When something arrives broken, the cause is almost never a pothole. It is that the item could move inside its carton, or that the carton could be crushed. Fix those two things and breakage becomes rare.
The principle
Every fragile item needs to be individually wrapped, immobilised inside its box, and cushioned from the box walls on all six sides - including the bottom and the top. If you can shake a carton and hear movement, it is not packed.
Crockery and glassware
Plates travel on their edge, never stacked flat - a stack transmits the full weight of the pile to the bottom plate. Wrap each in paper, then bundle three or four together in bubble wrap. Glasses and stemware get paper stuffed inside the bowl first, then wrapping. Use a double-walled carton, line the base with two inches of crushed paper, and fill every void.
Televisions and monitors
The original box is best if you kept it. If not, a corner-protected wooden crate is worth the money on anything above 43 inches. Screens travel upright, never flat - a flat panel takes the weight of whatever ends up on top, and the panel is the expensive part. Tape a bag of screws and cables to the back.
Mirrors, glass tops and artwork
Tape a large X across the glass face with masking tape. It will not stop a break, but it holds the pieces together and stops a shattered panel from slicing through the packaging. Then corrugated sheet on both faces, corner protectors, and mark the crate as glass on every side.
Electronics
Photograph the back of every device before you unplug anything. Anti-static wrap for computers, not plain bubble wrap. Remove ink cartridges from printers. Take the drum out of a washing machine or fit the transit bolts - a drum left free to swing will destroy its own bearings on a long route.
Marking
Write the destination room and the contents on at least two sides plus the top. Mark FRAGILE and THIS WAY UP on all four sides, because whoever stacks the vehicle will not be the person who packed it. And keep fragile cartons off the bottom of any stack.
