Every international move needs three things from packing: physical survival of the transit, a clean customs inventory, and predictable unloading at destination. Export-grade materials are heavier, better-fitting and better-sealed than the domestic equivalents. Wardrobe cartons have integrated rails and are double-walled. TV cartons have moulded polystyrene inserts sized to the diagonal. Books go in small strong cartons because a large box of books breaks its own bottom. Fragile items are individually paper-wrapped, then bubble-wrapped, then boxed with edge fill.

Every carton is numbered, labelled and photographed as part of a master inventory. That inventory becomes the customs entry, the loading manifest, the destination unloading checklist, and — if you ever claim on insurance — your evidence of what shipped.

You have three options: full export pack (mover packs everything), fragile-only pack (mover packs china, glass, art, TVs; you pack the rest), or self-pack with export materials supplied. Full pack is standard for corporate relocations and for any move to Australia or NZ (biosecurity officers strongly prefer professionally-packed loads). Fragile-only is a good balance for cost-conscious families. Self-pack with materials is cheapest but has real limits — most marine insurers will not cover breakage on customer-packed cartons.

The rule of thumb: anything that's fragile, sentimental, or worth more than the pack cost should be professionally packed. That usually means kitchen glassware, framed art, TVs, mirrors, lamps, ceramics and any antique. The rest — clothes, books, linens, kids' toys — can go in supplied cartons under your control.

A crew of two to four packers arrives with a van load of materials — flat-pack cartons, tape guns, paper (unprinted, acid-free), bubble roll, corner protectors, mattress bags, wardrobe cartons and TV crates. On a three-bed house the pack takes 1–2 full days. Larger properties or fragile-heavy inventories take 2–3 days.

The crew works room-by-room. Pictures come off walls and are individually corner-protected and bubble-wrapped. Kitchen: every item paper-wrapped, glasses and stemware in cell dividers, plates on their edges never flat. Bedrooms: wardrobes emptied into wardrobe cartons on rails; drawers stay in and taped where possible. Living room: TVs into moulded crates, sofas into stretch wrap and quilted covers, lamps disassembled and wrapped separately. Every carton is sealed, numbered, labelled with room and contents category, and logged into the inventory.

Special items get timber crates: pianos, marble tops, large framed art, chandeliers. Crating is £150–£450 per item and is genuinely required for anything worth over £2,000 crossing an ocean.

Insurance claims data across the industry shows about 3–5% of international loads have a claim, and 80% of those claims are on customer-packed cartons. Professionally packed loads see damage roughly one-fifth as often — and when it does happen, the claim is straightforward because the packing quality is documentable.

Biosecurity risk is the other big one. Australian AQIS and NZ MPI officers inspect professionally-packed loads faster and more predictably than mixed-quality loads. A well-labelled, cleanly-packed inventory reads as low-risk; a scruffy self-pack invites full inspection.

The pack-day inventory is not paperwork for its own sake. It becomes: the customs declaration (so it must have realistic values), the loading manifest (so containers can be loaded to plan), the destination check-list (so you know what arrived), the insurance schedule (so claims can be valued), and the delivery sign-off (so damages are logged).

Two things customs looks at during packing: prohibited items (are any in the load?) and biosecurity risk (is timber treated, are outdoor items clean?). ISPM-15 heat-treated timber marking on crates is mandatory for US, Canada, Australia, NZ and China entries. Untreated timber is refused at the border and you pay to have it fumigated or destroyed on arrival.

Biosecurity: outdoor equipment, garden tools, camping gear, vacuum cleaners, prams and children's outdoor toys all get scrutinised in Australia and NZ. Clean everything of soil, plant matter and food residue before it's packed. Movers who work these routes brief you on this before pack day.

Marine cargo all-risks policies distinguish between owner-packed cartons (OPC) and mover-packed cartons (MPC). MPC cover breakage inside the carton; OPC generally do not — you're only covered for structural loss (theft, total loss of the carton, water damage that soaks the whole box). If you self-pack, be honest with yourself about which items would upset you if broken and let the mover pack those.