Packing materials · boxes
There are really only three box sizes worth owning for a house move, and the mistake people make is buying too many of the wrong one. Here is what each size is for.
Ignore the catalogues offering nine sizes. A house move needs a small box, a standard box and a large box, and the whole job comes down to matching weight to volume. A box that is the right size for the item is a box that gets carried safely and stacks squarely, and a van packed with squarely stacked boxes takes one load instead of two.
Roughly 30cm x 25cm x 25cm. For books, tinned food, tools, records, tiles, anything with real density. The size is a deliberate constraint: fill a standard box with hardbacks and it comes out at 25kg or more, which is how backs get hurt on staircases and how box bottoms let go halfway across a pavement.
Roughly 47cm x 31cm x 25cm, about 35 to 45 litres. This is the workhorse and it is what any box count means unless it says otherwise. Kitchen cupboards, wardrobes, bathroom cabinets, the contents of a sideboard, toys, shoes. Around two thirds of a typical house ends up in this size.
Roughly 46cm x 28cm x 28cm and up. Reserved for things that are bulky and light: duvets, pillows, cushions, coats, lampshades, soft toys. The temptation is to fill one with whatever is left in the room, which is exactly how you end up with a box nobody can lift. If it is heavy, it is in the wrong box.
Corrugated board is a wavy layer of fluting sandwiched between two flat liners. Single wall has one of those sandwiches, double wall has two. That second layer is what stops a box bowing outwards when there are four more on top of it, and it is the reason a double wall carton survives three or four moves while a single wall one is finished after the first.
For a house move, buy double wall for anything going in the van and do not agonise over the rest. Ours are double wall, and the pack below is the same specification.
Everyone underestimates, and everyone underestimates the kitchen specifically. A large kitchen with a stocked pantry, a full set of pans and a cupboard of appliances is thirty boxes on its own, which is more than most people budget for the entire downstairs. Put your rooms into the packing calculator before you order anything.
Order about ten per cent more than the calculator says. Flat packed boxes take up almost no space, and an unused one is a far smaller problem than running out at nine o'clock the night before the move.
You get some free boxes with every full house removal from us, the quantity worked out when we quote, plus some tape. If you need more than that, you can buy extra from us and we will bring them with your survey or your job, or you can order your own. These are the packs we would point you at.
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47cm x 31.5cm x 25cm, printed room list and carry handles
The standard removal carton, and the size most of a house goes into. Hand holds make a real difference on a staircase, and the printed room list on the side means people actually label them, which is half the battle on moving day.
View on Amazon →18in x 11in x 11in internal, carry handles and room list
A slightly deeper box built for removals rather than storage. Good for bedding, cushions, coats and lampshades, the bulky light things that waste a medium box. Do not put books in these: you will not lift it.
View on Amazon →457mm x 305mm x 254mm, double wall, flat packed
Double wall means two layers of fluting rather than one, so the box holds its shape when it is stacked five high in the back of a van. Fifteen is the better value break point if you already know you are short. This is the specification we use ourselves.
View on Amazon →All three are the standard removal carton footprint, so they stack together on the van. The difference is pack size and how deep the box is, not a different class of box.
Nine-size box bundles. Sold as a "3 bed house kit", usually short on standard boxes and long on sizes you will use twice. Buy the three sizes separately in the quantities you actually need.
Plastic crates, bought rather than hired. They are excellent and we have nothing against them, but buying a set for one move costs several times what cardboard does and then you own forty crates. Hire is a reasonable option; purchase rarely is.
Boxes without hand holds. A minor thing until you are carrying the eightieth one down a flight of stairs.
Removal boxes · good to know
The standard removal carton is roughly 45cm to 47cm long, 30cm to 32cm wide and 25cm deep, which is around 35 to 45 litres. Almost every UK removal firm works to something close to that, and it is the size a packing calculator means when it says "boxes".
Single wall has one layer of fluting between the two liners, double wall has two. Double wall boxes hold their shape when stacked and survive being reused, which is why removal firms buy them. Single wall is fine for light bulky things but will bulge and collapse under books.
The smallest one you have. A standard removal box filled with books weighs around 25kg to 30kg, which is at the limit of what one person should be carrying down a staircase. Book boxes are deliberately small so that they cannot be overfilled.
For an average three-bedroom house, somewhere around 70 to 90 boxes across all sizes. The kitchen and how long you have lived there move that figure more than the number of bedrooms does. Our packing calculator works it out room by room.
You can, but they are single wall, sized for pallets rather than for carrying, and often have hand holes cut in the side that let the contents fall out. They also will not stack squarely, which wastes space in the van and costs you time on the day.
Yes. Every full house removal includes some free boxes, the quantity worked out when we quote, plus some tape. You can buy more from us for delivery with your move, or top up online if you would rather order them yourself.
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.
Tell us what is moving and we will come back with a clear price, usually the same day, boxes included.