How to pack a moving tote properly
How-To · STORVA Editorial Team · 2026-07-18
Weight distribution, layering, a labeling system that survives move day — and the short list of things that should never go in a tote.
Pack reusable totes with care: cushion fragile items, distribute weight, and keep every lid fully closed. The steps below keep your packing organized.
Start with weight, not volume
The single most important rule: a 27-gallon tote can hold more weight than a person should carry. Aim for something you can lift comfortably and carry up a flight of stairs — roughly 35 to 40 pounds for most people.
That means dense categories get split. Books, canned goods, tools, and cast iron should fill the bottom third of a tote and be topped with something light — linens, pillows, stuffed animals. A half-full tote of books plus a half-full tote of towels is correct. One full tote of books is a back injury with a lid on it.
Layer heaviest to lightest
- Bottom layer: heaviest and most rigid items, laid flat and level.
- Middle layer: medium-weight items, filling gaps as you go so nothing shifts.
- Top layer: light and soft. This layer also protects whatever gets stacked on top.
- Fill every void. Empty space is what lets things move, and movement is what breaks things. Towels, socks, and packing paper cost nothing and eliminate it.
Fragile items
Plates
On edge, never stacked flat. A plate standing vertically survives an impact that would shatter a flat stack. Paper between each one, and a padded base layer of towels underneath.
Glassware and stemware
Each piece wrapped individually in paper, stems wrapped separately, everything upright, and paper packed into the gaps between. If a tote of glassware rattles when you tilt it, it is not finished.
Electronics
Original boxes if you kept them. If not, bubble wrap and a soft-goods layer above and below. Photograph the back of the TV and the router before unplugging anything — future you will be grateful. Bag every cable and label the bag.
Framed art and mirrors
Small pieces go vertically in a tote with padding between them. Large pieces do not belong in a tote at all — use a flat mirror carton or blankets and move them separately.
Lamps
Shade and base separate, always. Bulbs out. A shade travels best nested with soft goods packed inside it, not around it.
A labeling system that actually works
Label by destination room, not by contents. The person carrying the tote needs one word: KITCHEN. What is inside matters only to whoever unpacks it, and that information belongs on a second line in smaller writing.
- Label two adjacent faces, so the room is readable no matter how the tote is stacked.
- Number every tote — 12 of 40 — and keep a running list on your phone. Finding the tote with the router takes ten seconds instead of forty minutes.
- Mark FRAGILE and THIS SIDE UP on the lid and one side.
- Flag the priority totes. Two or three totes should be openly marked FIRST — these come off the truck last and get opened first.
- Use removable labels or a strap tag, not permanent marker on the tote itself. The crates are rented and cleaned between moves.
The first-night tote
Pack one tote per person and keep it in your car, not the truck. Sheets, a towel, a change of clothes, toiletries, medications, phone chargers, toilet paper, a box cutter, basic tools, coffee and a way to make it, and any documents you would panic about losing. Every good move has this tote and every bad move wishes it did.
What should never go in a tote
- Flammables and pressurized cans — propane, gasoline, lighter fluid, aerosols, paint thinner. Not in a tote, generally not in a moving truck at all.
- Anything wet or perishable. A sealed tote plus a Texas afternoon plus something damp is a science experiment and a cleaning fee.
- Open liquids. Bag them, tape the caps, keep them upright, and ideally keep them out entirely.
- Bleach, pool chemicals, and pesticides, which can damage the tote and everything near it.
- Irreplaceable documents, jewelry, and cash. These ride with you.
- Plants, which need air and do not survive a sealed crate.
Loading the truck
Uniform totes stack neatly in your vehicle. Build a wall: heaviest totes on the floor against the cab, lighter ones above, four or five high depending on how the lids seat. Keep loose items separate from the tote stack. If your order includes a four-wheel dolly, use it for anything more than two totes; three or four stacked totes move together.
Unpacking without losing the plot
Set every tote in its destination room before opening anything. Unpack in the order you need rooms: bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, everything else. Nest empty totes as you go — they stack down neatly and keep the new place navigable while you work. When you are finished, schedule the empty pickup. Early pickups are fine and the price does not change.
Need paper, bubble wrap, or labels delivered with your totes? They are on the supplies page. Not sure how many crates you need yet? Start with the calculator.