drugstore or big box store. They are flat and come in two sizes, the small will work for most items. They are also reusable.