Wall to Wall Carpeting
Most people moving from a residence with wall to wall carpeting don’t take the carpeting up and with them. If you do though, release the carpeting must from the floor nail boards at the room’s edges and roll it up as best as you can. Tape the rolls using reverse wind. If the carpet needs to be folded try to do so only at the seams as folding carpeting can leave permanent disfigurement.
Big Carpets
Remove all of the furniture from your big carpets, then roll them up. Use tape or strapping tied around the carpet roll so that it doesn’t unwind at all during moving.
It is a good idea to roll the carpet in a pad and tape it in place – the taped pad will hold the roll together nicely as in the picture below.
If the carpet has tassels on each end, uck the tassels in, as the carpet is almost rolled up, then finish rolling it up and tape it securely. If any of the tassels are still exposed, use reverse winding to keep the carpet from unrolling. This technique will protect the outer end’s tassels from being stripped off (the inner end’s tassels are protected in the middle of the carpet roll).
Stand your rolled carpets in the truck to minimize the truck space that they will need to occupy.
Load the carpets onto the truck last or put them in a place where you have easy, quick access to them, so that you can unload them first and lay them down onto the floors before you move any of your furniture pieces inside.
Throw Rugs
Always roll up all throw rugs and place them out of the movers way before they start to carry things so that they don’t accidentally slip on them and get injured. Tape the rolls reverse wind and put them anywhere convenient in the truck. Remember to tuck in the tassels as described above.
Rolled up throw rugs make very good buffer padding for big furniture within the truck.
How to Protect Carpeting During a Move
When moving into a new residence which already has wall to wall carpeting, you may want to clean it first. If so, try to complete the task at least 2 days before move-in day so that it has time to dry. Be sure to use runners or, even better, is a clear plastic product like Carpet Shield to protect the carpet from soiling when moving in. Carpet Shield comes in 50 or 200-foot rolls and is available through most mover’s supply stores. It sticks to almost all carpets (don’t use it on silk carpets) for up to 30 days without damaging them and provides excellent protection from dust, dirt, mud, drywall paste, etc. However, if you can’t find the specialized protective covering, then lay down pads or old sheets, or use
How to Protect Carpeted Stairways
To protect carpeted stairways, you can use rubber backed runners or stick painter’s tape to the top of each individual stair to fully cover its carpet. Strips should run from the back of the step forward to over the front of the step a couple of inches. If you tape stairs the sideways, the movers’ shoes might peel the tape
