asabrinao

Hi, Everyone,

Has anyone ever trusted their sewing machines to movers and a moving van? I'm moving in a month and have a small car that will already be carrying plenty. I'm thinking of entrusting my four sewing machines to the movers. Two of them have hard cases and two of them don't. It's not the biggest issue in the world, but I'd be curious to hear from anyone who's had bad or good experience with entrusting sewing machines to movers.

Thanks,
A

tessagin

I don't know of any but waiting to see other responses. May depend if they are in cabinets or are portable. I just know I would be wrapping and padding and padding and wrapping oh my!! There are some members who have moved their machines. Anxious to see what they have to say.

ManiacQuilter2

I would take your most valuable sewing machine with you and NEVER trust it to movers. I carried my Bernina 1530 to my new apt. No one was going to touch my precious baby.

HouseDragon

We moved from Austria to Kaua`i, so hand carrying anything (except jewelry) was out of the question.

We packed the sewing machines into their hard cases which were heavily wrapped in special "squishy" stuff by the packers before being put in a box. Then I watched in amazement when the very professional Austrian packers built wooden cases for my antique machines which were also wrapped in the squishy stuff. They also built wooden crates for each piece of antique furniture.

Given that I don't know a USA moving company that is that professional, I'd follow the lead of the Austrian moving company and build my own crates for any machine that doesn't have a hard carrying case. I'd also add my own squishy wrappings and make sure they went into boxes "as is".

BTW, when we moved to Austria, I packed all my antique items myself including dishes. Yes, the moving company will tell you they won't insure anything you pack yourself. Ha! Having moved before and had breakage, the amount of money you receive wouldn't buy a fly swatter! Better to do it the right way yourself and take your chances knowing it was done correctly!

Do I sound bitter? I learned the hard way the very first time we moved many, many years ago when we were first married and had almost nothing to our names: some very precious dishes I'd inherited from my grandmother arrived smashed after being assured the packers knew what they are doing and would "do it right."

cmw0829

I moved three sewing machines with movers this past year - they were moved to storage, stored for six months and then moved cross country to my new home. Really didn't have a choice. For two, I had the original boxes - Janome Horizon and Babylock Ellisimo, so I wasn't too worried about those. Also moved a Handi Quilter Avante for which I had no box. That was the one I was worried about. I packed it with lots of bubble wrap and blankets and made a heavy duty box from a UHaul heavy wardrobe box. Then wrapped the entire box with movers plastic and wrote on the box the orientation for moving (e.g this side up, etc.).

All came through fine.

Since you have hard cases, wrap loose items so they don't bounce around and then wrap, wrap, wrap your machine and put it in a box.

Finally, make sure that you purchase the insurance on your property. We purchased replacement cost insurance for $400, based on the weight of our items and did make a glass claim for $200 which was paid. We had to disclose items that had a value of greater than a certain number of dollars times the weight (Ellisimo) so that they would be fully insured.

Good luck. I am with you, I was worried but all was well.

Cathy

Sandra-P

Anything of value that they pack and move for you should have pictures of it to show the shape it was in before moving. Our last movers were awful, I know you will have better luck. Also, once they unload everything and before you sign the papers make sure ALL your stuff is off their truck. Our mover "took" four contractor ladders and I had to replace a box of kitchen items. When we put in a claim they denied it as my husband had signed off that all was delivered and to this day we wish we would have looked on the truck before signing.

asabrinao

Thanks all for the GREAT advice. All my machines are portable (though three of them are HEAVY, 40 lbs.). Only one of them is computerized (Juki F400). I've never had any issues with the computer on that machine (crossing my fingers), but somehow that's the one I'm most nervous about because of the internal computer.

Material Witness

I mailed a sewing machine from Germany to the US once. Packed in a box, then that box packed in another box with bubble wrap. Arrived in excellent condition.

Melanie Rudy

I have had movers thru a number of moves and have no problem at all with sewing machines. I have 3 machines and a serger.

franc36

I took my Bernina in the car with me when I moved. I did not trust the movers.