Tough Tows Large Appliances

Before you take the time to properly pack your appliances you should first consider whether or not you want to bring them in the first place. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you decide:

1. Is it brand new or newish? Or are they so old that it isn’t worth the extra costs to move them?
2. Do you really like the features it offers?
3. Would they even fit into your new home?
4. Does your new home already have appliances?
5. If it does, do they fit the rooms better than yours would? Or are they newer than the ones you already have?

Moving Large Appliances Safely

If you do decide to move your appliances, it’s important that you do it safely, which means you’ll want a dolly or shoulder dolly to help with the heavy lifting, or you can just ask us and let us worry about getting them safely out of your home. However, even if you do opt to let us do all the lifting there are still a few things that you’ll need to do to prepare you washing machine, dryer, refrigerator, freezer, stove, or dishwasher.

Fridge and Freezer

Your fridge and freezer are the two appliances you should start with because they take the most time to get ready to move. You are going to want to start prepping the fridge and freezer for moving a minimum of 48 hours before the movers are set to arrive. You will need to remove the leftover food by eating it, composting it, or placing it in a cooler to bring with you.

Then you will want to unplug the two appliances, disconnect the water if the fridge has an ice machine or water dispenser, and let them defrost for 24 hours—make sure there are a bucket and towels to catch any water that might pour out from them. As they are defrosting you can wipe the insides clean to make sure you aren’t going to bring any spoiled food with you to your new home.

Next, you’ll want to take off the removable parts like the shelves, label which appliance they go with and pack them up together so you will be able to quickly find them at your new home. After they are completely dry (about 24 hours), tape the doors shut and cover with a blanket to prevent any scratches.

Once you get your fridge and freezer to your new home, you will want to wait at least 3 hours before plugging them back in to let the compressor oil settle or else you could damage them.

Washing Machine and Dryer

The first thing you will want to do is clean them. For the washing machine, this means running it through a rinse cycle, and maybe adding a bit of vinegar to get rid of tough detergent. Once that’s finished, disconnect it from the water supply and let it dry with the lid open for at least 24 hours. As for the dryer, you will want to clean the lint trap and remove any bits of lint or debris that fell into the drum.

Next, like the fridge and freezer, you’ll pack and label the removable pieces, tape the doors shut, and wrap them with a blanket to prevent any scratches.

Stove and Dishwasher

It shouldn’t be too surprising to find out that the first step to prepping stoves and dishwashers is cleaning them. With a dishwasher you can simply run it through a rinse cycle, and if necessary add a bit of vinegar to help remove any tough grime. For the stove make sure that there is no caked-on food inside or outside of it to prevent scratches during the move.

Then you will want to unplug them and disconnect the water hose from the dishwasher and let them dry—the dishwasher will take about 24 hours. If you have a gas stove, you are going to want to get a professional to come and disconnect it for you.

Once that is done, pack up the removable parts, tape the doors, swaddle your appliances, and watch the movers carry them out of your old home and onto the truck.

If you are looking to move an appliance from one home to another contact us for a quote today so we can help you do it safely.