5 Tips for Moving Your Appliances Without Damaging Your New Home

Christa Baxter
By Christa Baxter
Researcher & Writer
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July 01, 2022
3 min read

Thinking of taking your appliances with you when you move? Moving your household appliances requires careful planning, supplies, and helping hands. (That’s why many real estate transactions include them as part of the cost of sale.) But it’s still possible to bring your dream dryer to your new digs.

If you're not hiring a professional moving company to handle your move, you still have options. These five tips will help you move your appliances with minimal stress while protecting your floors, walls, and the units themselves from damage. 

Move Your Appliances

1. Plan ahead by taking measurements

The first thing you should do is measure the size of your appliances to see if they will fit through the door. In some cases, you may need to remove the door to get clearance or bring the appliance in through a larger frame such as a sliding glass door. Once you have the dimensions and planned out the move, you can proceed to preparing the space and the appliances for the task.

2. Clean the floors

Don't forget to clean the floors before moving heavy appliances. Dirt, grit, small rocks, or other foreign objects can damage your floors more than the appliances themselves. Vacuum, sweep, or mop the area around and under your appliance, as well as where you'll be moving the appliance.

3. Flooring protection is a must

Once there are no foreign objects in the area, you can put down a protective covering where you will be moving the appliances.

While you can use cardboard to protect a clean floor, it is the least effective way. Cardboard has a tendency to move and create friction on the floor as you walk on it which can create tiny scratches, especially in hardwood.

A much better way to protect your floor is to use leftover carpet pieces or runners. For the best protection, invest in some temporary flooring. When used properly on a cleaned floor, these methods will mitigate any potential for damage.

4. Prep the appliances

Now that the flooring is clean and protected, you will need to prepare the appliances:

  • Fridge: Remove food and place it in a portable cooler. Unplug the fridge and clean the unit inside and out, leaving the door open for 24 hours to remove moisture. Then tape or wrap the door shut to prevent it from swinging open. You may also need to remove the handle to fit your space. Place the handle inside the fridge or tape it to the exterior so it won’t get lost.
  • Stove: Turn the power off, remove racks and surface grates, and clean the exterior. Secure the knobs and tape or wrap the door shut.
  • Dryer: Turn the power off, clean the lint screen, and clean the exterior. Then simply tape or wrap the door shut.
  • Washing machine: Disconnect the power and the input/output hoses. Leave the door open to air for 24 hours to remove moisture, then secure the hoses to the unit. Finally, tape or wrap the door shut.
  • Dishwasher: Power the unit off and disconnect the input/output hoses. Leave the door open to air for 24 hours to remove moisture, then secure the hoses to the unit. Finally, secure the internal racks and tape or wrap the door shut.

5. Don't move appliances alone

It's simply not safe to move appliances by yourself. Get help from friends or family, or hire a moving labor company to handle it for you. You should also invest in quality equipment such as dollies, hand trucks, gloves, proper footwear, and comfortable (but not loose-fitting) clothing.

Make your move

Now comes the hardest part: moving day! Be sure to follow all of these steps so you can move fridges, stoves, washing machines, washers, and dryers into your new place without damaging your floors, walls, and appliances—or your back!

Bonus Tip: Hire moving help

If you’re still apprehensive about moving appliances yourself, there are plenty of moving services that can handle this task for you. If you're on a budget but still need help with this one task, you can even hire hourly movers to transport just your appliances to your new place:

Once you've finally moved, all that’s left to do is get your appliances set up and settle into your new home. After all, you’ve earned it.

Christa Baxter
Written by
Christa Baxter
Christa Baxter has worked as an editor for more than eight years and specialized in moving content for the last three. She leads the Move.org content team in producing whip-smart moving tips and recs. After relocating four times in the last calendar year, she’s got strong opinions about moving best practices. (Just don’t ever pull a Marie Kondo and suggest she whittle down her personal library.) She earned a BA and MA in English with a minor in editing.
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