The Best Boxes to Ship Fragile Items: Shipping Fragile Items Guide

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

Fragile goods include glassware, enamel, furniture, musical instruments, porcelain, and any item that has a delicate nature. But sometimes, you need to get items like this shipped.

You can click here to learn the actual definition of fragile goods. Shipping fragile objects can be quite risky. Many things that can damage the object could happen during transit. The package can get tossed, bumped, flipped, dropped, the list is endless.

Sadly, you do not have any control over the encounters your package will experience while in transit. You also don’t have any control over how the shipping company handles the package, except ensuring you choose a reliable shipping company.

But what you have control over is how your item is packed including the type of box used, its size, packaging materials, and so on. When sending fragile items out for shipping, you need to ensure it is properly packaged. Doing this may not give you 100 percent assurance that your goods will arrive safely. But you can rest assured that the chances of it getting damaged will be greatly reduced.

We are here to help you go through this process as thoroughly as possible. In this article, we will share some tips that when followed meticulously will help you package your fragile item safely both inside and out.

Choosing The Packaging Box

If you do not use the right packaging box, you won’t properly protect your item regardless of whether the subsequent tips are followed to a T. Hence, you need to be sure that you take your time to pick the correct box.

Things that you will consider here include the item’s weight, shape, and size. The right box will just be a little bit larger than the object or objects you want to ship. An extremely bigger box will have more space than necessary and this will make the objects shake around the box while in transit. This may cause it to get damaged.

It also shouldn’t be too small because you will need to add extra fillings around the box to protect the item. Ideally, the space between the items and the box should be about two inches.

The box’s material is as important as its size. You may think just any box will do the job but it won’t. The best material for boxes used to ship fragile items is corrugated cardboard; these are made up of layered paper. So, boxes made with corrugated cardboard are usually rigid and can withstand heavy pressure like when other boxes are stacked on them.

Another thing you may be considering doing is using a poly mailer but this is a no. Yes, it’s a lot cheaper, but this won’t offer you the protection a box would as the mailer is susceptible to getting crushed while in transit.

Also, while a standard box can be used, you may benefit better from using a custom one. Custom boxes are made to specification. Therefore, you can choose the box’s dimensions to ensure it’s the perfect fit for your item. You can visit customboxworks.com to learn more about custom boxes and how you can get them.

Inside

The purposes of packing materials are to ensure the items are cushioned and to fill up the empty spaces inside the box.

Now, let’s discuss which packing materials are great to achieve these functions when shipping fragile things.

Cushioning Packaging Materials

To ensure your item stays safe you have to wrap it in protective materials. This will make the item not exposed to bumps, scraps, and scratches from other objects packed.

The two materials below are ideal for this purpose:

1. Paper

You can wrap some paper sheets on the item to be shipped and then use tape to keep the paper in place. This will prevent the item from getting scratched. You can get even better protection by doing this and then using the second material on this list (bubble wrap) for additional protection.

2. Bubble Wrap

Everyone loves bubble wraps because of how fun popping them are. But when shipping fragile items, they are very ideal to ensure these items are properly protected while in transit. The protection degree typically is based on how big the bubbles are. When the bubbles are bigger, the protection offered is better.

All you need to do is wrap 1 or 2 bubble wraps on the item being shipped and then use tape to secure them on. If you feel like extra protection is needed, you can use more layers.

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