Most professional moving companies, like The Moving Guys, are very good at carefully and safely transporting your items to your new home, but preparing your appliances for the move does not fall under most companies’ responsibilities. Disconnecting and reconnecting any power or water lines to your appliances is your responsibility and once you take care of that then your professional movers are ready to do what they do best, carefully move those appliances. Read on to the rest of the article for tips on how to prepare your appliances for moving day.
How to Prepare Your Appliances for Moving
The Moving Guys are eager to help you move your items, including your appliances, with extreme care and diligence to your new home. However, there are some things that we ask you to do in preparation prior to us moving appliances to make sure no damage is done. We are a moving company which means we are not licensed to perform any plumbing or electrical work/tasks leaving you to either perform those tasks yourself or hire a plumbing or electrical professional to disconnect and/or reconnect any power or water lines to your appliances. Moving often requires many appliances to be disconnected and certain preparations to be performed before we move them. Here are some tips on how to prepare your appliances.
We suggest that you start thinking about appliance preparations at least 2 weeks before your actual moving day in order to give yourself enough time to order parts and/or hire a respective professional (electrical/plumbing) if you need to.
We recommend that you locate the owner’s manual of each appliance to check the manufacturer’s instructions. If you discarded the print version of the manual, don’t stress as you can normally find it online with relative ease. Reaching out to the manufacturer, using sites such as Manuals Online and speaking to local appliance repair experts are great resources to ensure you know exactly how to prepare each appliance for moving.
Lastly, for preparation, we recommend you gather some supplies you might need, such as:
- Bleach or White Vinegar
- Buckets
- Slip-Joint Pliers
- Household Multi-Surface Cleaner
- Washer Shipping Bolt Kit or Foam, Depending On Your Washer Type (Reference Owner's Manual)
How To Move A Washer
For both top-load and front-load washing machines, we suggest following these steps unless your owner’s manual instructs you otherwise. When preparing your washer be sure to follow these steps at least one day before moving day.
- Clean your washer. The best way to do this is to run the machine on empty through a normal cycle using hot water while adding bleach or white vinegar to clean the drum and drain lines. Lastly, leave the door open for a bare minimum or 24 hours thoroughly dry.
- Shut off the water supply by turning the valve that is typically found behind the washer on the adjacent wall.
- Turn off power to the washer through your home’e electrical panel.
- Unplug your machine from the outlet.
- Disconnect the water supply hoses from the wall using your slip-joint pliers. Remove the hot and cold hose connectors from at a time from their respective valves. Place hoses upright over your bucket or chose a large container to make sure not water is spilling on your floor.
- Disconnect the water hoses from the machine itself also using the slip-joint pliers and wrap the hoses in a towel to protect them and your washing machine. Place your thoroughly wrapped hoses inside the machine.
- Do not disconnect the drain hose as your moving crew should secure the drain and keep it from leaking during the move.
- Clean the outside of your machine using your chosen multi-surface cleaner.
- For front-load washer, secure the washer’s drum using the proper shipping bolts, also known as washer locks. These typically cost about $10-15 depending on the brand of your machine. These shipping bolts are typically inserted in the rear of the washer. For top-load washers, use foam or cardboard to secure the drym by wedging the material between the drum and the case. Make sure you follow this step as moving companies will not assume liability for the drum and its function after the move.
How To Move A Dryer
- If your dryer drum is discolored, we recommend cleaning it with a mild liquid cleaner or a paste of detergent and warm water. Clean the area and then make sure you thoroughly dry it. Running a load of old rags will help remove any remaining cleaning product residue.
- Turn off power to the dryer through your homes electrical panel.
- Unplug the dryer from the wall
- if your dryer is disconnected to a natural gas source, please confer with a qualified professional on how to safely disconnect your machine.
- Thoroughly clean your lint screen and the holding pocket with a damp sponge.
- Pull the dryer away from the wall and disconnect the vent pipe by removing the clamp.
- Lastly, clean the outside of the machine with multi-surface cleaner.
How To Move A Refrigerator Or Freezer
- Empty your appliance of any and all food and/or drink.
- Turn off the water.
- Disconnected the water line if your appliance has a water dispenser or automatic ice maker.
- Empty the water resivoir.
- Defrost the freezer of your refrigerator or the freezer itself. Check your owner’s manual to see how long defrosting should take.
- Clean the inside with multi-surface and/or bleach and thoroughly dry it.
- If you own an older model refrigerator or freezer, the motor or compressor may need to be bolted down. Modern units do not require this.
- After you are moved into your new home, refer to your owner’s manual to see how long you need to wait before replugging into power to allow the oil to settle in order to prevent damage to the compressor.
Hire The Moving Guys To Take Care Of The Rest
After you have prepared all of your appliances for moving day, call The Moving Guys to utilize our 15 years of experience. We will ensure that your appliances are safely loaded, transported and delivered to your new home in the proper condition and ready to be installed. Call us today to get a quote and schedule your move
