It’s no secret. Figuring out how to move a fridge or how to transport a washing machine is a hassle. Summoning up your super human strength. Calling your friends to redeem your IOU when you realise you don’t have super human strength. Having your friends reject the request cause you redeemed that IOU last time you moved. Trying to squeeze your chunky whitegoods into the back of your commodore? No thanks.
Luckily for you, us TAXIBOXERS have learnt a thing or two over the years. With over a decade of storing and moving under our belts, we’ve discovered all the rules everyone should follow when moving their white goods.
Keep in mind: We’re not 100% experts – you should always hire some professional help if you need to do any serious heavy lifting.
First Thing’s First: Start Unplugging
It’s not just an old wives’ tale – you’re actually supposed to adequately defrost your fridge and drain your washing machine before you move. 24 hours ahead of time should do the trick. The whole process is pretty simple, so you’ve got no excuses for not doing it.
Defrosting Your Fridge
- Unplug your fridge. That’s an easy one.
- Eat what you can (no need to waste perfectly good food, just don’t eat so much that you’re not limber enough to move later).
- Empty out everything else, then wipe down the inside of your fridge with disinfectant, removing drawers and shelves as you go. Might as well give it a good deep clean while it’s empty, right?
- Defrost the fridge – it’s best to check your owner’s manual for exact instructions, or look up your fridge model online to find out how to do this.
Defrosting most fridges requires disconnecting ice and water lines, in which case you should keep a few towels handy (everything’s gonna need some drying off after all that dripping). It’s best to follow your model’s exact instructions to make sure this is done correctly.
Draining Your Washing Machine
- Unplug your washing machine. We’re sensing a pattern here.
- Find the drain hose. Again, your owner’s manual might come in handy. You might need a screwdriver for this.
- Drain, drain, drain. Make sure you have something to catch the water in. Dump the water down a basin or a drain as you go, until the water has been completely drained from the machine.
- Scrub, scrub, scrub. Scrub any debris you can see from the filter, and rinse with warm water.
Once you’re done, try to remember to put the pipes inside the drum of the machine, so you know where to find them when the times comes to reconnect everything at your new place.
Don’t Rely on Superhuman Strength
No matter how many trolleys you enlist on moving day, trying to figure out how to move a fridge, a washing machine, or anything else equally heavy is hard work. Especially when you’re trying to lift it by yourself (which is impossible).
We recommend asking a mate to help you move, keeping in mind that nobody likes moving day, especially when they’re not the ones moving. Thank any particularly generous friends with pizza and thank us later.
If you’d prefer not to pester your friends or you’re after some serious, professional help? (sorry Dad), you can always add removalists to your TAXIBOX booking. Let us lend a hand.
Need a hand with heavy lifting?
Tape Everything Shut
Once your fridge has defrosted and your washing machine is drained, you’re ready to start setting everything up for the move. An easy first step to get you started when you’re sorting out how to move a fridge or a washing machine? Time to tape everything shut.
Think washing machine and fridge doors, and additionally, anything inside either appliance that could move around in transit. No one wants a door flinging them in the face while they’re carrying a fridge up a flight of stairs.
Use Protection
White goods may be chunky, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fragile. We have a whole Box Shop of all the packing supplies you need to adequately protect your white goods from harm (nobody wants to replace thousands of dollars of appliances because they didn’t plan out how to move a fridge or a washing machine properly… we’re assuming you feel the same way).
No matter how perfectly you’ve packed up your white goods, it’s important that you move your heavy appliances slowly and carefully, so nothing gets damaged. Always make sure two people are handling the heavy stuff.
Our Box Shop is a one-stop shop.
Measure Up Your Landing Zone
Doorways and hallways aren’t always as wide as they seem. Nobody wants to end up between a rock (a heavy appliance) and a hard place (a tight hallway). When sorting out how to move a fridge or a washing machine, it’s best to measure everything up beforehand.
Measure all your walkways and landing zones before your move, so you can come up with the best possible plan of attack (aka your route through the house) before you get there. No one wants to figure that out on the fly.
While we’re on the topic of measuring stuff up – you should also measure everything else you’re planning on moving to make sure it’s all going to fit inside your TAXIBOX. Not to worry, though. We don’t want to worry you with all that maths. We have a storage calculator to help with that.
Need measuring up? Try our storage calculator.
Let Your Fridge Settle In
Great news. The hard part’s over! Place your fridge and your washing machine where they’re going to live from now on, i.e. in the kitchen and in the laundry, then let everything settle before you start plugging stuff in.
Before you plug your fridge back in, we recommend that you:
- Check your owner’s manual to confirm when you should plug your fridge back in (most guidelines suggest that you leave things to sit for at least a few hours, to make sure any lubricant or coolant has settled).
- Get your fridge in place first, that way you can get the rest of the moving out of the way. By the time you’re done, enough time will have passed that you should be able to plug your fridge back in (again, check your owner’s manual to confirm this).
As for your washing machine, on the other hand? That isn’t so sensitive – you can set it up ASAP. It’s recommended that you run a load without any clothes first, then you’re good to go.
Most Importantly: Sort Your Transport
Wondering how to transport a fridge or a washing machine in the back of your station wagon? Well, bad news – your car probably isn’t going to cut it this time, unless your other car is a moving truck. We also don’t recommend trying to squeeze your white goods into the front basket of your pushbike, in case that’s what you were thinking.
Save yourself the stress of cable-tying your boot closed or hiring a truck. Book a TAXIBOX storage unit to get your white goods from point A to point B, stress-free. As an added bonus, you get the peace of mind that your stuff will get to your new place in one piece. Not bad. Turns out moving your appliances isn’t so bad after all. Who knew?
