How to Pack Shoes for Moving: The Right Way

As moving day approaches, everything starts to pile up. So many responsibilities and plans and details to take care of can begin to stack up so that you can feel overwhelmed, and things can slip through the cracks. You have probably already thought about how you can move your fragile dishes to your new home, and how to make sure all of your electronics and appliances make it through moving day in one piece, but what about your shoes? It is all too easy to forget to consider how to pack shoes for moving, which can lead to problems later on.

You might think that shoes don’t need much care when you pack them, but if you don’t make sure you know how to pack shoes for moving, then you can end up with smashed shoes, dented boots, and crumpled sandals when you come to unpack all of your things in your new home. We have put together a guide to the best way to pack shoes for moving (rights reserved) to help you make sure your shoes make it through your big move in one piece. Read on below to find out everything you need to know to make sure your shoes don’t get smashed up during a big move.

Preparing your Shoes for an Upcoming Move

When packing shoes for a move, your first step should be to plan out your packing project and prepare carefully before you make a start. Don’t just pack your shoes one at a time without thinking about this as a larger project! If you want to know how to pack shoes for moving, you will need to take it one step at a time, slowly and carefully. You can make the process of packing shoes much quicker and easier if you start by assessing your shoe collection. Which shoes don’t you need any more? Which shoes don’t you love anymore?

Think carefully about this one, as it can save you a lot of time and effort later in the packing process. If you have got any shoes that are too damaged to wear, it is time to throw them out. If there are shoes that you never wear, but that are still in good condition, consider donating them to charity.

There are many charities that can make good use of your unwanted shoes, so you can save some packing space by donating shoes you don’t need to a good cause. The more you can weed your shoe collection down at this stage, the fewer shoes you will need to pack up in the next stages.

Sorting your Shoes

Once you have narrowed down your shoe collection to only the shoes that you actually want to take with you on your move, it is time to sort them out properly. Organize your shoes into different categories; leather shoes in one pile, athletic shoes in another, dress shoes in a third pile, and so on. Different designs and materials used in shoe construction have different needs when it comes to packing paper and moving, so sorting them at this stage will make it much easier to pack your shoes properly and efficiently later.

Set Aside some Shoes for Moving Day

If you pack away all of your shoes before moving, then you won’t have anything to wear between packing them up and unpacking them at the other side. You will still need some shoes for moving day, and for anything else, you plan on doing before that point. If you have formal events to go to, set aside some formal shoes. If you plan on exercising, set aside some athletic shoes. You will be able to pack those separately at the last minute.

Get your Shoes ready for Packing

Before you pack your shoes, a bit of maintenance can help them to stay in the best condition possible. If they are damp or dirty when you pack them for the move, then they can develop odors or mold during the moving process, and nobody wants that. Start by cleaning your shoes before packing. Wipe them down to remove all debris and dirt, and then leave them to dry thoroughly before proceeding. This is particularly important for athletic shoes, which are often dirtier than other types of shoe.

If any of your shoes smell bad, then it is probably worth putting in a bit of work to eliminate the unpleasant shoe odor before you pack them up for moving. There are a number of different strategies you can use to eliminate odors from a shoe; you could freeze the offending shoe overnight to kill the odor-causing bacteria, you could put baking soda or citrus peel in overnight to absorb the smells and freshen them up, or you could use a deodorizing spray.

If none of those completely remove the odor from your shoe, you could try packing the shoes with a dry tea bag inside them to combat the worst of the odor during your move. The next step for preparing to pack shoes for moving is to stuff them with clean packing paper to prevent them from being crushed out of shape. Tissue paper or any other clean paper that can easily be screwed into rough balls is a great option here!

Choosing Packing Materials for your Shoes

One of the biggest things you will need to bear in mind when planning out how to pack shoes for moving is the material that you use for packing shoes properly. You are going to need to make sure you have a large amount of bubble wrap or clean packing paper for this; you can’t use newspaper or colored tissue paper for this, no matter how much you might have piled up in the closet.

This is because the inks can leach out of colored packing paper and stain your shoe, which can be incredibly frustrating (if not impossible) to remove. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use bubble wrap or paper for packing, you can try using your socks to pack your shoes for moving, saving space and money at the same time!

How to Pack Shoes when Moving

This part of the process of packing your shoes for a move is where sorting your shoes into types earlier starts to pay off. Different shoes need different levels of protection to keep them safe in a move; your old boots might not need much protection for moving, but your dress shoes and high heels will want a lot of padding to prevent them from getting damaged during the move.

Old, battered shoes can just be tied together and thrown in a box loosely. Higher-end shoes, however, will need to be properly protected before you move. Once you have finished stuffing them with paper, use more packing paper or similar to wrap each shoe individually. When each of your shoes has been individually wrapped, put each pair of shoes together and store it in a shoebox or other sturdy container, padded with more paper to stop your shoes from getting damaged during moving.

Boxing Up your Shoes

When you are putting your shoes in boxes, it is worth separating those boxes into piles based on when you are likely to be wearing them next. Shoes that won’t be worn for a while can be buried in the depths of your moving van, while shoes you will want to wear sooner should be put somewhere more accessible. That makes it easier to prioritize your unpacking sensibly.

Take a large plastic box or another storage container to keep things organized. Then, put the heavier boxes of shoes at the bottom of the container, and pile lighter shoe boxes on top. This will prevent your heavy boots from crushing your more delicate footwear. It is also worth labeling the outside of the boxes at this point, so you know which shoes are in them without having to open the box to find out!

How are you going to Store your Shoes in your New Home?

Unpacking your shoes is just as important as packing them up. Plan out how you are going to organize your shoes in your new home in advance, and you will find it much easier to unpack them as a result. Your shoes will already be sorted and organized for the move, so you should take advantage of this and go for the best filing system you can on the other end.

The Best Way to Pack Shoes When Moving

Moving is chaotic and stressful, but if you follow the advice we have given above, you should have an easier time of things. Take some extra time and care when you pack up your shoes, and it will pay off afterward with organized, clean shoes that survive the move in one piece!