A bathroom is often a mix of items that you use every day, items that you never use and items that are half-empty or need to be purged. There’s a good chance you’ve got a couple shampoo bottles that are on their last leg. Or perhaps some other items you no longer need or use. Plus, there may be some belongings that you can pack early to save time during the week of moving day. Keep reading to learn the best way to pack a bathroom for a move.
How to Pack Up a Bathroom When Moving
While it might feel chaotic at first, there’s a distinct method that works best when packing a bathroom. When you’re packing up your bathroom for a move, focus on three things: sorting, purging and organizing.
This strategy will ensure a few different things. You’ll take stock of everything you have, save space and headache by leaving bathroom items you no longer need behind, and keep track of everything to make the unpacking process a lot easier. Follow this bathroom packing guide to simplify your move.
Step One: Sort Through Your Toiletries and Other Items
With medicine cabinets, vanity drawers and even linen closets, there are many places for items to hide in a bathroom. The best way to pack a bathroom when moving starts with getting a realistic idea of what you have. Sort through every bottle of nail polish, tube of toothpaste and scented hand cream to see which bathroom items are coming with you.
Sorting your belongings into the categories below will give you a better idea of what supplies you’ll need to pack. Sort your stuff into the following categories:
- Appliances and accessories
- Cosmetics
- Feminine and paper products
- Hair products
- Toiletries
- Medicine
- Towels and linens
- Cleaning supplies and miscellaneous chemicals
Step Two: Purge Unnecessary Bathroom Items
Do you have a stack of threadbare towels that have seen better days? Are you planning to move expired lotions to your new home? Now that you’ve taken stock of the items you have in your bathroom, it’s time to decide what’s worth packing away and what needs to be disposed of. Almost-empty shampoo bottles, grimy bars of soap and half-rolls of toilet paper are probably unnecessary belongings to pack. By category, go through your belongings and purge the things that are no longer serving you.
Appliances and Accessories
Do you have five identical curling irons you’ve collected over the years? Take inventory of all your bathroom appliances and accessories. Test them out. Narrow them down. Pack what you use, throw or give away what you don’t.
Remember, you don’t want to bring any bathroom appliances that are broken with you. They’ll simply take up space in the moving van and make unpacking take more time than necessary. Be honest about what doesn’t work or what you won’t use to save yourself time later in the moving process.
Cosmetics
Even makeup has an expiration date. Go through your makeup and throw away anything old, dried out, broken or rarely used. Old cosmetics shouldn’t cost you more time and money to move just to sit unused in a drawer. Think of this as a moment to start a clean slate.
Paper and Feminine Products
Toilet paper and feminine products are bathroom essentials. Luckily, these items are light. They shouldn’t cost very much to ship. You shouldn’t have to throw any of these away as long as they haven’t come in contact with moisture.
Also, be sure to reserve at least a couple rolls of toilet paper to pack in a suitcase that you’ll move in your car. You don’t want to dig through boxes when you need toilet paper.
Hair Products and Toiletries
When packing your bathroom for a move, it’s a best practice to throw away any empty bottles or products you never use. If your moving company charges by weight, you will have to pay to ship products you’re never going to use. This will save you money in the long run.
If you have a large supply of unopened shampoo, conditioner or any other liquid hair toiletry, ask yourself whether it would cost more to ship your items or buy new products when you get to your new home. If it would cost more to ship the product, consider donating your unopened product to a homeless shelter or a women’s shelter.
Medicine
Moving is the perfect time to clear out your cluttered medicine cabinet. Safely dispose of your medication under the following circumstances:
- It’s expired.
- The label is illegible or not present.
- It’s ineffective.
- The physical appearance or smell changed.
- You no longer need it as you’ve completed the treatment.
Don’t throw away or flush your medication. Flushed medication can introduce harmful chemicals into the environment, and people can access pills you throw away. Take your unused medicine to a local household hazardous waste facility. Or check with your doctor’s office, many clinics have medicine drops for unused medications.
Towels and Linens
If your towels, rags, shower curtain or any other bathroom linen have holes, rips, tears or considerable wear, throw them away. You can also use old towels and rags to clean your home before you move out.
Cleaning Supplies and Other Chemicals
When you’re packing up a bathroom for a move, you’ll probably want to bring bathroom cleaning supplies with you. However, you shouldn’t make space for every single bottle of cleaner you have under your sink. Go through your cleaning supplies and get rid of any you can’t definitively identify. Some chemicals, when mixed, can emit toxic gasses. Additionally, you can’t use all chemicals on all surfaces.
If you have any old paint, use it to touch up your walls if necessary, then dispose of it. You probably won’t need the exact shade of paint in your new home. And shipping paint can get really messy.
Keep in mind that your moving company cannot take paint, varnishes, ammonia, bleach or other household cleaners in the moving truck, so dispose of all chemicals, cleaners and paints with your unused medicine at a local household hazardous waste facility. Check our list of what not to pack if you’re wondering about other items to leave behind.
Step Three: Pack Your Bathroom
So you’ve organized and purged. Now, it’s finally time to pack your bathroom for your move. If you’ve done the preparation, this part should go smoothly. It’s broken into two parts: packing your bathroom essentials bag and packing everything else.
How to Pack Your Bathroom Essentials Bag
Before you pack up your bathrooms, make sure everyone in your household packs an essential toiletry bag. Essential toiletry bags should include the following:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Hair products that are used daily
- Deodorant
- Makeup
- Shampoo
- Anything else that is used on a daily basis
How to Pack Your Toiletries and Bathroom Items
Now that you’ve set aside the essential items you’ll need right after you move, it’s time to pack everything else in moving boxes. In order to ensure that your delicate items make it to your new home safely, follow these bathroom packing tips:
- Wrap all opened bottles containing liquid in plastic wrap or put them in plastic bags.
- Line the boxes containing appliances and accessories, hair products and toiletries with towels.
- Wrap fragile items in towels to protect them during the move. Label the boxes as fragile.
- Pack unused towels on the top of otherwise heavy boxes. They’ll take up space without adding extra weight.
- Label all boxes clearly.
Hire Professionals to Help Pack Your Bathroom
If packing a bathroom for a move still sounds intimidating, or if you want to make sure that everything is packed up safely, hire professional movers. Bekins Van Lines is a full service moving company, meaning we can help you with everything from physically moving your items to storage. Our team offers comprehensive packing services where our trained movers will pack up your home before moving it onto the moving van.
If you need help with packing or moving, get in touch with Bekins Van Lines! We look forward to making your moving experience easy and hassle-free.
