Packing materials · bubble wrap
Bubble wrap is the material people over-buy and then use on the wrong things. It is for specific fragile pieces, not for volume, and the bubble size matters more than the quantity.
Small bubble, usually around 10mm, sits almost flat against a surface. That is what you want on anything with a face to protect: picture glass, mirrors, television and monitor screens, glazed ceramics, tiles, worktop appliances. Because it conforms, it spreads a knock across the whole panel rather than concentrating it on one point.
Large bubble, 20mm or more, is mostly air. Laid over a flat surface it makes contact in a widely spaced grid, which is exactly the wrong geometry for glass. Where it earns its place is filling the dead space around an awkward object: a lamp base, a vase, a kettle, a food mixer. Two turns of large bubble turns an odd shape into something roughly box shaped that will sit in a carton without moving.
If you are buying one roll, buy small bubble. Most houses never need the large.
500mm is the useful width. Fold it over and you have a metre of coverage in one pass, which handles most framed pictures, a laptop, a shelf of ornaments. Narrower rolls, around 300mm, are handy for wrapping round things rather than over them, which is the job large bubble tends to be doing anyway.
Less than you would guess. Run through a house and the genuine bubble wrap list is usually: framed pictures and mirrors, the television, a computer monitor, a few ornaments, the glass shelves out of a cabinet, a table lamp or two and anything with a ceramic glaze you would be upset to chip. Everything else is a paper job.
The common mistake is wrapping crockery in bubble wrap. It works, but it is several times the cost of paper, it takes up far more room in the box so you need more boxes, and it is no better. Plates on edge in crumpled paper is the method we use on every job.
Bubbles facing in, flat side out. The bubbles form the cushion, the smooth face takes the tape and the abrasion. Never tape directly onto a painted, polished or veneered surface, and never onto a screen. Tape the wrap to itself.
For picture glass, put a strip of tape corner to corner across the glass first. If it does break, the tape holds the pieces together instead of letting them travel through the frame. Then wrap, and always carry and transport glass and framed pieces on edge rather than flat.
One thing to watch: do not leave bubble wrap in direct contact with a polished or high gloss surface for weeks in storage. In a warm store the polythene can mark the finish. Put a sheet of packing paper between the two.
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500mm wide x 100m, small bubble
This is the one to buy if you are only buying one. Small bubble sits flat against a surface, so it protects picture glass, mirrors, screens and glazed ceramics properly. At 500mm wide you can fold it over most things in a single pass instead of wrapping four times.
View on Amazon →300mm wide x 20m, larger bubbles
Large bubble is mostly air, which makes it the wrong choice for flat fragile things and the right choice for filling the dead space around an awkward object: a lamp base, a vase, a kettle. A short roll is plenty, because you will use far less of it than you think.
View on Amazon →Keep whatever is left over. It stores flat, it does not perish, and it will see you through the next move as well.
What size boxes a house move needs, double wall versus single, and how many.
Removal box sizes →Bubble wrap · good to know
Small bubble for anything flat and fragile: picture glass, mirrors, screens, glazed ceramics. Large bubble for filling the space around awkward shaped objects. If you are only buying one roll, buy small bubble.
Far less than most people buy. A 100m roll of 500mm small bubble covers the fragile items in an average house with a good margin. Paper does the volume of the work; bubble wrap is for specific pieces.
Bubbles facing inwards, against the item, with the flat side out. That way the bubbles form the cushion and the smooth face takes the abrasion and the tape.
Standard polythene bubble wrap is not accepted in most UK kerbside collections, but it is widely taken at supermarket soft plastic collection points along with carrier bags. Better still, keep it. It stores flat and it will do at least three more moves.
The original box is better if you still have it. If not, a layer of small bubble over the screen, corner protection made from folded cardboard, and then the set carried and transported upright rather than flat. A screen laid flat can flex enough to fail.
Not on a self-pack move. Every full house removal includes some free boxes and some tape; bubble wrap is yours to buy. On our packing service we bring everything the job needs.
About these links. These are the sorts of materials we buy and use on real moves. Links to items we do not supply ourselves are Amazon affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy through them. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. You pay the same price either way.
We do not list prices here, because they change and a stale figure helps nobody. Nothing on this page is sold by us, and any order, delivery or return is between you and Amazon.
Antiques, art, glass cabinets and grandfather clocks are everyday work for us. See our delicate items page, or just ring and ask.