If you’ve ever unpacked a moving box and discovered shards of broken dishes, you know the importance of using dish pack boxes for your fragile items. These specialty moving boxes — also called dish barrels — help you transport fragile kitchenware safely, providing more protection than standard cardboard boxes.
Professional movers swear by dish packs for plates, glassware, china, and stemware. Collectors also use these specialty boxes for delicate figurines or crystal. But the pros already have the know-how when it comes to packing. If you’re planning a DIY move instead, understanding how to pack a dish pack yourself is also helpful, and can be the difference between “everything arrived in perfect condition” and “time to replace our wedding set.”
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- The definition of a dish pack
- Why a dish pack is great for fragile items
- How to choose the right dish pack
- How to pack a dish pack like a pro
What Is a Dish Pack or Dish Barrel?
A dish pack, often called a dish barrel, is a sturdy box made for fragile or delicate items. You may also hear smaller dish packs and dish barrels called kitchen boxes. These heavy-duty boxes are engineered with double-walled or triple-walled corrugated cardboard for extra strength. The way you can tell is that corrugated cardboard has a “wavy” inner layer. This fluted interior cushions fragile items and provides impact resistance.
Dish packs are typically taller and narrower than regular moving boxes. Their unique design helps distribute weight evenly and keep fragile items upright during transport.
These specialty boxes are great for safely transporting household items, including:
- Plates and bowls
- Glasses and mugs
- Serving platters
- Fine china
- Crystal stemware
- Collectible or decorative pieces
Thanks to their reinforced construction, dish packs can handle more weight than standard moving boxes. A standard-sized dish box, which often measures approximately 18″ x 18″ x 28″, typically holds 60 to 70 pounds. Some dish boxes can hold more than 100 pounds. However, you should keep the weight under 50 pounds. Otherwise, you or your movers may get hurt lugging around heavy items.
Many dish barrels come with optional cardboard dividers to create compartments. These practical compartments stop items from clinking together during transit, and help prevent chips, scratches, and breakage. You should use them if they come with the dish packs you’re using, or consider buying the inserts separately if you want to keep certain dishes extra safe.
Cost, Availability, and Alternatives
You can expect to spend approximately $15 to $30 per dish pack. Prices vary based on box size, wall thickness, and whether dividers are included. You can save money by buying dish barrels in bulk or purchasing gently used kitchen boxes.
Dish pack alternatives include:
- Glassware boxes: Custom-shaped inserts protect fragile items such as wine glasses and mason jars.
- Mirror cartons: Ideal for mirrors and other fragile, flat belongings, including holiday serving trays.
- Small wardrobe cartons: Designed for clothing, but they’re also a smart choice for tall items like floor vases.
There are plenty of other tips and workarounds, and you can find some more on our packing help hub.
Benefits of Using Dish Packs Over Regular Boxes
The biggest advantage dish packs have over regular moving boxes is the shock-absorbing corrugated cardboard interior. This extra layer in a dish pack provides superior protection for fragile items.
“Forgetting to mark the box with ‘Fragile’ and ‘This Side Up’ can lead to you or movers unintentionally flipping or stacking heavy items on top of your dishpacks.”
These reinforced walls also make stacking simple in the moving truck, and the dish pack’s tall, narrow shape makes the box easy to carry by keeping the load balanced. Unless it’s something exceptionally fragile or precious, you can typically pack multiple items inside a dish pack without worrying about cracks or shattering.
What Goes Inside a Dish Pack
Dish packs are ideal for fragile kitchenware and small or medium breakables. Here are some common household items that can go inside a dish pack:
However, some housewares and kitchen items do better in other moving boxes. Skip the dish barrel if you’re packing these items:
- Oversized cookware, like stock pots or roasting pans
- Heavy cast-iron skillets or crockpots
- Liquids
Professional movers recommend packing dish packs tightly without overstuffing them. Make sure you include plenty of padding between each layer.
Consider a three-layer cushioning method. Use folded paper on the bottom, a layer of crumpled paper in the middle, then another layer of folded paper on top. This keeps heavy dishes from crushing your cushioning.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Dish Packs
Even the sturdiest dish pack can damage your items if you have poor packing techniques. Keep everything in one piece by avoiding these common errors:
- Overloading the box: Makes it too heavy to lift safely, and can also cause the box to collapse.
- Skipping the bottom padding layer: Not having this extra cushion leaves items vulnerable to impact when being set down and in transit.
- Mixing fragile and non-kitchen items: This can cause shifting and breakage.
- Not labeling properly: Forgetting to mark the box with “Fragile” and “This Side Up” can lead to you or movers unintentionally flipping or stacking heavy items on top of your dishpacks.
Kevin the Mover Explains How to Pack a Dishpack
Kevin the Mover, a longtime moving pro with years of experience, has packed more dish packs than he can count. In his opinion, you should always start with the bottom with some layer of paper to act as a cushion. According to Kevin, there are two common ways to do this:
“Some movers will fold a dozen or so sheets of packing paper to create their thick layer of padding. Others will ball up these dozens or more sheets of paper and create a sea of crumpled newsprint at the bottom of the box.”
But there are some drawbacks to either method. Folding packing paper might not give you enough of a cushion, and the crumpled ball method might collapse or create gaps that your dishes or other fragile belongings can fall through. Kevin, however, came up with a third option:
“But what else was there to do? It had to be one or the other, right? Then one day it hit me — and now I do both.
Ever since that “Eureka” moment, I start my dishpacks by putting down a layer of several folded sheets of packing paper, adding a dense layer of crumpled paper, then topping that off with a layer of more folded sheets of paper. The crumpled paper layer in the middle gives plenty of cushioning, while the layers of folded paper help keep that middle layer in place.
There’s more than one way to cushion a dishpack. This just happens to be my favorite because it provides the most amount of support, which in turn, has helped me keep claims down to a minimum.”
Now you also have this method to help you pack your most fragile items, and get them to your new home in one piece.