Moving to a new home can be both exciting and stressful! When you’re packing all of your belongings, it’s sometimes easy to forget about some of the most obvious ones—including shoes. Whether you’re a collector or you simply have a wide variety of shoes that you need to wear at different times, you’ll want them to arrive at your new home in perfect condition. That’s why it’s essential to know how to pack shoes for moving—something you’ll definitely want to add to your checklist.
In this guide, we’ll explore eight ways to pack your shoes so that they’ll keep your move stress-free—and be easy to unpack once you’re in your new place!
How to Pack Shoes for Moving in 8 Ways
If you haven’t yet learned the best way to pack shoes for moving, start by following the steps below:
1. Choose Which Shoes to Keep
When you’re thinking about how to pack shoes, it always helps to take some time to review your collection. Decide which ones actually make a difference in your life—you’ll want to keep these! Then decide which ones are simply collecting dust and might be better off in someone else’s closet. Moving is a great time to declutter by donating, so don’t skip this step!
2. Clean Your Shoes
Next, give your shoes a whiff and see if they smell all right. While this isn’t the most pleasant step, unpleasant odors could be a sign that you need to clean your shoes or let them sit out overnight to air out.
To clean your shoes, you can start by wiping them with a dry brush. You can also make a mixture of 1) a dab of dish soap and water or 2) baking soda and water. You can then use a rag, brush, or your hands to wash your shoes. Wipe them dry with a clean cloth, and then leave them out overnight to dry. Before doing this, however, double check that the solution you use is safe on the material your shoes are made of.
3. Organize and Separate by Shoe Type
Now that you’re learning how to pack shoes for moving, it’s time to jump into the organizing step! Separate your sneakers, heels, boots, and other types of footwear. Grouping them into categories before packing will make it easier to find them later.
4. Stuff Your Shoes to Protect Their Form
Before your moving boxes for shoes fill up, you’ll want to stuff your shoes so they don’t get squished and lose their shape. You can use newspaper, socks, or shoe trees—anything that will prevent the shoes from getting crushed or damaged.
5. Reuse Old Shoe Boxes
If you’re wondering how to put shoes in a box, there are a few methods. If you’re the type who saves old shoe boxes, that’s great—you’ve already won half the battle of this step! If possible, dig the old boxes out of storage, and start packing your shoes into them, with each heel against the other shoe’s toe. This will save you the cost of buying moving boxes for shoes.
From there, you can then stack the shoe boxes inside larger moving boxes to make transportation easier.
6. Opt for a Suitcase Suitcase or Bubble Wrap
If you don’t have your old shoeboxes, don’t worry—many of us don’t! You can consider another quick option: bubble wrap. Wrap your shoes carefully in the bubble wrap, and pack them together in a suitcase, box, or any other type of container. If you’re not afraid of your shoes scuffing up one another, you can also put them in a suitcase without bubble wrap!
7. Protect Your Favorite Pairs Individually
If you have shoes that you want to keep pristine, consider wrapping each one individually with tissue paper, old clothing you won’t wear again, plastic, or bubble wrap. This can help you prevent them from scuffing each other, which is always important for cherished or delicate shoes.
Once you wrap them individually, you can put them either in their original packaging or in any other type of transportation container. This can be one of the best ways to pack shoes when you’re wanting to preserve their quality.
8. Make Sure to Label Your Shoes
If you want to be efficient with your packing, label everything! You’ll be thankful you did once you’re in your new house facing a mountain of boxes.
When it comes to shoes—particularly ones you wear often versus ones you don’t—labeling can help you when you want to unpack your essentials quickly following the move. While this can be helpful per large box, it’s also helpful to label each wrapped or boxed pair of shoes so that you can track them down easily during the unpacking process.
Extra Tips on How to Pack Shoes
When learning how to pack shoes for moving, you have quite a few options. Below are a few more tips you might want to consider before starting the process!
Avoid Packing Your Shoes with Clothes
No matter how clean you keep them, shoes you wear outdoors can get dirty. As such, it’s best not to pack them with clothes you wear often or want to keep clean. Again, it’s ideal to wrap them in tissue paper or bubble wrap before packing them in separate boxes from the ones in which you’re moving your clothing. Not only is this better from a cleanliness perspective, but it will also help prevent your clothes from picking up any odor your shoes are carrying.
Consider Donating Unwanted Shoes
As discussed above, moving is a great time to declutter your life—and that includes your shoe collection! If there’s a pair or two (or more) that you don’t use, consider donating them to a place that will allow somebody else to get use out of them. Not only will you be doing a good deed, but you’ll also free up space in your closet or on your shoe rack.
Don’t Forget a Pair of Shoes to Wear for Moving Day
When relocating, you don’t just need to think about literally moving shoes—you also need a pair of literal moving shoes! Don’t forget to set at least one pair of shoes aside for your moving day—ideally something comfortable like tennis shoes.
Moving Shoes FAQs
How to pack shoes in a suitcase?
If you’re wondering how to pack shoes in a suitcase, it’s easy! Usually, it’s best to pack them heel to toe in pairs to maximize space in your suitcase. Again, it also helps to stuff them with socks, newspaper, or shoe trees to prevent them from getting squished. You can also wrap them individually before putting them in the suitcase—this gives them extra protection.
How to pack boots?
To pack boots, start by stuffing them with newspaper or boot shapers so they won’t lose their shape. When putting them into packing containers, make sure you keep them upright so they won’t get creased. Try to avoid packing anything on top of your boots so they don’t bend unnaturally!
How do Taskers pack shoes?
Taskers can pack your shoes any way you prefer, but if there isn’t a specific directive, they’ll likely do it in the safest way possible—either placing the shoes in their old shoe boxes or wrapping them individually before placing them into a box or suitcase in pairs.
If you’re moving, you don’t have to do it alone! Taskers can help with every step of your checklist, from packing your shoes to helping you move to doing your final move-out cleaning!
