When you’re packing a computer for moving, you’re going to have to also take care of all the computer peripheral devices you may have such as a mouse, keyboard, scanner, game controllers, microphone, webcam, etc. (input devices), and a monitor, printer, projector, headphones, speakers, etc. (output devices).
One of the trickiest peripheral devices to pack and move is the printer. Why?
On one hand, printers are extremely fragile items regardless of how sturdy they may look. If handled improperly, a printer may be damaged forever and that’s never a good idea considering the high cost of that computer device. If a box with a printer inside is not padded well and gets dropped accidentally, then the occasional paper jams may be the least of your worries.
On the other hand, inkjet printers have ink cartridges that can create a big mess if the ink is spilled during the move. Similarly, laser printers have toner cartridges that contain toner powder that can make everything messy if not handled properly.
Follow these 5 steps to learn how to pack a printer for moving so that no problems of any kind occur during the house move.
Step 1. Prepare the moving box
If you keep the original box that the printer came in when you first bought it, then that’s great news. Note that original boxes are specifically designed to protect fragile items during transit. In the case of a printer, manufacturers’ boxes have special Styrofoam inserts that serve two very important purposes during the transportation stage:
1) they protect the item thanks to their extra thick insulation, and
2) they keep the item 100% immobilized inside the box.
So, if you happen to have the original printer box stored somewhere in the home (check all storage areas), then you just have to use that container to pack up the printing device. If not, you’ll need to find another box as replacement.
Look for a strong cardboard box that is approximately 4 inches bigger than the printer on all four sides – you’ll need that extra space so that you can fit the printer once it’s been padded well.
Also, make sure you tape twice the bottom of the carton with high-quality packing tape as an extra safety measure. Having the moving box break under its own weight while you’re carrying it to the moving truck is likely to spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E for the peripheral device, so you must ensure it never happens.
See also: How to pack boxes for moving
Step 2. Pack the printer cartridges separately
Don’t ever leave ink cartridges (for inkjet printers) or toner cartridges (for laser printers) inside your printer when moving it between two homes. If you do, then you might get ink or toner powder to leak out of the cartridges during transit.
It’s important to remember that spilled ink or toner powder leaves nasty stains on the surfaces it touches – ink stains that are very difficult to remove. What’s more, spilled ink can cause substantial damage to various components inside the printer such as rollers, seals, and drums.
So, eliminate the risk of spilled ink or toner by removing and packing the printer cartridges separately.
- FOLLOW the steps in the printer’s manual to remove the ink cartridge or toner cartridge safely.
- WRAP the printer cartridge in soft wrapping paper as the initial layer of protection.
- PLACE the printer cartridge inside a plastic resealable bag to catch any amount of ink or toner powder that could still leak during transport.
- POSITION the bag into a separate small cardboard box that will also hold the printer cables, printer components such as removable trays, and other miscellaneous stuff such as the printer manual.
Useful info: Packing timeline for moving
Step 3. Secure the printer cables
Printer cables can be a bit of a hassle to secure while you’re packing a printer for moving.
First of all, you’ll have the power cable – the cord that you plug into the wall socket to power the printer. Almost always, those power cords cannot be removed from the printer unit and will have to be packed with it. The way to do this is to secure the power cable to the back of the printer using a bit of masking tape.
Secondly, you’ll have the USB printer cable that connects the printing device with the computer. Those cords are easily removable, so make sure you unplug it safely from the computer, then unhook it from the printer itself. Then, pack that cable into the small printer accessories box, together with the secured printer cartridges.
If you own a modern Wi-Fi printer, then you’ll only have the power cord to worry about since the connection to the computer(s) will be done wireless.
Related: How to pack cables for moving
Step 4. Wrap the printer in bubble wrap
Once you’ve found a suitable box, removed the cartridges, and secured the cable, your printer is now ready to be packed for transport.
- REMOVE any paper that’s left in the paper tray.
- REMOVE safely any detachable printer trays, panels, or other printer components and pack them inside the Printer Accessories box.
- CLOSE all non-removable trays, panels, or doors of the printer and secure them with masking tape so that they cannot open during the haul.
- POSITION a large sheet of bubble wrap on a desk or a table, or straight onto the floor, and place the printer in the middle of the sheet. If possible, use plastic wrap with large air bubbles for the ultimate degree of protection.
- BUBBLE WRAP the entire printer without leaving any part of it exposed and unprotected. Do two layers of bubble wrap around the printing device, over the top and bottom, and the sides of the peripheral device.
- MAKE sure the thick protective padding fits snugly around the large fragile item.
- USE pieces of packing tape to secure the ends of the bubble wrap sheet so that the protective plastic material can be secured in place.
- LOOK at the final result of your printer packing efforts – you should have the printer wrapped up in its entirety by two layers of bubble wrap.
- INSERT the bubble-wrapped printer into a large plastic bag (using a clean garbage bag is OK). This step is necessary to prevent the packing peanuts to get inside the printer – see below for more information.
Read also: How to pack with bubble wrap
Step 5. Pack the printer into the box
Here’s the final step when packing a printer for a move – it’s time to transfer the protected printing device into the box so that it can start its journey to the new home.
- PLACE packing peanuts into the box until the bottom is covered. The bottom protective layer of packing peanuts should be roughly 4 inches thick.
- TRANSFER carefully the packed printer into the awaiting moving box. Rest the peripheral device onto the packing peanuts and in the middle of the box so that there are equal gaps left on all four sides of the container.
- FILL the empty spaces around the printer with more packing peanuts until the latter cover the device completely. Since you’ve already inserted a top-layer plastic bag over the printer itself, you won’t have to worry about any small packing peanut particles going inside the device and causing all sorts of post-move problems.
- USE, whenever possible, biodegradable packing peanuts that are eco-friendly because they are made from starch which, unlike plastic peanuts, disintegrate over time.
- USE wads of crumpled paper if you run out of packing peanuts or if you don’t have peanuts at all. The main goal is to create a thick protective layer around the entire printer – bottom, top, and all four sides.
- CLOSE the box when the packing peanuts cover the top of the printer, then seal it shut using packing tale.
- LABEL the box with PRINTER, FRAGILE, and HANDLE WITH CARE.
As you can see, packing a printer for moving is not too complicated in any way. You simply have to make sure that the printer itself is well padded with bubble wrap to withstand any external forces during the actual move.
Nevertheless, if you still feel nervous about packing your expensive printer, then you can always ask professional packers to give you a hand with that packing task.
