Packing very fragile items

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I picked up some very fragile bone china items in a wooden box.  I'd like to send this  to a friend and don't know just how to protect it for shipping'

 

So far I have had suggestions to wrap each piece in flannel and then fill the gaps with dried beans or rice and then wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap before putting in a cardboard box.

 

Styrofoam popcorn and plastic pillows don't seem feasible

 

Any other suggestions? 

[Dusty Devil Dale]

I've sent fragile dishes in the past individually wrapped/taped in bubble wrap, then all taped together, immersed in a box full of packing peanuts, then packed in a second larger box full of peanuts.  It made it to UK without breakage. 

[Major E A Sterner #12916]

My Mom ran an antique shop, they had thin styrofoam sheets that they would wrap anything fragile in so it wouldn't move in the shipping boxes. It worked very well since they never had anyone complain that something was broken in shipment. Walmart or Sam's club usually has it.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Bubble wrap each one

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Over the years I bought Old Country Roses stuff for my wife. Well, she passed and a decade later I had to downsize. I sold all the China to a dealer. He wrapped each piece in bubble wrap. I got about 6¢ on the $ for the stuff. He said that he goes to many shows to sell fine china on weekends. Old Country Roses is not fine china. My stuff he would sell on eBay.

[Pat Riot]

5 hours ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

I've sent fragile dishes in the past individually wrapped/taped in bubble wrap, then all taped together, immersed in a box full of packing peanuts, then packed in a second larger box full of peanuts.  It made it to UK without breakage. 

Pretty much what my suggestion was going to be. A box within a box with padding between everything. 
 

 

Added: If the items “nestle” together - stack well. The thin foam padding between them should be fine. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

5 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Bubble wrap each one

What Lumpy said. You can get it at an Office Max or Office Depot. They may even carry it at Home Depot or Lowes or Ace Hardware.

[Cholla]

I recommend not having anything Styrofoam against the china itself. The foam is much like fine sandpaper and can abrade the surface. I found this out the hard way with two Zuni pots. A Hopi potter told me later that she places all of her pottery in a clear plastic bag first, then packs them in peanuts.

[J-BAR #18287]

Bulk bubble wrap can also be found at U-Haul, or anyplace that rents moving vans.  They sell good boxes too.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Best prices on bubble wrap and boxes could be uhaul or any place that rents trucks

[Sedalia Dave]

Late to the party but ship them the way they did in the 1900s, Packed in sawdust. In the old west dishes were shipped in barrels packed with sawdust. Think about how rough a journey that was. Yet fragile items made the trip just fine. During the depression dishes were put into boxes of laundry soap. Consider how fragile some of the depression glass was. As a packing material sawdust is not that different than powdered soap.

 

Wrap each plate in a plastic bag like the ones you get at the grocery store. This will prevent scratches and help keep them clean.  Use a sturdy cardboard box that is at last 2" bigger in every dimension than the items you are shipping For a single 12 inch plate the box should be 16 X 16 X 4. Now put 2" of sawdust in the bottom of the box. Put in the first plate, Add 1" of sawdust and put in the next one. make sure you have a minimum of 2" between the last item and the top of the box. Fill the box so items cannot shift during transit  Seal well with packing tape so that the sawdust will not leak out during transit.

 

For items that have a things like arms or other long unsupported sections be sure the plastic bag protecting them from dust is wrapped loosely enough that they parts will be supported by the sawdust and not the plastic bag, For very large items I use plastic garbage bags. I even line the shipping box with a large trash bag so the sawdust doesn't leak out. I also gently shake the box as I am filling it so that the sawdust will settle and not have any voids.

 

For items like jars, vases and the like be sure the interior is filled and lightly packed with sawdust. This will help support the sides.

 

I have packed and shipped fragile items this way for years and in all that time I have only had one item break. It was an 8 sided glass box with a hinged glass lid. I failed to fill the interior of the glass box with sawdust and the unsupported bottom cracked. 

 

You can get sawdust for the asking at any lumber yard or big box home improvement stores. Just bring along a large plastic bag to put it in.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Looks like this is going to get almighty expensive pretty quickly.

 

I'm gonna hve to rethink this for awhile.