Moving tips: How to wrap a sofa for moving

Moving flats or houses? Doing so isn’t as simple as changing your address. In most cases, you’ll also bring most of your belongings with you. That’s right, you need to pack furniture, appliances, decor, trinkets, and more. One of the tricky pieces to wrap and move is the sofa. It can be hard work to wrap a bulky sofa. But if you want to do it yourself, read on to learn how to wrap a sofa for moving.

Before you start

Gather the following materials for this wrapping task:

• Measuring tape

• Shrink wrap

• Furniture moving straps

• Furniture blankets or moving blankets

• Packing tape

• Furniture dolly

• Marker

• A removal truck, van, or utility vehicle

Tips for wrapping a sofa for moving and completion time

To make the task easier, make sure to prepare all the materials such as couch plastic wrap. Have moving boxes ready to store decorative elements or detachable parts, like pillows, arms, and legs. You can use a permanent marker to label these parts so they won’t get lost during transport.

For the whole task, you may need to allot a couple of hours or more, depending on the size and shape of your sofa, which floor you live on or where it is located in your house.

Can you wrap and move a sofa by yourself? 

Sofas can be extremely heavy. Moving certain sofas can even require multiple people. If you’re not used to lifting heavy things, it is highly recommended to ask someone for help, especially in carrying or moving the sofa to the moving truck. 

This keeps both you and the furniture safe from accidents. But if you want to do it yourself, always use moving straps to help you or tap someone to help when lifting heavy furniture. 

A guide on how to wrap a sofa for moving

Follow these five easy steps to learn how to wrap a sofa with plastic or other wrapping materials to move it.

Step 1: Measure the sofa

Before wrapping your sofa, you need to measure its dimensions. Using a measuring tape, get the dimensions of your sofa and the areas it will have to pass through to get to its destination. 

For example, you must note the measurement of your door frames, hallways, driveways, etc., where your sofa shall be carried through. Also, consider the available space of the vehicle you will use for transport. Is it a van or a truck? This is to ensure it can fit in the moving vehicle.

Step 2: Disassemble the sofa

Prep your sofa before the move by disassembling it as much as you can. Doing this will avoid damage to its protruding parts especially when it passes through door frames or hallways. 

Start by removing cushions, covers, armrests, arms, legs, and the rest of the detachable parts of the sofa, if any. You can try to unscrew the legs, which are commonly screwed tightly on the base. 

Wrap smaller parts together by group using a shrink wrap, place them in a box and label the box clearly. You can also put other parts, such as nails, screws and bolts, in a plastic bag or zip lock and put them in the same box.

If you have a sectional or modular sofa, detach each section from one another. For sofa beds, remove the mattress from the sofa and store it inside a mattress bag. 

Cushions and covers can also be placed in a separate box or moving bag to protect them. If they don’t fit, you can use a shrink wrap to cover them.

Step 3: Wrap the sofa

First, cover your sofa with furniture blankets. These blankets are thick and well-padded enough to help protect your prized furniture from getting torn, scuffed up, or scratched. Ensure that every part of the furniture is properly covered. Then, securely wrap the sofa in plastic or wrapping materials.

Do you have a white or light-coloured couch? Make sure your furniture blankets are clean. If not, you can use a plastic stretch wrap or bubble wrap as the first layer and then proceed with blankets as the second layer. Protect it and keep everything in place by covering it with shrink wrap as the third layer. 

For the armrests, use extra padding for these parts and on the corners. Do this by using cardboard pieces or furniture blankets. If you ever feel overwhelmed, book a Tasker to get help packing.

☞ Related read: How to wrap furniture for moving

Step 4: Move the sofa

Now that you know how to shrink wrap a sofa. It’s time to move it! Seek help from others to position the sofa vertically. Moving it in this position allows for easier manoeuvring, especially when it passes through narrow hallways and tight corners. 

In any case, the easiest way to do this step is to use a furniture dolly. They sit low on the ground and have four durable castors. Have a helper tilt the sofa to one side, then slide the dolly underneath the sofa. Secure it to the dolly using furniture or moving straps. 

Slowly but surely, push the dolly carrying the sofa to the vehicle. While doing so, watch for low-hanging lights, tight corners, and narrow doorways.

Do you need to move the couch upstairs or downstairs? You will need assistance for heavy lifting as the dolly is not fit for stairs. Consider the weight of the couch to estimate how many people you will need as assistants.

Alternatively, you may need to move the sofa through your window or balcony if your staircase is too narrow. This can be very dangerous to do alone, so it’s best to call professional removalists.

Step 5: Load and unload the sofa

Trucks allow for the easiest loading of bigger items like a sofa. Most trucks usually come with ramps or hydraulic lifts, allowing you to wheel the sofa onto the lift straight into the truck.

Use the furniture straps again to tie it down if necessary so that it won’t move around during transport. 

Once you’re in your new place, unload the sofa and carry it to its new position. You can measure the pathway where you’ll assemble it to ensure carrying it inside will be a breeze. Then, unwrap and reassemble the sofa for your use! 

To wrap it all up…

Remember the important steps outlined above–measure, disassemble, wrap, move, and load–when moving your sofa. However, when moving heavy furniture such as a sofa, you will need materials and equipment that will make the moving safe and secure and will prevent untoward accidents. 

Your safest option is to hire a professional such as a sofa or couch removalist or professional movers to help move your apartment furniture or house furniture when relocating. Book a professional through Airtasker now!